“What would the people of Hereford rather have – a £350,000 bond sitting in the Conference account – or the club being sustainable?”
The quote from Andy Lonsdale on the Hereford Times website (link), on why Hereford United are no longer a Conference side, goes against the evidence offered in previous weeks.
The main issue is that it's not an either/or question. The two options on offer are not mutually exclusive.
Tommy Agombar had no problem with a bond - he told people so, on the weekend of the Conference AGM, and that he had enough money to cover a bond. His accountant assured the Conference the bond would be paid. He told people - at the time he did his one and only broadcast interview with ITV - that he would put the bond money in, and pay football creditors, that week - seven weeks ago.
His main issue with the Conference, he complained, was the lack of a written guarantee that the club would remain a Conference Premier side if he paid the money. After missing the initial deadline, he received his written assurance by way of an official Conference statement, but still failed to pay.
The second option is a sustainable club. The CVA currently proposed, according to Insolvency Practitioner Marc Landsman, is to repay 100% of debt within the three year timescale that football rules allow. How can this meet Lonsdale's 'or' offer of a sustainable club?
With £1.3million of acknowledged debt, and possibly much more, the club will face repayments of £433,000 a season - or more - to settle the debt.
David Keyte thought that, in the 13/14 season, the club would turn over no more than £800,000 - and lose £400,000 doing so. Those were his words at the AGM in March.
With the club now in the Southern League Premier, and with both Lonsdale and Joel Nathan talking of gates in the hundreds according to quotes this week rather than the near 1,800 of last season, it is difficult to see how the club can claim that it is sustainable on that level of debt repayment.
Despite claims of a 'blue chip' sponsor just about to arrive - claims also made by Agombar seven weeks ago - the club appears to have neither a main sponsor for the coming season, with Cargill seemingly set to concentrate their efforts on the charitable United In The Community project, nor sought renewal of any of the other associated advertising around the ground.
In fact Lonsdale took a swipe at some of the small advertisers, who put a total of £80,000 into the club last season according to credible sources, in his elongated Hereford Times rant. Having been at a small club for the years he claims to have been, he should be painfully aware that the small businesses that pay the small sums are the lifeblood of community clubs.
The club have failed to announce any signings, depriving them of player sponsorship income, nor have they held the normally lucrative open day or a fans forum, which would - under normal circumstances - attract a three figure crowd to the Starlite Rooms to hear what the new staff have to say.
Tens of thousands of pounds of readily available income has been ignored, by people who claim to be interested in sustainability.
Despite claims of a 'blue chip' sponsor just about to arrive - claims also made by Agombar seven weeks ago - the club appears to have neither a main sponsor for the coming season, with Cargill seemingly set to concentrate their efforts on the charitable United In The Community project, nor sought renewal of any of the other associated advertising around the ground.
In fact Lonsdale took a swipe at some of the small advertisers, who put a total of £80,000 into the club last season according to credible sources, in his elongated Hereford Times rant. Having been at a small club for the years he claims to have been, he should be painfully aware that the small businesses that pay the small sums are the lifeblood of community clubs.
The club have failed to announce any signings, depriving them of player sponsorship income, nor have they held the normally lucrative open day or a fans forum, which would - under normal circumstances - attract a three figure crowd to the Starlite Rooms to hear what the new staff have to say.
Tens of thousands of pounds of readily available income has been ignored, by people who claim to be interested in sustainability.
With attendances of 5/600 expected by the club and a near zero advertising income, the club can simply not afford to hand out a sum to creditors on a par with last season's over-ambitious playing budget.
There remains more questions than answers as to how Agombar and company plan to make Hereford United genuinely sustainable.