Yeovil Town: Relegated club taken over by locally-run Hellier Group
- Published
Businessman Martin Hellier (left) is already one of the sponsors at Yeovil Town
The Hellier Group have completed a takeover of Yeovil Town, the relegated National League club have confirmed.
The Yeovil-based business is run by entrepreneur Martin Hellier, a Glovers supporter and sponsor.
Chairman Scott Priestnall, who first took over in 2019, has been trying to sell Yeovil for some time and confirmed a deal had been agreed on Thursday.
An earlier deal with group SU Glovers fell through in May, two months after they said they were already in charge.
Yeovil were relegated to the National League South for next season, marking a significant fall for a club that a decade ago won promotion to the Championship for the first time.
"Rejoice. The long winter of discord is over," a statement from Hellier said.
"As local owners, our hearts are rooted in the wellbeing and progression of our community, and we pledge to every fan, our intentions to form one entity, one club, one community, and to finally, 'Achieve by Unity'.
"This has been a long and stressful process, I have been passionate about my beliefs and feelings because I deeply care about this club.
"This has not been a transaction for financial gain, it has involved a vast amount of time and effort to arrange, it is because I have the very best interests of this football club at heart."
Repurchase of Huish Park
Yeovil Town have played their home games at Huish Park since 1990
The takeover comes after a period of instability and discontent between supporters and the ownership, with Priestnall repeatedly criticised for his lack of communication during his tenure by supporters.
The SU Glovers group emerged in March but went on to fuel months of uncertainty over who was in charge, with disagreements over the transfer policy spilling into the public domain at the same time results on the pitch deteriorated.
Fan discontent grew further when Huish Park was controversially sold to the South Somerset District council in May last year.
Hellier confirmed that the deal includes the purchase of both companies related to the club - Yeovil Town & Athletic Club and Yeovil Town Holdings, the latter which has the right to buy back the land and surrounding areas from the council.
"We intend to reunite [it] with the trading business in the months to come," he said.
Priestnall, whose tenure began when Yeovil dropped out of the English Football League four years ago, acknowledged fans had suffered the most.
"It has been a difficult journey and I appreciate it has been hardest on you, the fans, most of all," he said in a statement.
"I am confident that this transaction is one in the best interests of the club.
"Yeovil Town Football Club is a club that is, and always will be, very close to my heart. I wish the manager, the players, Martin and the fans all the best for the future."
Supporters unite
A fans meeting was held on Thursday night at the same time a 'Save our club' coalition was formed, with representatives from all of Yeovil's fan groups.
The aim is to help safeguard the club's future and Hellier said he was looking forward to working with the group.
"I think we need to get on the front foot as a group of supporters, I think we've been passive and it's time for us to take a more positive approach to the issues that we face as supporters," Roger Pipe, chairman of the Glovers Trust told BBC Points West before the takeover was completed.
"Whoever comes in it's the same issues, we need to know their intentions, we need to know that they want to going to engage with fans, we need to know that they are going to communicate with fans and we need to know that they've got really good ideas of how to take the club forward.
"We've hopefully hit the bottom and we need to know what the plans are for moving us forward."