One in, one out as Skivo

attempts to stop the rot

Ivan enters the fray

TWO more defeats in five days has left Yeovil Town deep in relegation trouble, and Notts County’s victory over Swindon Town on Tuesday night saw the Glovers detached at the bottom along with Walsall and Dagenham & Redbridge.

A trip to The Valley is never easy whether you are in form or not, and manager Terry Skiverton will take some consolation from the fact that his side’s 3-2 defeat by Charlton Athletic on Saturday hinged on a debatable penalty decision just three minutes from normal time after fighting back to equalise twice.

The visit to Dean Court on Tuesday appears a little more clear cut as AFC Bournemouth maintained their challenge for promotion from npower League One with a relatively easy 2-0 victory.

First-half goals from Danny Hollands and Josh McQuoid was enough to see off a Glovers side that rarely put the Cherries defence under pressure throughout the match.

The game saw the debut of another loanee Ivan Sproule who signed on a month’s loan from Bristol City on Monday.

The 29-year-old midfielder who has collected 11 caps for Northern Ireland replaced fellow teammate Gavin Williams, who is also on loan, who was suspended following five bookings.

He replaces Luke Freeman who has returned to his parent club Arsenal ahead of his scheduled date. He joined Yeovil Town on loan at the beginning of the season and made 15 appearances and scoring two goals, but has been troubled by a niggling injury of late.

WITH most football clubs, particularly outside the Premier and Championship, finding life difficult due to falling gates in this time of economic recession, new commercial outlets are needed to boost their revenue.

Yeovil’s poor form has not helped, and from looking at recent home matches a lot of season ticket holders are not even bothering to go and watch. This of course means less programme and lottery sales, and a reduction in the number of people purchasing food and drink from the club bars and kiosks, in addition to loss of revenue from new or occasional ‘bums on seats’.

Not living in Yeovil I am not sure how much use is made of the Huish Park facilities. There are match day hospitality suites and carveries, and ground advertising and a chance to be a mascot, but what happens outside of that?

What happens during the week in the conference rooms and bars?

I don’t see many events advertised apart from the odd sportsman’s night, and with the directors hogging the bar in the main building with fans relegated to a marquee outside, it doesn’t encourage fans to stay behind after a match.

My old club Lyme Regis have a clubhouse the size of the Glover’s changing rooms and on a good night where a theme night is laid on with a good curry or barbecue, they can take well over £1,000!

Unfortunately the club has a reputation of being a bit aloof and not positively fan friendly, and so I guess it is only to be expected, but come on Yeovil, think about it.

With all the facilities you have available surely the place should be busy at least four or five days a week with company conferences and club events.

The way the team is performing you can’t rely too much on match day revenue.

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