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Next Game: Pre-Season

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Jon Hale Interview Part Three


Below are some more quotes from Jon Hale, leader of Hereford FC, taken from his interview with BBC Hereford and Worcester recorded last Saturday.

Hale was asked about the level of support.

"We've been blown away by it considering it was December 19th when the club was wound up.

"We had to move very quickly to get a publicity/presence out there and since we went live with our website a few days ago, we've had hundreds of e-mails offering help and support and donations. Just people wanting to be involved and help in whatever way they can. These are people that are local, national, inter-national. It's been absolutely incredible.

"And what we want to do now is, figures crossed that the Council believe that we are the right tenants, we want to create a football club that people are excited to come to the ground on a Saturday, excited by the football they watch, excited by being around the club on a Saturday afternoon or travelling that maybe they haven't been too before. The early signs are that there is a massive support behind this already."

Why not Hereford United 2015?

"The FA have, some years ago, changed their rules so you can not use, in our case, United. We've gone with a name that we believe is the closest to the name we had previously. It is evident that it is a continuation as a phoenix club from the club that was there before.

"And we've been asked why we didn't talk to the supporters about the name. I totally understand that but we had to affliate the football club quickly and that was because we wanted to say to the Council - one of the conditions of the leases is that the tenant has to be affliated to the FA. So straight away we could say to the Council here we are we're affliated to the FA, we have this name, we have a brand that we have affliated so we are ready to go. So it was needed to be done quickly.

"The other thing we were slightly concerned about was throwing open the gates and then people registering company names and affliated names when we needed them.

"We want to reach out to the wider community, through the schools, and through United In The Community (UITC) and anywhere we can. The community is absolutely vital in a club like Hereford and perhaps the club has turned its back on the community in the past few months and I think we need to build every bridge we can and we need to make Edgar Street a real heart of the city. Somewhere the community can come and enjoy the facilities and get involved with the football club and feel part of the football club.

"The UITC link is massively crucial. We want the local talent of Hereford to have somewhere to go. We don't want to be losing your best local players to the Midlands or Bristol clubs, we want them to come through and play for the first team. And if they move on then great because it will be the football club that benefits."

Good PR is important?

"Massively important because if you can't be transparent and can't answer questions and can't face up to people and look them in the eye then we've never going to achieve what we aim to achieve here which is a club for the fans. 

"We will do what we can to keep the story moving as publically as possible. We have nothing to hide. I think we have made that clear in that benefactors not wanting any money back on their investment. It's not an investment, it's a donation. Profits from the football club going back into the football club. We're not interested in development.

"It's all about doing things in the right way, building trust. We know that that trust has been very badly damaged in the last few months but we have to build the trust of supporters. One way we can do that is by continually saying what we are doing, who we are talking to, what we are talking about and answering questions when we can. We have a series of meetings coming up and when we have the answers, supporters will have the answers."

What about the stability of the club going forward?

"We have put a budget together which is cautious at best and we haven't got carried away. We'll never get carried away. We have good business experience amongst us.

"A football club is not a toy and none of us are in it for anything other than wanting to have a football club that we'll be proud of. We have got to walk the streets of Hereford and after what gone on in the last few months and the way that certain people involved have been exposed by social media and through the incredible work of a very loyal and hardworking band of Hereford supporters who have got information out in to the public domain. We could happily walk away from this now if we had something to hide. We haven't got anything to hide. We intend to be able to walk through Hereford in five years time feeling proud of what we've achieved for the supporters of Hereford."

How do some clubs manage?

"I think there have been many occasions when you see a club suddenly start to spend money in the hope that it might start pushing them up the leagues. Then you hear the comment 'it will be them next'and it usually is  because they just can't sustain it. 

"One of the things we have committed to is that are plans and budgets will be sustainable. There is simply no other way of doing it and if that means we don't sign a player and someone else does well so be it. If it doesn't fit the budget it doesn't happen. That is how I run my business. That is how other people in our group run their businesses. That's how we will run the football club."