Yeardley marks his 400th appearance in style

Sunday 24th January 2016

Steve Yeardley made his 400th first team appearance in Royal Wootton Bassett Town's 3-0 victory against Oxford City Nomads, and marked the occasion with a goal - his 60th for the club - from the penalty spot.

Saturday was a landmark day for Royal Wootton Bassett Town club captain Steve Yeardley as, when he replaced Steve Olphert in the 62nd minute of his side's victory against Oxford City Nomads, it marked his 400th first team appearance for the club.

And he made sure to celebrate the occasion in style, netting Bassett's third from the penalty spot in the game's final minute to seal a convincing 3-0 win.

Whether or not his 400th game is a club record is difficult to ascertain; currently Steve Thomas, a Bassett stalwart who played throughout the '80s and early '90s, is listed as Bassett's all-time appearance maker, though the exact number of times he pulled on the blue and yellow jersey is not known.

However, it goes without saying that Yeardley's loyalty and contributions to the club over the eleven seasons he has played for Bassett stand out in an age when player loyalty is something no longer taken for granted.

He was given his first team debut when aged 17 by his father and then-manager Pete Yeardley in a 2-0 Supplementary Cup first round triumph against Clanfield in November 2002. That season, Yeardley was one of a number of promising youngsters given their first taste of Hellenic League football, with both Ben Gascoyne and Matt Bennett also going on to make valuable contributions to the club.

After making 24 appearances in 2002-03, Yeardley went on to establish himself as a regular at full back in the following campaign when he played 42 times.

He grabbed his first goal for the club during the 2004-05 season, the year Bassett were relegated from the Hellenic Premier, hitting a dramatic late winner away against Milton United in January. Prior to the end of that season, he added three more goals, while he also exceeded the century mark for appearances, playing 46 times in total, and donned the captain's armband for the first time.

Yeardley was then appointed captain on a full time basis by new manager Paul Burke, who took over the reins with the club back in Division One West in 2005-06. The additional responsibility did not faze the skipper and he led by example in an outstanding, yet ultimately bittersweet, season for Bassett. Featuring largely in defence, he helped pilot Bassett to a fifth place finish, only narrowly falling short of an immediate return to the Hellenic Premier, while he scored five goals in 36 games along the way. He would also feature in goal, helping preserve a draw in an eventful FA Vase clash with Christchurch after an injury to John Haines. Yeardley's efforts that season saw him win both Manager's and Players' Player of the Year awards.

His goalscoring prowess continued to flourish a year later when he featured 39 times and finished joint top scorer with Bennett on 11 goals, Yeardley's haul including two in the FA Vase and a pair of penalties in a 3-0 away win at Purton. Demonstrating his willingness to play through the pain barrier, he also produced a man of the match display in a Wiltshire Senior Cup tie against Calne Town that went to penalties just days after having completed the New York Marathon.

In 2007-08 Yeardley was Bassett's leading appearance maker, playing 40 times and scoring six goals. In what was an otherwise underwhelming campaign, Burke's team did enjoy a fantastic run to the FA Cup First Qualifying round, and his captain was a large reason for that, scoring a brace in the shock 2-1 victory against then-Southern League Bracknell Town at Rylands Way.

The consistently high level of his performances have regularly led to interest from elsewhere. But, despite a change in manager in the summer of 2008, Yeardley continued to resist those overtures in order to remain with Bassett for Dave Turner's first year in charge. Employed largely in midfield, he once again had a fine season in front of goal, finishing joint-second top scorer with 12 goals in 39 games. That included another two goals in the FA Vase in wins against Buckingham Athletic and Henley Town.

After again narrowly missing out on promotion with Bassett, who finished fourth, the lure of Hellenic Premier Division football was too much to turn down and Yeardley moved across to Highworth Town in the summer of 2009. He would remain with the Worthians for three seasons and helped them lift the Hellenic League Challenge Cup in 2011-12.

With Highworth boss Dave Webb moving onto Swindon Supermarine that summer, Yeardley returned to Rylands Way in 2012 and skippered the side to promotion from Division One West. He made the second most appearances out of any player, playing 37 times and scoring 8 goals. Half of those strikes came in the first month of the season, including the winner against Calne Town and a crucial equaliser against Highworth Town during Bassett's record setting run to the FA Cup Second Qualifying round.

Yeardley kept the captain's armband in Jeff Roberts' lone season at the helm. Featuring primarily at full back, he failed to improve on the 46 goals he had scored in Bassett colours.

Last season, which he split almost evenly between centre midfield and full back, saw him return to goalscoring ways to take him beyond the half century mark. Yeardley scored ten times, including a brace in a doomed comeback attempt against Ascot United and a match winning penalty in the County Cup against Wroughton. That haul came in 40 total appearances to move him within 17 of 400.

What stood out most about Yeardley's performances last year was that for a long portion of the season he was hobbled by a foot injury that he was informed required surgery. However, he put that off in order to see out the season – Bassett's best ever in the Hellenic Premier.

Yeardley ultimately went under the knife at the back end of 2015, having started the current campaign still troubled by the injury but soldiering on and managing to score three times before his 60th in a Bassett shirt arrived in yesterday's game. He also donned the gloves again, taking over between the sticks in consecutive games, including in a winning effort against Wokingham and Emmbrook.

He is now attempting to work his way back to full fitness, with yesterday's substitute appearance part of that effort.

Aged 30, there should still be plenty left in the tank and, hopefully, more landmark days to come in a Bassett shirt for an outstanding servant of the club.

Last modified on Sunday 24th January 2016 at 13:41.