Yeovil “deal” ahead of fans meeting
Last night Yeovil Town fans held a meeting to discuss the state of the club. In advance of the meeting fans expressed disappointment, not just at being relegated from the National League. It had been widely reported that club staff went unpaid at the end of April.
Added to which the “buyers” of the club, SU Glovers had apparently pulled out. They had been apparently operating in a caretaker role with “stewardship” of the club. The exact nature of the deal was never clear to fans. It was not clear if the club had actually been sold or not. Or if SU Glovers had some form of role in running the club with an option to buy it at some time in the future.
All in all the meeting on Thursday 11th May at 7.00 in the Yeovil Sports and Social Club at Johnson Park promised to be lively. Owner and Chairman Scott Priestnall was invited as were representatives of Somerset Council who own Huish Park.
Barely an hour before the meeting was due to take place, Mr Priestnall announced he had sold the club. He said “This has taken a substantial period of time and a lot of work on all sides. I am confident that the Buyer has the best interests of the club at heart and will begin a new and exciting time for the club. I regret I have not been able to provide more regular updates, but these matters must take their course and are governed by various interim agreements.”
Fans went ahead with the meeting, organised by the Glovers Trust, anyway.
At the meeting, which was well attended in person with over 160 joining online, a series of questions were raised. These it has been agreed, the Glovers Trust will put to both Mr Priestnall and Somerset Council.
Fans clearly felt let down by events at the club over the past year. They have agreed to form a group to look at long term being able to take a stake in the club in the future.
Meanwhile yesterday (11 May) Mr Priestnall suggested that he hoped “to provide further details tomorrow.” No further details were in fact released on 12 May.
Martin Helier, Yeovil born property investor and developer has said he will be making a statement on the morning of the 13 May. This follows numerous rumours that he is interested in buying the club.
We will aim to provide an update in the next edition of The Leveller.