Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town FC is a football club from Somerset in the West Country of England that was formed in 1895 as Yeovil Casuals FC, playing home matches at the Pen Mill Athletic Ground and competing in the Somerset Senior League.

Yeovil became Somerset League champions in 1896-97 and 1901-02 before changing their title to Yeovil Town in 1907, but it didn’t last long as the club amalgamated with Petters United to become Yeovil and Petters United FC.

A further Somerset League title was won in 1911-12 before the club was moved to the Western League at the conclusion of World War One; being elevated to Division One just after moving into their new Huish home ground for the 1920-21 campaign and then being crowned as champions in 1921-22.

Yeovil moved to the Southern League; which was split into two geographical divisions. Town won the overall title in 1923-24 defeating Peterborough & Fletton United in the final. Back in the Western League, ‘The Glovers’ lifted further titles in 1924-25 and 1929-30.

In 1931-32 Town re-joined Southern League Western Section, going on to win the divisional title in their first season back. It was at this juncture that the club first became known for their exploits in the FA Cup; going out in a second round replay to Fulham.

The Southern League Western title was won again in 1934-35; while lifting the Western League title in the same year. The team also reached the FA Cup third round, before going out 6-2 to Liverpool at Huish.

The Huish. The Glovers old home

In 1937-38 Yeovil went out in the third round to Manchester United, while Sheffield Wednesday halted interest at the same stage after a replay the following season. Town had three Western League runners-up finishes before the outbreak of World War Two.

The club joined the Southern League full time for the 1945-46 season before changing title to Yeovil Town at the end of the season. The 1948-49 FA Cup run would put the club at the centre of attention to the football public.

Lovells Athletic, Romford and Weymouth were defeated before Bury were beaten in round three at Huish. A crowd of 16,318 crammed into their town centre home ground on 29th January 1949 to see Yeovil knock out top First Division side of the time, Sunderland in the fourth round.

The dream ended in the next round as a staggering crowd of over 81,000 saw Manchester United knock them out 8-0 at their temporary home of Maine Road but the team under player-manager had done themselves proud.

The club remained semi-professional after Stock’s departure with George Paterson and then Harry Lowe having spells in charge of the team, finding success in the 1954-55 season as Town lifted the Southern League title under manager Ike Clarke.

The third round of the Cup was reached again in 1957-58, with Fulham proving too strong once again. A second Southern League title arrived in 1963-64 with Basil Hayward leading the team. Young boss Ron Saunders had a spell in charge between 1967 and 1969.

Player-manager Mike Hughes was at the helm in 1970-71 as Yeovil won their third Southern League. The team fell one step short of Wembley in the FA Trophy as they were defeated in the semi-final by Telford United at The Hawthorns.

Arsenal visited Huish in the third round of the FA Cup in what was a dramatic season. The Gunners proved too strong and won the tie 3-0. The form continued as Yeovil went out in the last four of the Trophy in 1971-72; this time to Stafford Rangers at Oxford United’s Manor Ground.

For many years the club tried to gain election to the Football League but never collected enough votes. The team finished as Southern League runners-up in 1975-76 under the leadership of Stan Harland.

Barry Lloyd was manager as Yeovil Town became founder members of the Alliance Premier League in the summer of 1979. The charismatic Malcolm Allison had a spell in charge of the team in 1981. Gerry Gow arrived in 1984 after several comings and goings.

The 'old' Huish

The former top flight midfielder couldn’t save Yeovil from their first ever relegation in 1984-85. The team bounced back and came close to regaining their position with a runners-up place in the Isthmian Premier League in 1985-86.

Brian Hall had taken over as manager when the Glovers won the Isthmian League title in 1987-88; a year after ending as runners-up to take their place in the renamed Conference. In 1990 the club moved into their new Huish Park home on the edge of the town.

Hall departed before returning for a brief second spell. Ex England defender Graham Roberts was manager in 1995-96 when Town were relegated again to the Isthmian League. The club found themselves in serious financial trouble.

