Yeovil Town FC

So let’s #GetTheBadgeIn for Yeovil Town FC and see what lies behind this famous team.

So, lets get straight to it. Why The Glovers and why are there gloves in the badge? It all comes from Yeovil’s biggest trade for over 200 years – leather glove-making. Recorded as far back as 1349, when local “glovers” were listed alongside skinners and tanners, the industry grew after Somerset’s woollen cloth trade declined in the late Middle Ages.

By the 18th century, glove-making had become Yeovil’s main employer, with giants like Hawkins, Bartletts, and Denner & Stiby exporting around the world. At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands worked in dozens of factories, producing a large share of Britain’s gloves. Though the industry has vanished today – Prittards, the last factory, closed in 2023 – the football club still proudly carries the trade’s name and symbol on its crest.

Founded in 1895 (merging later with Petters United), Yeovil spent decades at Huish, a ground made infamous by its extraordinary slope – an 8-foot sideline-to-sideline drop that became part of the club’s giant-killing aura. That reputation peaked in the 1949 FA Cup when Yeovil dumped First Division Sunderland out 2–1 in front of 17,000 before heading to Maine Road to face Manchester United. In 1990 they moved to Huish Park, but the slope is still talked about in football folklore.

Today, Yeovil are back on the rise – having won the 2023–24 National League South title, they’re returning to the National League (Step 1 of non-league) and aiming to climb again after their 2013 high point of reaching the Championship.

One of their most famous modern links is Marcus Stewart. A deadly finisher, Stewart was Premier League Golden Boot runner-up in 2000–01 with Ipswich Town, scoring 19 goals – more than Henry, Shearer, or Owen that season. He returned to Yeovil as Head of Player Development in 2022, but later revealed his diagnosis with motor neurone disease (MND). Since then, he and his family have become tireless fundraisers and advocates for MND charities, earning admiration far beyond Somerset.

The town itself has deep roots – listed in the Domesday Book as Givele, it was granted a charter by King John in 1205, endured the Black Death, and survived devastating fires in 1499, 1620, and 1643. Its location made it a busy market hub, later connected by competing railway companies in the 19th century.

In the 20th century, Yeovil’s fortunes turned skyward. Westland Helicopters (now Leonardo) became the town’s largest employer, producing both military and civilian aircraft. Honeywell Aerospace manufactures oxygen systems here, and the nearby Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton is one of Britain’s busiest military airfields. This aerospace cluster remains central to the town’s economy and identity.

From medieval markets and glove factories to an infamous sloping pitch and modern aircraft hangars, Yeovil has always adapted while keeping its heritage alive. And in footballing terms, Yeovil are moving back in the right direction. The gloves are off.