Yeovil Town L.F.C.
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| Full name | Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Glovers | ||
| Founded | 1990 (as Yetminster Ladies) | ||
| Ground | Huish Park, Yeovil | ||
| Capacity | 9,565 | ||
| Chairman | Stephen Allinson | ||
| Manager | Jamie Sherwood | ||
| League | FA WSL 2 | ||
| 2016 | FA WSL 2, 1st (promoted) | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Yeovil, Somerset. They are affiliated with Yeovil Town F.C. and play in the second division of the FA WSL, the second level on the Women's pyramid. The club are managed by Jamie Sherwood.
Prior to moving to the FA WSL, the club played in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division after gaining promotion from the South West Combination Women's Football League for a second time in 2012. The team currently plays their home matches at the home of Yeovil Town, Huish Park with some matches held at Sherborne Town, Raleigh Grove.
History
The team was formed by Tony Baverstock as Yetminster Ladies, and originally competed in South West League Division Two, the club's first game was against Weymouth Vikings on 16 September 1990. The club was renamed Sherborne Ladies in 1993, and in 1997 the team reached the 4th Round of the Women's FA Cup, finally going out to Everton Ladies in front of a crowd of over 500 at Huish Park. The team was renamed Yeovil Town Ladies in 1999, and progressed well under the management of John Flatters. After Mr Flatters departed the club, first team coach Steve Phelps took over.[1]
The 2004–05 season saw Yeovil Town Ladies win the Somerset County Cup Final against Keynsham Town Ladies, the end of this season also saw the 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. The following season saw 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 2006–07 season saw the Glovers at last seal promotion to the South West Combination League.[1]
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, Yeovil Town footballer Nathan Jones joined as first team coach in November 2009. Yeovil finished the season third, behind league champions Queens Park Rangers and second place Plymouth Argyle. The Reserves finished the season as League champions, gaining promotion to the South West League, Division One.[1]
The following season saw the team hit the headlines following a 21–0 victory over Reading Town in the August.[2] This inspired them to race to the top of the league with a 9–1 win over Cullompton, a hard fought victory at Forest green and a 2–2 draw at Havant & Waterlooville. The season was disrupted by poor weather for almost four months, but this allowed the team to concentrate on the FA Cup, with victories over Saltash United, Forest Green Rovers and Newquay taking them to an exciting fourth round tie with Norwich City, a game that saw them come out 3–0 winners, setting up a tie with Nottingham Forest. They lost this narrowly 1–0, but clearly showed their higher league promise. The team won the South West Combination Women’s League, having won seventeen, drawn one and lost just two of their twenty matches, scoring 103 goals, conceding just fifteen.[1]
The 2010–11 season saw the club competing in FA Women's Premier League Southern Division for the first time, however, they unfortunately found themselves relegated back to the South West Combination at the end of the season after a brave battle. They however fared better in the county cup, getting through to the final thanks to a 3–1 victory over Keynsham Town. March 2011 saw the departure of the long serving first team manager Steve Phelps and his assistant manager Nigel Wolfe from their positions at the club. Steve cited work and personal commitments for his resignation.[1]
Nigel Williams and Sarah Lawler took over as joint managers of the first team, with Chris White installed as assistant manager. They initially steadied the ship with draws against Cardiff City and Colchester United, but defeats against West Ham United and Portsmouth in their final two matches confirmed the return to the South West Combination. The season ended with a 3–0 win over Larkhall Athletic in the final of the Somerset Women’s Senior Cup.[1]
The 2011–12 season was the first full season under the tenure of the new joint first team managers saw two trophies won by the senior squad, with the lifting of both the South West Women’s Combination Football League Trophy and the Somerset FA Women’s Senior Cup. The club also had the honour of being awarded the FA National Respect Gold award for the English ladies football pyramid. The start of the season saw the departure from the club of the long serving and record goal scorer Jemma Tewkesbury, who moved to Portsmouth Ladies, but the league campaign starting with a 7–1 victory over Keynsham Development and this set the precedent for the season, with the girls staying unbeaten in the league throughout. The county cup campaign started well with a 1–0 win over Keynsham Town. The girls received a bye to the final, where they beat Larkhall Athletic 3–0 to lift the trophy for the second consecutive season. The girls were crowned champions in April, with two games to spare, confirming promotion back to the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division at the first time of asking.[1]
The 2012–13 season saw the club finish 3rd in the Premier League Southern Division, their highest ever finishing position, and reached the 5th round of the FA Women's Cup before losing 4–0 to Leeds United. In April 2013, it was confirmed that the club had been accepted in to the new expanded FA WSL Division 2.[3]
The 2016 season saw Yeovil win promotion to FA WSL 1.[4]
Players
Current squad
- As of 11 September 2016.[5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Backroom staff
Management
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| First team manager |   Jamie Sherwood |
| Assistant manager | Michelle Yeowell |
| Coach | Pete Amos |
| Goalkeeping coach | Tony Rich |
| Physio | Kim Cheffey |
| Match analyst | Matt Powell |
Honours
- South West Combination
- Winners (2): 2009–10, 2011–12
- Somerset FA Women's Senior Cup
- Winners (4): 2004–05, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Yeovil Town Ladies Club History". Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
- ↑ "Glovers ladies hit record score". BBC Sport. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
- ↑ "Manchester City to compete in WSL top tier after restructure". BBC Sport. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
- ↑ "WSL 2: London Bees 0–2 Yeovil Town Ladies". BBC Sport. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
- ↑ "First Team Player Profiles". Yeovil Town L.F.C. Retrieved 1 March 2015.