The fans remained loyal as solutions were sought off the pitch. Roberts remained and took his side back to the Conference before being replaced by Colin Lippiatt who in turn was succeeded by Steve Thompson.

Yeovil finished as Conference runners-up in 2000-01 under Colin Addison before the former Latvian national team manager, Gary Johnson, took over. Town finally reached the final of the FA Trophy in 2001-02.

Johnson had assembled a fine team led by Terry Skiverton and starring his son Lee Johnson as well as Darren Way. Goals from Carl Alford and Adam Stansfield were enough to beat Stevenage Borough 2-0 at Villa Park.

The team went on to become Conference champions in 2002-03 and win promotion to the Football League. In 2004-05 Yeovil won the League Two title to gain promotion to the third tier of English football; before Johnson moved on to pastures new at Bristol City.

Former boss Thompson returned for a second spell in charge before being replaced by Russell Slade. Town reached the play-offs in 2006-07. Nottingham Forest were defeated in the semi-final, but Blackpool won the Wembley final.

Slade moved on; replaced by a third spell from Thompson and then fans favourite Skiverton before the return of Gary Johnson. His team defeated Sheffield United in the play-off semi-final of 2012-13 before beating Brentford 2-1 at Wembley thanks to goals from Paddy Madden and Daniel Burn.

Yeovil lasted just one season in the Championship and the slide continued as Town were relegated for a second consecutive season in 2014-15. The club went through three managers in 2015, as Johnson moved on to be followed by Skiverton, Paul Sturrock and former player Way.

Darren Way settled the ship for three seasons while long serving owner John Fry looked to sell the club to bring in investment. The 2018-19 season was a disaster for the club on and off the pitch.

Way was replaced towards the end of the season by Neale Marmon as the team were relegated to the National League in bottom place. A sale to American businessmen fell through before perspective new owners were unveiled in June 2019 as Darren Sarll was appointed as the new manager.

The Glovers reached the play-offs in 2019-20, going out at home in the first stage to Barnet. Tragedy hot the club in April 2021 when skipper Lee Collins took his own life.

Yeovil Town FC will play in the National League in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Yeovil Town 1 Scarborough 2 (Saturday 25th March 2000) Football Conference (att: 2,031)

I travelled to this game alone on the train from Waterloo in London, with my network rail card offering a third off my fare and consequently a decent deal. The only trouble is that the route was quite a long one. Yeovil didn’t have a station in the town centre for some reason, so I had to catch a bus from the remote Yeovil Junction station into the town centre, before catching another bus to near the ground.

I say near the ground for very good reason. I found out in advance that pubs were scarce in that area. Now I loved watching Boro, and we were having a decent season, but I couldn’t face watching them without a beer inside me! I took a bus to The Forum, a middle class estate and found a pub called The Arrow, which wasn’t brilliant, but it was better than nothing.

After a couple of pints I desided to chance my arm on getting inside the clubhouse at the ground. If a big away following were in town there was no chance, but surely they’d look on with sympathy on a Seadog who they thought had travelled such a huge distance. They didn’t know I lived in London! 

I got inside and met up with some of my regular away match mates. I have to say that some of the home fans were not the most hospitable. Huish Park was still in good nick, as it was only around ten years old. 

There were pretty identical single tiered seated stands down each side, with open terracing behind each goal. For some reason a few of us decided to sit in the away section.

Boro played superbly on the day against a decent Yeovil side. Simon Betts and Chris Tate scored to give us a two one victory. A section of the travelling Boro faithful made us laugh by removing their shirts, long before it was in vogue everywhere. 

I shouted that they should put them back on to avoid food parcels being dropped which raised a laugh. It’s amazing what people find amusing when you win away from home!

After the game I had to repeat the long drawn out process of two buses and a wait for my train. The train terminated in the stunning city of Salisbury, which whetted my appetite for a further visit there. I eventually got home, a tired but happy traveller.

Since my visit

A roof has been added to the home end terracing at Huish Park in 2002. Predictably as of 2010 the away end is still uncovered.


The pictures in this post have been borrowed from the internet as I didn’t have the nous at the time to take any photos of my own.