Yeovil Town FC is to launch a series of initiatives designed to encourage increased average attendance at Huish Park to 5000.

Average home attendances this season are just over 4000 and recent fixtures have seen the Club record some of its lowest gates since joining the Football League. Whilst the fall in attendances is a problem shared by many other clubs this season, the Glovers are determined to reverse the trend and will be rolling out a number of different promotions and ideas to re-build the average gate.

CEO Martyn Starnes said “We are obviously concerned at the numbers attending Huish Park recently and we need to rebuild our home support. It’s a challenging environment for most clubs at the moment and we recognise it’s going to be a tough task to return our average attendance to 5000 but we have to set ourselves a target that will enable us to move forward with our ambitions”

The programme of initiatives will include incentives for season ticket holders, local senior and junior club members, schools and corporate groups.

There will also be Family Packages and Ticket bundles offered and promotional schemes with sponsors and advertisers.  Supporters are also to be asked to send in their ideas for increasing attendances with an attractive prize being offered to the individual who provides the best original suggestion.

A key part of the Target 5 programme will be focused on offering benefits to young supporters who are the Glovers of the Future. In conjunction with the Community Sports Trust there will be more involvement offered to local schools and clubs featuring Stadium Tours, coaching sessions, half time activities and a new area on the Club’s official website featuring news from local youth football.  

The new area will include photos of star players from the previous weekend, video clips on a special “You Tube” link, match reports and mentions in despatches for any notable contributions to games.

All clubs in the local Youth leagues will be contacted requesting feedback and the Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has committed to provide players for local club events provided they are held on designated days that the team make available.

Yeovil Town Manager Gary Johnson said of the initiative:”I am very conscious of the need to build a new generation of supporters for this great club. It was a fact that was drummed home to me recently when I bumped into a group of youngsters from one of the local teams. Their enthusiasm was amazing and it made me realise we must engage with all the youngsters of the area. 

"Not only can we satisfy their hunger for a connection with this club, but who knows we could quite easily , with help from the Community Trust, find the next Wayne Rooney out there in Merriott or Pen Mill or Lyde United. Supporter bases change with the passing years and we must be prepared to engage with and encourage the younger supporters out there in the local area.”

Commencing with the Carlisle fixture on 24th November, the Club will be offering vouchers to children that attend the Community Trust’s development centres and school coaching programmes inviting them to attend the match for free if they attend with an adult who will be able to buy a ticket at a discounted sum of £10. 

Schools that are not currently involved in the Club’s Community programme can participate in this offer on application to the Club or the Community Sports Trust .

This will be followed by a Kids for a Quid match on the 22 December against Oldham Athletic.  

Further announcements will be made in advance of upcoming home fixtures as the Glovers look to achieve their target.