The Houndstone Site before work started on the ground Photo © 1989-2003 Alan Bergman

The Houndstone site as seen from the air, before work commenced on the site

Drilling rig sinking borehole for water - the first signs of activity at the new site. Photo © 1989-2003 Alan Bergman

During the summer of 1989, Bass became the new sponsors for a two year period, the Club to receive £24,000. The first work at the new ground got underway in May when bore holes were drilled, a month later it was revealed that the cost of the new development had risen to £3.5m and that Bartletts had come forward with a further £400,000 bringing the total for the sale of Huish to £2.8m.

On the playing front there was great sadness when Guy Whittingham had signed for Portsmouth, the Club did not receive any compensation fee, or even a friendly game. Everton tried to sign him, had he gone North, Yeovil would have received £35,000 compensation!

Steve Tapley was sold to Wealdstone for £7,000 and Mick Doherty to Runcorn for £15,000. Joining the Club were Paul Wilson, £13,000 from Boston United and Robbie Carroll and Simon Gowans for a joint fee of £9,000 from Fareham. Others to arrive included Barry Blackman, David Fry (Fisher Athletic) and Richard Thompson (Torquay United).

The season opened in disappointing fashion and by the end of September Yeovil were in 10th position, the month also saw the start of the injury problem which was to haunt the team until late in the season. October saw entry into the FA Cup and a potentially difficult hurdle at Staines was cleared with ease. On 16th October 1989 the first turf was cut at Huish Park and work commenced that same day. Also during October, Nicky Dent was signed for a fee of £2,000 (Bristol Manor Farm) and a profit of £4,779 for the previous season was reported at the AGM.

Nicky Dent joined the club from Bristol Manor Farm in October. Photo © 2003 Tim Lancaster

November opened in disastrous fashion with a 0-1 home defeat by Mangotsfield in the Somerset Premier Cup and in the FA Cup Yeovil were drawn away to Maidstone United who were ground sharing at Watling Street, the home of Dartford United. The game was played on a Sunday, the team shared the same hotel as Liverpool for the pre-match meal, this brought them no luck going down 1-2. In the last 10 minutes Yeovil bombarded the 'Stones' goal, Micky Spencer got one back with 5 minutes to go but in the end the final whistle came too quickly to get a draw.

The erection of steelwork commenced at the new stadium on 16th November but safety work, at the insistence of the Safety Officer, was still going on at Huish, a CCTV system was installed at a cost of £13,100. Phil Ferns was sold to Poole Town for £3,000 and Derek Dawkins joined from Torquay United.

Due to inclement weather, and Cup commitments by opponents, only three League games were played in December, the last game of the month saw Yeovil registering their first away win of the season to-date with a 2-1 victory at Fisher Athletic who played in the heart of 'Yuppie' East End of London. To supplement the lack of League games, Fourth Division Aldershot came to Huish to play a friendly, soldier Craig Gill recently signed from Bashley scored in the 2-2 draw, Yeovil paying Bashley £2,000 compensation for his services.

Off the field, Burton Albion, Barnet and Chesham United all expressed an interest in buying the stand at Huish but nothing came of this. A quotation was received for £265,000 to cover one end of the terraces and on 10th December 1989 the first 'open' day was held at Huish Park when several hundred supporters were shown around the new site. It was agreed that the turf from Huish would be sold at the end of the season and an advertisement was placed in the Daily Mail at a cost of £1,000. Also it was agreed to bring out a 'last day cover' to commemorate the last game to be played at the old ground against Telford United. Late in the month two further quotations were received for the new stadium, £55,000 to provide 5,003 seats and £24,000 for 16 turnstiles.

Yeovil opened their FA Trophy campaign by returning to Watling Street, this time to play Dartford who were top of the Beazer Homes League. Yeovil winning 2-1. In the Bob Lord Trophy it looked as if Yeovil were on the way out of the Competition at Welling United, trailing 0-1 with seconds to go. A Robbie Carroll goal sent the tie into extra time then a Jimmy Quinn goal gave Yeovil a famous victory.

February was a month of gales and heavy rain, Enfield arrived at Huish only to return straight home, the game being called off only an hour before kick-off. The weather also caused two postponements of the FA Trophy game against Aylesbury United. During the day the game was finally played, 1,486 calls were made on the 'Hotline' to listen to updates on the likelihood of the game being played. The crowd of 2,066 who came to the game saw Yeovil run out 2-0 winners.

In the next round Yeovil drew 1-1 with Barrow only to lose the replay 2-1 on a night of violent gales, the return journey from Barrow taking 10 hours due to weather conditions on the Motorways. Paul Thorpe and Gerry Pearson left the club for Dorchester and Poole Town respectively for £3,000 each.

In March the Green and White Supporters Club ran a weekend away trip to Darlington and five Vice Presidents flew up for the game, and Yeovil moved into the Semi-Finals of the Bob Lord Trophy with a sensational 3-2 win over Barnet. Nicky Dent put Yeovil two up within 10 minutes and a third from Micky Spencer appeared to have put the match beyond Barnet's reach. However, just before half time Len Bond was carried off injured, two goal hero Nicky Dent took over in goal and Yeovil just managed to hold out. Richard Thompson moved to Trowbridge on a free transfer and Jimmy Quinn moved to Enfield for £10,000 to be joined shortly after by Gary Donnellan for a record £20,000. Craig Gill won a Welsh non league International Cap. And so there was just one month of football to play at Huish......

See Also: GMVC League Table; First Team Goals; First Team Appearances; First Team Results; GMVC Top Scorers; GMVC Top Crowds; GMVC Average Crowds.

The construction of the stands starts to take shape at the new site