9th February 2015

Hey everyone, so as you can all probably tell, this week’s blog is a bit later than planned. I submitted my piece as usual on Tuesday evening, but was then told the shocking news that Gary Johnson had been relieved of his duties.

As is the nature of journalism, I am now writing a whole new blog and for me this is a hard piece to write. Last week, I focused on deadline day and all the big moves around the country. However, this week it feels only right for me to focus on Gary Johnson and all he has done for this great club.

First of all, on behalf of all Yeovil Town fans, I want to simply thank Gary for everything he has done for this football club. We pride ourselves on defying the odds and time and time again he helped us to do that. Not only did he help us reach the dream of League football, he then took us to League One level.

Many will have opinions of when he left for Bristol City, but he went on to take them to within 90 minutes of the Premier League. Had it not been for a Dean Windass wonder goal things may have been very different for them and for us. Fast forward to 2012 and the Messiah returned. I can honestly say that when he returned I was not sure if it was going to work or not. They say “never go back” and a lot of the time success cannot be matched second time round. Terry Skiverton was doing an unbelievable job at keeping us in League One, but he needed some help.

The 2012/2013 season was one I will never forget. The free flowing attacking football was a joy to watch and the Play-Off Semi Final second leg against Sheffield United and the final against Brentford are two moments that I will treasure forever. Through all the hard times fans face, those are the moments that no one can take away from you.

The Championship was an unbelievable adventure, I was (and of course still am) so proud to tell everyone I was a Yeovil Town fan. It put us on the map and we did ourselves proud in every single game. It was not quite enough in the end but when we were relegated on that night in Brighton, I had a tear in my eye and could not have been prouder. We fought until the end and went down with our heads held high.

It would be an understatement to say that this season has not gone to plan. However, it was always going to be tough on the back of a relegation and a loss of some huge players. I was always 100% behind Gary Johnson and did not want him to leave. Goals have been hard to come by and there have been some poor performances yet also some truly outstanding ones.

We have not been able to put any sort of run together and that is why we are languishing in the bottom four. No matter what we think of the decision, the most important thing now is to get behind Terry Skiverton and Darren Way and fulfil Mission Survival.

Gary Johnson would want us to play football the right way and secure safety as soon as possible. We started that on Saturday with a crucial 2-1 win over Crawley Town. A relegation six pointer that could be the difference between staying up and going down. Despite going a goal down, the belief in the side was brilliant to see. I thought Kieffer Moore was again outstanding in defence, Ajay Leitch-Smith deserved his goal after a hardworking and skilful performance and James Hayter was back to his best with some delightful through balls. Sam Foley was my man of the match after a truly outstanding 90 minutes. We scored two goals at home for the first time this season in the league and the passion was there for all to see. One moment really sticks in my mind and that is after we equalised. Stephen Arthurworrey did not join in the celebration, he immediately ran to the centre circle eager to re start play and get that win! Moments like that make the goals and the wins all the more special.

We all seem to be on the boat, the boat that will hopefully port with Skivo steering us to safety. All throughout the rest of the season, I will thank Gary Johnson for everything he did and I am sure you will all join me in wishing him well for the future. He always will be a true YTFC legend and I am hopeful he is still our number one fan!

Thank you for the memories and here’s to League One safety for another year!

Just in case we need reminding of one of those great moments, the day we got promoted to the Championship when Gary got a soaking! WHAT.A.DAY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZBrE46I1qI

Until next week, with hopefully less surprises and six more points from huge games at Crewe and Doncaster.

#MISSIONSURVIVAL

Shez