Stig has read the questions posed by Hereford United chairman Andy Lonsdale and published on the OS.
First: The Questions
I watched with interest the game at
Kidderminster this week and as I watched I saw all the banners on
display and the following queries came into my mind:
1. Why do HUST want us out of the club?
2. Why have they not tried to achieve reconciliation with the club?
3. They tried to buy the club and knew the level of debt before we did.
4. When David Keyte was Chairman did they boycott the games? The club was in financial trouble then.
5. They go on about the leases they know the terms of the leases they have been to meetings with the council and even put the link on Bulls News.
Then I thought to myself maybe they have their own agenda, if they have why not just come out with it, let’s stop the infighting and get on with rebuilding Hereford United FC, again the following queries came to mind.
1. If we fold there is no guarantee the council would lease them Edgar Street.
2. A Phoenix Club would start at a much lower level than we are now.
3. Would they have paid any debts, Football Creditors for instance figure was close to £ 200k?
4. Would they have paid HMRC the money?
5. Would they have paid the water bill, electric bill?
6. Would they have taken on the debts at all they knew about them? They were more aware of the actual debt than we were.
7. They say we should pay all the debts now, we offered a CVA and they voted against it.
When the Glazers bought Manu Utd they refinanced all the club assets and hindered the club with a lot of debt.
Finally there are many more queries and could go on forever only HUST know the answer maybe one day we will all learn the truth.
I hope it is soon and we can stop all this infighting now.
Andy Lonsdale
Chairman
1. Why do HUST want us out of the club?
2. Why have they not tried to achieve reconciliation with the club?
3. They tried to buy the club and knew the level of debt before we did.
4. When David Keyte was Chairman did they boycott the games? The club was in financial trouble then.
5. They go on about the leases they know the terms of the leases they have been to meetings with the council and even put the link on Bulls News.
Then I thought to myself maybe they have their own agenda, if they have why not just come out with it, let’s stop the infighting and get on with rebuilding Hereford United FC, again the following queries came to mind.
1. If we fold there is no guarantee the council would lease them Edgar Street.
2. A Phoenix Club would start at a much lower level than we are now.
3. Would they have paid any debts, Football Creditors for instance figure was close to £ 200k?
4. Would they have paid HMRC the money?
5. Would they have paid the water bill, electric bill?
6. Would they have taken on the debts at all they knew about them? They were more aware of the actual debt than we were.
7. They say we should pay all the debts now, we offered a CVA and they voted against it.
When the Glazers bought Manu Utd they refinanced all the club assets and hindered the club with a lot of debt.
Finally there are many more queries and could go on forever only HUST know the answer maybe one day we will all learn the truth.
I hope it is soon and we can stop all this infighting now.
Andy Lonsdale
Chairman
Second: Stig's Response
Dear Mr Lonsdale,
As you’re no doubt aware, a week on Monday Hereford United Football Club, or more accurately its current owners, are in court again to face another Winding Up Order (WUO) – possibly the sixth time I think.
Rough estimates suggest that there is likely to be at least £375k of debt attached to the WUO now so, when you consider that your regime appear to be struggling to pay their current staff and your club’s day-to-day running costs (is it right the water was cut off earlier this week?), would you care to enlighten us on how the regime you represent intends to tackle this debt?
I imagine that crowds of between 200 and 300 can’t be bringing in much money, while no sponsorship and little money over bars and refreshment kiosks can’t be great for finances either.
I don’t for one second expect you to answer because so far you only appear to answer friendlier questions and not the awkward ones, but if, as you claim, you care about communicating with fans, then surely all supporters deserve some sort of answer to the above question about the latest court appearance?
Dear Mr Lonsdale,
As you’re no doubt aware, a week on Monday Hereford United Football Club, or more accurately its current owners, are in court again to face another Winding Up Order (WUO) – possibly the sixth time I think.
Rough estimates suggest that there is likely to be at least £375k of debt attached to the WUO now so, when you consider that your regime appear to be struggling to pay their current staff and your club’s day-to-day running costs (is it right the water was cut off earlier this week?), would you care to enlighten us on how the regime you represent intends to tackle this debt?
I imagine that crowds of between 200 and 300 can’t be bringing in much money, while no sponsorship and little money over bars and refreshment kiosks can’t be great for finances either.
I don’t for one second expect you to answer because so far you only appear to answer friendlier questions and not the awkward ones, but if, as you claim, you care about communicating with fans, then surely all supporters deserve some sort of answer to the above question about the latest court appearance?
Earlier some questions from you were produced online for HUST to answer and I believe they will also be in today’s photocopied matchday programme. Interestingly, two out of the first five aren’t even questions but no matter.
Question One was as follows:
‘Why do HUST want us out of the club?’
Mr Lonsdale, unless you’re on the wind-up, if you don’t know the answer to this question then there isn’t any point looking at anything else you have written.
Firstly though, please remember that HUST is not one person, it is made up of several hundred people, which means the boycott is a collective decision.
