Fact File
Full Name: Yeovil Town
Year Formed: 1895
Nickname: The Glovers
Stadium: Huish Park
Capacity: 9,565
2021/22 Finish: 12th in the National League
Review of the 2021/22 season
Yeovil Town’s start to the 2021/22 National League season failed to give the supporters at Huish Park any hopes of promotion. A 2-0 defeat at Grimsby Town had the Glovers around mid-table after ten games. Darren Sarll’s side then went on an eight-game unbeaten streak but that was soon followed by a run of one win in 14 games which ruined any chances of making the play-offs. Sarll departed Huish Park in March 2022 with Charlie Lee taking the reigns until the end of the season. The last two months of the season saw Yeovil saunter home; Josh Staunton was caretaker manager for the last game of the campaign with him guiding the club to a 1-0 win away at Altrincham.
Manager – Chris Hargreaves
Chris Hargreaves played over 650 times in a career that lasted 29 years – his most prominent spells coming at Hereford United, Northampton Town and Torquay United. After his retirement, the former striker made his way into coaching and management. His first managerial spell came at Torquay United in January 2014 and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t keep the club in the Football League. During the summer of 2015, Hargreaves was put on gardening leave. In the seven years since leaving Plainmoor, the 50-year-old has been a coach with the Bristol Rovers youth set-up as well as a pundit on BT Sport’s coverage of the National League. He became Yeovil Town manager in May 2022.
Star Player – Charlie Wakefield
Charlie Wakefield first signed a professional contract with Chelsea in 2017, but never played a game in the two-years following. He also had a loan spell with Stevenage in 2017 but he never played due to injury. The winger joined Coventry City after leaving Stamford Bridge; he played nine times for the Sky Blues but was released at the end of the 2019/20 season. Wakefield had spells at Wealdstone and Bromley where he started to find some regular football. A move to Yeovil Town followed in the summer of 2021 and the 24-year-old has since become a favourite a Huish Park. Last season, he scored eight goals in 48 games.
Overall Head-to-head Record
P16 W8 D3 L5
The two sides first met in 1950 but the first league meeting came in 2005; since then, Chesterfield have had the better of the head-to-head meetings. Goals from Manny Oyeleke and Kabongo Tshimanga gave the Spireites a 2-0 victory at Huish Park. The reverse fixture was also won by the Blues in front of the BT cameras – Jim Kellermann with a fantastic strike just before half time.
Played for both – Jack Clarke
Jack Clarke is someone that has experienced playing both for Chesterfield and Yeovil Town. The midfielder, who started at Aston Villa, got his first loan move in 2020 to Yeovil. The spell lasted a couple of months with him only getting two appearances. Clarke moved to Chesterfield on loan later that same season – enjoying a much better time in north Derbyshire. The 23-year-old played 21 times and scored twice as the Spireites made the National League play-offs. His move was made a permanent one just before the start of the last campaign. Unfortunately, Clarke struggled with injury as he played just seven times – scoring once.