Hereford United's Future Looks Secure

In the twelve months since David Keyte and Tim Russon took over at Hereford United there has been much talk about improving parts of the Edgar Street stadium and its surrounds.

However, as yet, apart from new dug-outs and revamped sponsors rooms, none of the larger projects have been started.

This is understandable as it appears that when Keyte and Russon looked at the plans for the Blackfriars End they didn't like what they saw and so decided to have another look at what had been proposed by former chairman Graham Turner.

In any case those plans had been drawn up with the Richardsons involved and, quite rightly, Keyte and Russon took the view it would be better if the Richardsons were out of equation. As is now known, Keyte negotiated a deal with the Richardsons which in effect has paid off their involvement with Hereford United. The club is now free of debt and about to sign a long term lease deal with Herefordshire Council which will put it into a stronger position financially than at any time over at least the past twenty years.

Keyte's optimism for the future is admirable. A new Blackfriars End, a rebuilt Sportsman's Club, a new training facility in Hereford and later on a new Meadow End. That list is probably incomplete.

What he hasn't yet spelt out is how the club are going to finance all these improvements without going back into debt.

Whilst some grant money will be available, the bulk of the finance for these projects will have to be raised through joint ventures or the like.

One source will be the Football Foundation. However their funds are limited and Keyte will probably only be able to get one grant from them for stadium improvements. That will go to towards the Blackfriars End.

Security of tenure:

To be eligible for funding, your club must be a member of the English Football League and either own the freehold of the site you want to develop or have a lease with at least 10 years left before it runs out. You may be eligible if your club has a licence agreement, but we will consider each licence agreement separately.

Grant Limits:

Grants will be limited to 50% of eligible costs and the following upper limit applies:

All Football League clubs:

£750,000

Eligible work:

We can provide grants for major development projects and projects to make necessary safety improvements

In percentage terms there might be more funding towards a new training facility in Hereford.

"There are fairly wide discussions at the moment because there's a lot of grant money available provided it's a facility for grass-roots football for youngsters and for use by the community," Keyte told the Hereford Times.

"It would be nice if we could replicate the Ludlow set up - an all weather pitch plus a couple of grass pitches."

The Football Foundation may be able to help as this would be a different type of project to the Blackfriars End.

Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded around 8,000 grants worth more than £420m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of over £520m

As regards the Sportsmans Club which as Keyte has said is in desparate need of substantial work, it's difficult to see where outside finance will come from other than perhaps a deal with a brewery.

However with Keyte having links to local business perhaps he could persuade someone like Peter Amor who chairs the excellent Wye Valley Brewery to get involved. Having Butty Bach available in the Sportsman Club would enhance the venue.

Finally the Meadow End. As this project is a few years away, the grants available may be changed by then. And there is the hope that the club might be able to fund much of the cost by allowing the land behind and perhaps underneath the stand for other purposes.

All in all, the future of Hereford United looks more secure than it has been for decades.

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