Text at top (next game etc)

Next Game: Banbury Away On Friday March 29th Kick-Off 3.00pm

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Johnson: I'm Not A Football Man


Herefordshire Council leader Tony Johnson spoke to Howard Bentham on this morning's BBC Hereford & Worcester breakfast programme to explain the Council's decision to pursue the debt owed by Hereford United.

Johnson admitted he wasn't a football fan, but still wanted to see football stay at Edgar Street as the public wanted it to stay there.

Firstly, Johnson was asked why the Council had now decided to chase the money: "We really do want to see the continuation of football at Edgar Street, and we didn't want to do anything to jeopardise that position.

"There's been a general level of misunderstanding really, the position has always been that if the club had been wound up we would have got exactly the same amount of money whether we had been petitioner on that CVA or not. But the public, understandably, are very concerned about all sorts of things one of which that we didn't appear to be bothered about getting this £65,000 back."

Bentham then questioned whether the Council would prefer the whole ground to move and with the new shopping centre next door it would be a 'perfect chance for the Council to cash in': "I wouldn't say it was a perfect chance but, obviously, that is something that could be considered. 

"The facts are that we actually want football to continue at Edgar Street. We would dearly love football to continue there. The public are clearly very much in favour of it. We represent the public - why wouldn't we want football to continue?"

Bentham queries whether the public are in favour with only around 500 turning up to watch games this season, and asks how seriously the Council have considered redeveloping the ground without football involved: "We're not considering ending football there at all. It is our intention, as far as it is in our hands, to make sure that football does continue at Edgar Street. That's an absolute fact - we're not considering doing anything else with the ground."

Bentham further pressed Johnson on the matter, to sell off the ground and put the money into Council services: "I'm not a football supporter as it happens and I could present you with a case for playing football somewhere else but there's a history to this whole thing. 

"It's been played there for goodness knows how many years. It's part of the city, it's part of the fabric of the city and I personally see no reason why we should try to move it anywhere else. Why don't we continue trying to get football at Edgar Street. That's what the public want, and that's what the Council wants."