Secondly, it is not just HUST who are boycotting the club. Before being disbanded HUISA had agreed with that course of action, as have the London Bulls and the Scottish Bulls.
In addition, it is also clear that many other people who are not affiliated to any of the above organisations are also staying away, so why single out HUST with your questions?
You should also remember that HUST did not organise Wednesday night’s protest at Kidderminster and also that HUST had nothing to do with the rejection of the CVA your regime proposed. That was the creditors.
Yes, those pesky creditors who expect to be paid the cash they are due and the debts Tommy said he had enough money to sort when he took over the club.
Anyway, back to Question One. Below, as a member of HUST who voted for the boycott, I give you my reasons why I want this regime out of my club:
1) Despite Tommy claiming he had plenty of money and promising to pay up, he chose not to pay football creditors before the Conference’s deadline – despite them extending the deadline three times – and deliberately got my club relegated two divisions. The bond isn’t actually relevant because Tommy had promised to pay football creditors prior to the Conference asking for it and it was then only asked for when it became clear Tommy’s promises were worthless.
2) Although most of last year’s players have been paid, a significant number of former youth teamers and office staff are still out of pocket. What’s more, none of them have received any form of documentation in relation to their leaving the club (P45s etc) which clearly shows your regime have no regard for their welfare at all. In addition, staff that have worked for your regime have also been left without pay and it’s well known that if they choose to query the current situation they are ‘invited’ to leave the club.
3) Since taking over, the regime you represent have lied repeatedly about any number of things – investment, sponsorship, payments being made, the full ground being open soon, europeans tours, the leases (you didn’t know about them but had attended various meetings with the council about them) – and given fans no reason to trust you in any way. You’ve also lied repeatedly about not knowing the real state the club was in yet had told two Hereford United fans almost the exact size of the debt at a trial match at Bedfont before the deal for the club had actually been fully completed.
4) Tommy has failed the ODT. Peter Gambrill failed the ODT. Tommy’s son failed the ODT. It seems likely you will fail the ODT (in fact I suspect you probably already have). In addition, the only two Directors Tommy appointed who wouldn’t fail the ODT only appeared on the scene at around the time you were trying to get a CVA through – no doubt in the hope their respectable appearance would pull the wool over creditors eyes – and have since disappeared without trace after the CVA was rejected.
5) You have given no insight into your plans for the future and how you are going to turn things around. You choose to attack fans who are boycotting when in fact the boycott is entirely down to the actions of you and the regime you represent. Even more significantly, we have no real idea who owns the club now and what their intentions are. It is clear to everyone that Tommy is still calling the tune (perhaps on behalf of other people) so again, how can fans believe anything you say?
I could easily go on but the above is a flavour of my personal feelings and, I suspect, probably those of a huge amount of lifelong fans like me.
As you’re in the mood to play questions and answers, I’m sure you won’t mind me asking you a few. I don’t for one second expect you to answer but here goes:
1) Have you passed the ODT?
2) If you want to try to win back supporters, would you be willing to sign the leases over to HUST to demonstrate that you really are here for football reasons? This would at least mean fans could ensure any development plans you have are in the best interests of our football club?
3) Can you give an honest response as to whether all the staff currently employed at the club – and those that have left under your stewardship - have been paid up-to-date?
4) Why have you not even responded to the council’s offer to renegotiate the terms of your debt for unpaid rent etc if you sign development rights over to them??
5) How are you intending to deal with the Winding Up Orders you face in the next few weeks and what is your business plan moving forward?
6) Can you explain why you and your regime have told quite so many lies?
7) Can you explain why Tommy chose to buy Hereford United? It was well known that the club was in financial difficulties and I’m yet to hear the reason why Tommy chose our club – which he has no link to and is 200 miles from where he’s based - when he could have picked one of any number of clubs much closer to home if he simply wanted to get into football like his mates?
8) Is it right that this regime owes money to St John’s Ambulance and the Adam Stansfield Foundation?
I really could go on but if you fancy answering a few questions from me the ones above would be a good starting point.
Finally, for clarity, I want to state to you quite categorically that I do not want Hereford United Football Club to die (I don’t actually know any fans that do). However, with your regime at the helm I see no way the current debt levels can be tackled successfully and therefore I believe the death of the club in inevitable unless you leave.
Although the original terms of the boycott remain important and are still valid, the basic issue I have now is that I seen nothing that demonstrates to me that you and your regime can be trusted as custodians of the club I have supported for more than 30 years. I remain hugely suspicious of your reasons for buying my club and these suspicions have only increased as a result of the utter contempt with which you have treated us supporters since you bought the club.
With that being the case, I don’t see how dialogue can be opened between fans and the club because there has to be an element of honesty and trust for dialogue to work and right now I see no honesty from your regime and nothing for us supporters to cling to to make us feel we can trust any of the individuals involved.
Yours in anticipation,
Stig