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At present Edgar Street is owned by the Herefordshire Council and leased to the Richardson Brothers. They in turn lease it to Hereford United. And whilst there is little doubt that with the recent extension of the main lease and the promise of development football will continue at Edgar Street for many years to come, there is uncertainty as to whether Hereford United will return to leasing the ground direct from the council without the involvement of a developer.
There are two leases, one expires in 2020 and the other in 2057.
Until the mid-nineties the club were the only tenants. But when the club became so laden with debt it had to arrange borrowing from outside sources, the hand-over of the leases was part of the deal.
Whilst the developers who took on the leases have been very fair over the cost of the lease, the terms said that even if the debt was paid off the leases would not return to the club. The club currently pays £4,700 per year according to the accounts.
It was just over ten years ago in an agreement made with the BS Group to borrow £500,000, that the developers agreed to pay the rent due to the council instead of the club.
A precondition to the granting of the loan was that the leases ... be assigned to BS Group. Under leases in identical terms were then granted to the club. There is no right of reassignment back to the club in the event of repayment of the loan advance.
The Richardsons now own the lease and it would be a marvellous gesture if the leases could be handed back to the club as part of the development of the stadium area.
Graham Turner summed up the position last Friday in his interview on the Official Website.
"We will lose that debt (with the development). It's been a millstone around our necks. The deal done, even if we paid it back, we didn't get the leases back. We've got to make the best of working from a position of disadvantage."