After a dogged performance against Hartlepool United on Saturday, Aldershot Town bring winning form to the EBB Stadium on Wednesday, 24th September, as they face Yeovil Town in a midweek Enterprise National League fixture.
Founded in 1895, ‘the Glovers’ have had an extremely eventful 21st century, with four promotions and four relegations seeing them contest in the National League South, the Championship, and everything in between. Sixth-tier champions at the first time of asking in 2023/24, their return to step-one saw the side finish in 18th place, falling off after a relatively strong start.
A turbulent start to the season sees Somerset’s only professional football club once again flirting with the lower reaches of the table, with ten points in as many games.
RECENT FORM
While the Glovers haven’t been devoid of promising moments, it has perhaps been the side’s inability to put together a run of positive results that has frustrated most, with each of their three wins being sandwiched between a pair of losses.
- 20/09/25 – Tamworth 1-0 Yeovil Town
- 13/09/25 – Yeovil Town 1-0 Woking (McCormick)
- 06/09/25 – Yeovil Town 1-3 York City (McCormick)
- 02/09/25 – Solihull Moors 0-1 Yeovil Town (Morias)
- 30/08/25 – FC Halifax Town 3-2 Yeovil Town (Morias, Greenslade)
It has been exactly five games since the club’s dismissal of Mark Cooper, who was relieved of his duties after a significant capitulation at home to Gateshead saw the side lose 4-3, despite leading by three at half-time.
Since then, it has been a quietly respectful showing from then-caretaker manager Richard Dryden, who found himself victorious in two of four outings. A further spurned lead away to Halifax saw the Shaymen emerge 3-2 victors, before brief reprieve in the West Midlands saw Junior Morias score the only goal of the game against Solihull Moors. However, a 3-1 loss at home to York City would put the Somerset side in 18th place heading into mid-September.
The club announced that Chesterfield assistant, Danny Webb, would be appointed as permanent manager on September 12th, with the Dorset-born coach watching on as Dryden earned his second victory of the stint, Luke McCormick’s 92nd minute strike earning a dramatic 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Woking.
In what would unfortunately prove to be Webb’s one and only game in charge, Yeovil lost 1-0 at Tamworth, as Kennedy Digie’s late header proved the only goal of the game in Staffordshire.
IN THE DUGOUT
An extremely familiar face at the EBB Stadium, Richard Dryden returns to North Hampshire having only left his post as assistant manager in June. Just ten days after the instillation of Danny Webb, the club announced on Monday morning that the 42-year-old would be resigning from his post due to personal and family reasons, with Dryden now scheduled to be instilled as permanent manager until the end of the campaign.
Born in Stroud, Dryden forged his way into football as an accomplished defender, with significant spells at Exeter City, Notts County, and Southampton. He would claim 47 Premier League appearances for the Saints, having joined in the summer of 1996, just one month after the departure of a certain Tommy Widdrington.
He began a regular and long-standing working relationship with Mark Cooper in 2004, the two both enacting player-coach roles at Tamworth. Retiring from on-field duties in 2007, he would spend two-and-a-half seasons in charge of sixth-tier Worcester City, before a spate of assistant roles that saw him rejoin Cooper at each of Darlington, Notts County, Forest Green and Barrow.
Dryden joined the Shots as Tommy Widdrington’s Assistant Manager at the end of the 2022/23 season, proceeding to become a key member of staff amid a memorable period for the club, present for both the club’s 23/24 Emirates FA Cup run and 24/25 Isuzu FA Trophy victory.
Dryden may himself be surprised to return to the EBB as a permanent head-coach so soon after leaving, though after a turbulent start to life in Somerset – not through any fault of his own – he must now face off against his old colleagues, after first remembering to turn left out of the tunnel.
FORMER SHOTS
Dom Bernard – The Gloucester-born defender featured 37 times for the Shots in 2018-19, after joining on a season long loan from Birmingham City.
Since making over 150 Football League appearances for Forest Green Rovers, the former Republic of Ireland international has been an ever-present in the Glovers backline since joining in the summer of 2024.
James Daly – The forward joined Aldershot Town in February 2024, on loan from Harrogate Town, scoring in victories against Oldham Athletic and Ebbsfleet United as the Shots pushed for a play-off berth.
Signing this summer, the former Crystal Palace academy man sustained an injury in August, and is unlikely to feature.
Tahvon Campbell – A reasonably successful spell on loan from Rochdale in the latter half of the 2022/23 saw the striker score three goals in nine appearances, including a winner against Wealdstone and an 88th minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw against Eastleigh.
Yet to truly make his mark in Somerset, he has played just 324 minutes across ten league appearances, still awaiting his first goal in green.
MATCH HISTORY AND LAST TIME OUT
Yeovil Town first travelled to North Hampshire exactly 70 years ago, for the first leg of what would become a three-game epic between the two sides in the first round of the 1955-56 FA Cup. With 1-1 draws at each ground, a second-replay was contested at the Dell in Southampton, where the Shots would finally decide the tie, winning 3-0.
Despite both sides spending significant time in the Football Conference and League Two during the first decade of the 21st century, Yeovil’s promotion to the Football League in 2002-03 – the same year that the Shots were first promoted into the fifth-tier – meant the sides would not meet again until September 2019, where the Glovers won 3-1 at the EBB Stadium following their relegation to the National League.
Sharing four of the last five seasons in step-one, the sides have since met on a further nine occasions, with very little separating the two…
Games played: 10
Aldershot wins: 4
Yeovil wins: 3
Draws: 3
Aggregate score: 14-13
Record Shots victory: 2-0 (2022)
Record Yeovil victory: 3-0 (2020)
The sides last met in May, as the Shots emerged 2-1 victors on the final day of the 2024/25 National League season. Goals from Jack Barham and Tyler Frost either side of half-time put the hosts into a two goal lead, former Shot Dominic Bernard scored to threaten a comeback, though that was where the danger stopped. The tie would be somewhat marred by an early injury to Cameron Hargreaves, who in a desperate bout of misfortune, would find himself unavailable for the following week’s FA Trophy final at the final hurdle.
Despite both teams having decidedly little to play for on the day, the result was significant, as the Shots leapfrogged their Somerset-based rivals on the day, finishing above them in the final standings.
TICKET INFO
Tickets are available HERE, and are priced as follows, please note prices will increase at 3pm on the day of the match, these are noted in brackets:
- ADULTS – £23 (£25)
- MILITARY PERSONNEL – £21 (£23)
- SENIOR (Over 66) – £21 (£23)
- DISABLED – £21 (£23)
- YOUNG PERSON (18-20) – £21 (£23)
- 15 AND UNDER – £8 (£10)
- UNDER 11 – FREE
- FAMILY TICKET (Two Adults, Three 15 and Under) – £48 (£52)
We strongly encourage buying tickets in advance or online to save queues in the Ticket Office before the game.
The Club Shop/Ticket Office is open for all supporters with cash and card accepted.
IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT
Live updates will be available from our social media platforms X (@OfficialShots), Instagram (@aldershottownfcofficial), and Facebook. After the game, highlights will be available on our YouTube channel.
The game can be streamed via DAZN’s National League TV coverage. Click HERE to purchase a match pass.
There will be live commentary of the game provided by BBC Radio Surrey – listen online HERE
