THE BLUES
Back to the league and continuing the run of 'must win game' which seems to have been going on since August. Be nice to have a 'well a goaless draw will be OK' type of match. Anyway, with Tilly playing 'guess the forward line', will Scannell get his first start after a goal scoring debut in the reserves, and no news of any signings at the time of writing, I just hope the last half hour of the Daggers game will inspire something that will see the lads get three very much needed points. Another home defeat does not bear thinking about.
However Yeovil are no mugs and are a stronger outfit than Bristol Rovers while we put out a weaker team that struggled for two thirds of the game against a team twenty plus places below them in the league ladder. It's times like this that make supporting a club like Southend such fun; we'll probably win 3-0, a Peter Clarke hat-trick. COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!!
THE OPPOSITION
In 8th position in League Two on 35 points Yeovil are in an excellent position to attack the play off zone again being five points off the pace. How much two defeats in a row, in fact three out of four, may have blown them off course we will have to see, however manager Russell Slade has built up a good squad after reaching the play off final last year where they lost to Blackpool.
Top scorer with nine is Lloyd Owusu followed by 35 year old 8 club veteran Marcus Stewart with four. London born central defender Terry Skiverton was brought to the club by David Webb and has proved an inspirational signing with some stirring displays at the back while popping up for the odd goal. He has been out suspended for the last three games but can return on Saturday.
However manager Slade knows improvement has to be found from somewhere admitting his side are lacking a killer touch in front of goal after going down 2-0 at home to
"I'm bitterly disappointed," Slade said. "I counted four clear chances in the first five minutes and 12 in all. We limited them to one half-chance in the first half. To be honest, I was not too happy with some of our defending and we need to be a bit more ruthless near goal. I've got to get back to get a solid shape before we go to Southend on Saturday," he said. "
The Glovers were also without three players suspended, all three can play on Saturday, as well as a couple of players on loan who have returned to their clubs.
They have secured the services of 19-year-old Everton striker Scott Spencer on a month's loan following a successful trail. "We have seen potential in Scott", said Slade, "Everton have kindly allowed us to look at Scott again during the next month so we can see how he develops not only in full training but in matches."
The Yeovil team that finished the game v
THE MATCHES
10 matches played: WON 3 DRAWN 1 LOST 6.
So a double this season lads and we can start to even things up!
Sat 4 Feb 2006 Away L1 2-0 Bentley, Goater 6,289
Tue 27 Sep 2005 Home L1 4-1 Gutteridge, Gray, Eastwood(2) 6,694
Sat 30 Apr 2005 Home L2 0-1 11,735
Sat 20 Nov 2004 Away L2 1-3 Barrett 5,839
Sat 24 Apr 2004 Home D3 0-2 5,676
Sat 15 Nov 2003 Away D3 0-4 5,248
Sat 11 Dec 1982 Home FAC2 3-0 Pountney(2), Phillips 4,554
Sat 16 Nov 1963 Away FAC1 0-1 7,631
Thu 20 Nov 1958 Away FAC1r 0-1 11,000
Sat 15 Nov 1958 Home FAC1 0-0 15,265
THE HISTORY
They have spent almost all of their history outside The Football League but are still one of the most famous F.A. Cup 'giant-killing' teams that has earned them notoriety around the country and indeed it can be said around the world. The club, founded in 1890 as Yeovil Football Club, shared a ground for many years with the town's rugby club. In 1895 they became Yeovil Casuals and moved to play their home games at the Pen Mill Athletic ground. The club became
In the 1948-49, Yeovil defeated
Between 1955 and 1973 they lifted the Southern Football League crown three times, with the runners-up spot being reached on two occasions. During this period,
1979 saw the birth of what is now the Blue Square Premier, the game's fifth tier, of which the Glovers were founder-members. In 1985 they were relegated to the Vauxhall Opel League. After three years Yeovil won the championship in 1988 and returned to the then Football Conference.
There was success in the Bob Lord Challenge Trophy in 1990 and three years later Yeovil finished fourth in the Conference, their best finish ever. In January 1995 Graham Roberts was appointed manager, but demotion back to the Isthmian League (ICIS) soon followed. Yeovil secured promotion back to the Conference in 1997 after winning the ICIS league, as it was then known, by a record number of 101 points.
The real turning point came in June 2001 when Gary Johnson took charge and he won the FA Umbro Trophy in his first season with a 2-0 win over Stevenage Borough in the final at
In February 2004, the team released the single 'Yeovil True' which reached No. 36 in the
The messiah David Webb, though maybe not in the West Country, or certain areas of
Back in September 2005, manager Gary Johnson left
Slade went on to get them a play off place at the end of his first season when they played an extraordinary semi-final against
Yeovil got their nick name, The Glovers, from the many glove factories that were present in
They now play their home games at
Known for their green and white hopped shirts, though maybe not as well known as Glasgow Celtic, they have in fact only worn them since the 2003-04 season/.
In Ciderspace they have one of the best independent fan sites in the country, worth a look but they should update the Southend section, though it is good fun to see they predicted us to finish 16th the season we actually won the damn thing.
(Thanks to all the usual suspects for their help with this article).