12th July 2013

Yeovil Town Football Club’s short trip for pre-season bonding started this morning at approximately 03.00 when a very bleery eyed Press Officer crawled out of the pit to await coach and horses for transport to Bristol International Airport.

We arrived at around 05.00 for our Easy Jet flight to Faro. We were quickly accosted by a group of rowdy cricketers from MY cricket club at North Perrott. They were supposedly travelling to Alburfura for a seven day seminar on the effects of over indulgence in life!! 
This of course left the first team badly short for Saturday’s match but did they care…..No!!!
So as we all queued up to check in our baggage the usual Easy Jet problems began. Yes we all had our passports and no the gate hadn’t shut but we had too much baggage! Now as I’m sure you can guess football teams don’t travel light but that nice lady from Easy Jet maintained that they knew nothing about our baggage arrangements.
By this time Mr.Johnson and Mr.Skiverton had steam coming out of their ears as we were forced to shell out another £475 for excess baggage.
No wonder that Stelios bloke is worth a bob or two!!!
Anyway we managed to proceed towards the gate and hung around to get onto the plane.
Poor Dan the Kit man, who doesn’t like flying and had not set foot on a plane before, was seated between Marek Stech and Luke Ayling!! Can you imagine two worse people to be seated next to for a nervous flyer???
Anyway we took off and the two and half hour flight seemed to pass fairly quickly  as we landed in Faro at around 9.30am.
Collect the bags, on to a bus and we set of for Brown’s Sporting Training camp.
We are cordially shown around the site and bump into first Ian Holloway and his recently promoted Premier team including old Huish Park favorite Scotty Guyett and then Gary’s old assistant Keith Millen who is now on the Palace coaching staff.
In for a meeting and review of the 7-0 friendly victory over Weymouth, watch a bit of cricket before lunch is served.
One of the biggest problems with Easy Jet’s schedule is firstly getting up at 03.00 which is not recommended and secondly because you arrive relatively early you have to hang about to allow the camp staff to prepare your rooms.
Anyway we were in our rooms by 2.30 which allowed everybody to relax before the boys start their first training session at 17.30.
Wow now you can see that this trip is not a jolly!! In temperatures high in the twenties the lads are put through a rigorous series of exercises and seven a side games.
Believe you me this is not for the faint hearted and anyone who thinks a footballers life is easy….well think again my friend.
What we did see though were some really encouraging signs emerging as the squad takes shape.
Everyone is committed, dedicated and above all skillful and bearing in mind this is only the end of the second week Glovers supporters can take great heart.
So enough of this "We’ll take nineteenth!" it should be we’ll take tenth.
Shower time and then dinner follows and then an early night for everyone concerned. It’ll be an early morning with breakfast at 8.00.