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

Friday, November 04, 2016

Jamie Willets Statement


Jamie Willets has released the following on Facebook this afternoon: 

To prevent any second guesses, I wanted to give my reasoning behind my decision to leave Hereford FC. 

The last fourteen months have been surreal, the chance to be a part of such a rising and already successful club has been a major privilege and one that I shall never forget. It goes without saying that the fan base has been amazing and to have my name chanted from the Meadow End was the best feeling in the world! I've met some truly amazing people and will certainly be down at Edgar Street in the future to see them again. 

However, I am not a professional footballer, I never have been and never will be. It is therefore why there must be an element of enjoyment in my football which sadly, just hasn't been there this season. Even after winning games and when I've performed well, it got to the point where I found that football had unfortunately become a chore rather than something that I look forward to and enjoy doing. I've always played football with high expectations from myself, a trait that I believe has played a large role in making me the player that I am today. However, playing for Hereford FC comes with massive expectation not only from myself but also from the manager, the players as well as the many thousands of fans. Over the course of time, this endless and persistent pressure impacted my mentality and ability to play well, something that I believe particularly showed during the Tonbridge Angels and Salisbury games. It was the day after we played Salisbury that I made the decision to leave the club but after informing Beads, I agreed that I would see the month out as defensive cover to give him time to bring another defender in.

Having a full-time job means that football is a hobby for me, it is something that I thoroughly enjoy and have done for many years. The same cannot be said about a hobby that was giving me sleepless nights, stress levels through the roof and generally making me very unhappy. Furthermore, I shouldn't have to tolerate receiving personal messages from certain people telling me about my performance as I am my own biggest critic and that certainly wasn't helping anyone. I'm very confident and have no doubt in my ability to play at step 4 and step 3, it is only in my best interest that I have decided that I cannot continue to do so for Hereford FC as I lack the mental resilience required to cope with the pressure and tension that comes with it.

I didn’t leave because of lack of game time despite what has been reported, I started ten matches up until the Salisbury game of which I was fit for thirteen after getting injured away at Romulus. After the Salisbury match, I agreed to sit on the bench and be defensive cover until another defender was brought to the club so I could then leave. So, the reasoning of lack of game time simply is false as I played a fair amount of games that I was available and fit for.

I am bitterly disappointed that my time at the club has ended this way but I believe that the correct decision has been made. Moving forwards, I just want to get back to enjoying football again and get the buzz back on a Saturday morning. I'd like to say many thanks to everyone involved at Hereford FC and most of all Peter Beadle to whom I am forever grateful for the opportunity. Although we didn't see eye to eye on certain things, he had confidence in me as a player and has given me a great story to tell the grandkids about a phenomenal season and having the chance to play at Wembley Stadium with Hereford last year.