Last January Nick Nenadich wrote to Greg Dyke, the chairman of the FA, about the position of Hereford United.
This week Dyke has come out with plans that are expected to make life even harder for Conference teams such as the Bulls.
For the record here's what Nenadich wrote:
The Chairman of the FA
Wembley Stadium
P O Box 1966
London
SW1P 9EQ
Dear Chairman,
Re: Grassroots Football in England (with particular reference to Herefordshire).
I write on the issue of grassroots football, with an air of concern and fear for the National Game. The effect of relegation from the Football League has been a disaster for Hereford United and could well see it the club almost lost. I fully understand the notion of promotion and relegation and the best teams should play each other if we want better standards.
However the drop from League status to the Conference has been massively damaging and it may take many years to fully recover. It stems from a loss of £750,000 per season down to £50,000 in a foul swoop. No business could manage on a cash flow reduction such as that? Players still are contracted as per the law of the land and the Club is honour bound to meet those obligations. Then you find that the Manager who oversaw the relegation is no longer tenable so you are left paying him off and so it continues.
So we find ourselves in the Conference, a National League the 5th Tear of the game, made up of journey men and young players trying to get into League football. The Clubs are spread from the South Coast to the North West of England. However with a budget so limited the travel is almost prohibitive alone. The question is I guess is this a serious part of the game or should we be a part time arrangement? It would be great for us if we were linked to a senior club and allowed some of the younger players to get real match time experience.
It is without doubt a massive worry to the majority of Clubs within this league and I foresee the many of these clubs like us being driven into obscurity in the not too distant future.
So what are we dong about it, we are looking for young players to bring on, two this year we subject to FA valuation panels: Clucus and Bowman. They were valued at £15,000 for Mansfield and York respectively. They both have been scoring goals and attracting attention from bigger clubs. ( Crewe had offered us £40,000) for Clucus and I understand that before he picked up an ankle injury Nottingham Forrest had been very keen and sums of upward of £350,000 have been mentioned. I could go on but the point is, here is a way we can survive but not on such valuations that are clearly way off market values?
We have invested in a Youth Academy, we get no funding and to date the Directors have funded the pretty much the whole operation in close communication with the Manager Martin Foyle. The Coach for the Youth is a former League Manager Pete Beadle so we know that our Youth are getting proper management, coaching and development. The upshot of this is that they have reached the Fourth Round of the Youth FA Cup, the lowest ranked side in the competition now. They now play Manchester City Youth away at Hyde.
It is interesting to note that their side is made up of mainly foreign Internationals, which I suggest does little to assist our grassroots football. (I enclose a article from a local blog on the draw). The nub of this is that the supporters club are raising the money to pay for a bus for the occasion.
This is because there is no funding, or than a share of the gate money to defray the costs of the competition.
So you can see that we are trying to push English Football, we are investing in Youth and see this as away to survive. I might casually mention the 500 children and young people directly involved with the game through the Hereford United community trust. They participate in small sided games leagues and educational programmes.
It seems it is always against the odds and I hope that this true reflection of basement football will in some way reflect in your thinking as I am sure we are not alone on these matters?
Thank you for your time on this subject, we are a club with a great history and a passion for the game, we are very proud of what we have achieved and will continue to strive to be the best we can.
Yours sincerely,
Nick Nenadich Director Hereford United FC