Five fresh clubs in Conference

Hereford United will visit five different grounds this coming season. Altrincham, Cambridge United, Grays Athletic, Kidderminster and Southport join the Conference this season.

Altrincham are still part-time. Every player has another job and the club only trains three times a week. They were last in the Conference five years ago. Last season they surprised many of their own supporters by gaining promotion with a background of a low budget and debts. Founder members of the Conference in 1979 they stayed for 18 years until relegation. Even then they returned to the Conference for a year but finished bottom. Their manager is Graham Heathcote and they are called the 'Robins'

Cambridge United were relegated from League Two at the end of last season. The club also went into administration with a £500,000 Inland Revenue debt. But following talks set up by Sports Minister Richard Caborn, the Inland Revenue agreed not to vote against a Company Voluntary Agreement. Hopes are high that they can settle in the Conference. Manager Rob Newman will have to work with a low budget this season but has made some shrewd signings.

Grays Athletic will compete in the Conference for the first time this season. They won the Conference South title with ease and nearly all of that squad has stayed on. Without doubt much of the success of Grays can be put down to the financial situation at the club. Their manager, Mark Simpson, has a consortium behind him whom, it is beleived, have made money from business with London Underground.

Kidderminster are back in the Conference after five years in the Football League. They are no strangers to the Conference as they were members for 17 years before gaining promotion in 2000 when Jan Molby was their manager. In fact, had their ground been up to standard they could have gone up in 1994. Life has been difficult at Aggborough recently but a new consortium is now in charge and manager Stuart Watkiss has been busy signing fresh players.

Southport are also no strangers to the Conference having only been away for two seasons. They had an awful collapse in form in early 2003 which took them from fourth place to relegation. They defeated Hereford at Edgar Street that season but later the Bulls' victory at Haig Avenue make certain Southport went down. Still part-timers, Southport has manager Liam Watson in charge and Terry Fearns who scored 35 goals last season remains with them.

Meanwhile an article in today's Daily Telegraph suggests that the "main challenge for the title should come from..... Hereford."

They also note: "It will be intriguing to see if they benefit most from the transfer swap which has brought them Jon Brady from Stevenage who, in turn, have acquired Danny Williams."

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