Gomez The Mexican Cat has had a year to forget:
After a
family bereavement in January, and the sad experience of watching my beloved
Chloecat put to sleep in February, on Friday I was there in the High Court to
see the final minutes of Hereford United (1939 Ltd). Let me first say I know there are Bulls fans
who have had equally or even worse 12 months than me, but 2014, with few
exceptions, is not a year I’ll look back upon with much affection.
It was a
surreal experience sitting at the back of the high court, a confusing few
minutes enlivened by the “stuck in traffic” excuse. I am sorry Mr Lonsdale, but seriously, that
takes the biscuit. It’s not as if you
didn’t know where the place was, or how to get there, but after going through
more visits to the high court than I have reputed lives, I guess the end was
inevitable. After the joy of Aldershot,
it has been downhill all the way.
What
next? A friend reckons it will take us
10 years to get back to where we were when David Keyte sold us out. A major reason why we ended up in the mire
has been the falling attendances around Edgar Street over the years. Even before this season’s debacle, crowds
were falling at Hereford. I heard on the
radio that back in the 1970’s we were one of the best followed non-league teams
in the country, but by the end that was not the case. Last Saturday, while if there had been a
viable option of football at Hereford I’d have been on the train from
Paddington, not on the 51 bus to Park View Road to watch Welling United, a lot
of people disillusioned by events at Edgar Street won’t be back. It will take a lot of work to bring people
together and get them back to the terraces.
I have no idea what it takes to form a new football club, other teams
have done it, and there seems to be the will at Hereford to do the same but it
won’t be easy.
On Saturday, as
I went through the turnstiles at Welling I was greeted with the offer of a small
cup of wine and Christmas cake, a small gesture that cheered me up no end and
it is the little things like that that stay in the memory. An entertaining home win 3-1 followed, with
two former Bulls – Chris Bush and Tristam Plummer on show. On Boxing Day I have the option of visiting
Aggborough to see the non-league darlings of West Midlands football Worcester
City after their FA Cup heroics though I now see there is a fixture at Redditch
again. Though I’ll be back at Edgar
Street, it will take more than sentiment to bring a lot of folks back to
Hereford.
Financial
mis-management obviously played its part.
As well as reviewing that discredited Fit and Proper Test, perhaps the
FA could look into running a “Running a football club for Dummies” to help
Chairmen avoid the pitfalls that befell David Keyte. Sadly I blame him for all this mess. I am sure it was not his intention when he
started out as Chairman, but a mixture of naivety and ignorance (and I’m being
kind with my adjectives here) have landed us in this mess. The article on Bulls News today from Rob
Purdie makes fascinating reading and really shows how things went wrong from
the time David Keyte took over.
There were no
winners on Friday afternoon. However,
there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Hereford FC would work for me, and there is a tremendous affection for
the club being demonstrated by former players who could play an important part
in our future. There was a lot we can
take from our old club, not least our motto which seems so appropriate
now. May 2015 be a brighter year for us
all.
Gomez the
Mexican Cat