Yeovil Town L.F.C.

The Yeovil Town Ladies are an amateur Ladies Football Club who are based in South Somerset, and play in the South West Combination Women's Football League, the third level of the Women's pyramid, after being relegated from the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division in 2011. The club are fully affiliated to Yeovil Town Football Club, and is jointly managed by Sarah Lawler and Nigel Williams, with former Reserve team manager Chris White working alongside as Assistant Manager.

Prior to promotion back to the South West Combination Women's Football League, the club had spent two seasons in the ‘’’South West Women's Premier Division’’’, and under the careful guidance of Phelps they made good progress and were promoted in 2006/07, having swept to the ‘league’ and ‘Pat Sowden Cup’ double. They gained promotion to the FA Womens Premier League after just three years in the Combination.

The team plays home matches at Sherborne Town, Raleigh Grove, Terrace Playing Fields Sherborne, Dorset. Games are usually played on a Sunday, kicking off at 2.00pm.

History

Back in the early 1990s Tony Baverstock formed Yetminster Ladies, and they competed in South West League Division Two. The first game was against Weymouth Vickings on the 16th September 1990, Yetminster captained by the then club secretary, Su Flatters, finishing the game with a 2-2 draw.

A tremendous achievement in 1997 saw the team reach the 4th Round of the Women's FA Cup, finally going out to Everton Ladies in front of a crowd of over 500 on the main pitch at Huish Park.

The Club eventually became Sherborne Ladies, and then later Yeovil Town Ladies, progressing well under the management of John Flatters.

After Mr Flatters departed the club, first team coach Steve Phelps took over, and has been managing the club ever since.

The Club now enjoyed some strong development, with young players such as Emma Brazell (née Manley) and Kia Bowles coming through the ranks, both combining playing in the first team with coaching and managing the youth teams.

With the growing success and reputation of the club, Yeovil Town Ladies now drew players from Bristol, Dorchester, Poole, Bournemouth, Exeter, Bridgwater, Axminster, and Yeovil’s surrounding villages.

In the 2004/05 season Yeovil Town ladies hit another high by winning the Somerset County Cup Final against Keynsham Town Ladies. At the end of this season they also saw the sad departure of young talent Helen Bleazard, who had been playing for Yeovil since the age of nine.

Bleazard left to play for Bristol City Ladies, who at the time were playing in the Women’s Premier League. She has also been part of the England U17’s squad, and has the potential to progress to full international honours.

In the 2005/06 season captain Emma Brazell took time out to have a baby, and Sarah Lawler stepped in as club captain. This season saw heartbreak, with the team missing out on league promotion to Frome Town by one point, leaving them in the League runner’s up position, and losing League Cup finalists.

The Glovers at last sealed promotion to the South West Combination League in 2006/07, in what was a very memorable season of fast moving and attacking football. They so nearly won an historic treble too, but lost the Somerset County Cup final to National League team Keysham Town.

However, they made no mistake in the Pat Sowdon Trophy. On a very hot day in Cornwall they took on Cullompton Rangers. Yeovil took the lead through a Kia Bowles penalty, but Cully came back with an equaliser in the second half. The Glovers were in determined mood though, and into extra time Jemma Tewkesbury received the ball and burst into the box to score a fantastic goal that sent everyone into raptures of celebration.

With Emma Brazell returning to the squad after giving birth to a baby girl, the club embarked upon its first season back up in the South West Combination in 2007/08. It was another good campaign too, with the team acclimatising well to their new status and gaining a very respectable fourth place finish.

The 2008/09 season again saw fine progress. During pre-season Steve Phelps recruited a number of quality players, with Claire Heydon and Lindsay Roe joining from Bournemouth, Amy Wild from Southampton and the talented Anusia Rourke from the county Centre of Excellence all joining the ranks.

With Jodie Rice leaving the club, Dani Pearson started the season in goal, but after she suffered injury, her sister Stacey took over and made the position her own, putting in some great performances.

With Nathan Jones now coaching the squad, assisting Steve Phelps and Nigel Wolfe, the team started to play some excellent football, soon finding themselves fighting it out with Queens Park Rangers at the top of the league.

Disaster struck on a wet October evening up at Forest Green Rovers when midfielder Kim Turner broke her leg. That was the last ball she kicked in the league that season, and a real blow to the side.

However, the girls picked themselves up, and continued to play some good football, and following the recruitment of two more midfielders, Els Wood from Northampton and Janie Morgan from Bournemouth, the team stayed up with the leaders all season.

In the end the Glovers came third, behind league champions Queens Park Rangers and second place Plymouth Argyle.

The Reserves had a great campaign, with the youngsters in the side making some excellent progress. They finished the season as deserved League champions, gaining promotion to the South West League, Division One.

Now in the 2009/10 season the club is seeing some very exciting times, and with youngsters such as Terri Trowbridge, Demi Agar and Charlotte Hannan having re-joined the ranks from the County Centre of Excellence, the recruitment of exciting young goalkeepers Rachael Simkin and Claire Tranter and some fine players coming through from the reserves.

Nathan Jones has now departed, taking over as Terry Skiverton’s Assistant Manager at the Men’s club, but with one of the most exciting squads in the league and a strong backroom staff, everyone connected with the club have good reason to be excited about the times ahead.

The 2009/10 season resulted in promotion to the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division after some fantastic performances winning the South West Combination League.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Honours

• South West Combination Women's Premier Division
  • Winners (1): 2009–10
• Somerset FA Women's Senior Cup
  • Winners (2): 2004–05, 2010–11

External links

• Yeovil Town Ladies Official Site