Next Friday December 16th there is a full meeting of Herefordshire Council. One of the items on the agenda is 'Herefordshire Economic Development Strategy'.
In essence this is a report looking at the future of Herefordshire.
Hereford Football Club is included in the report.
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| This Image Is Thought To Be The Corner By The Entrance To Merton Meadow |
Hereford Football Club
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Overview
The Edgar Street Stadium is home to Hereford
Football Club and a football ground with a long
and illustrious history; it is an embedded part of
the fabric of the community. Many glories and
sadly some bitter defeats have played out at the
ground and none more so than the 2014/15 season
when Hereford United Football Club were put into
liquidation.
In the 2015/16 season, a new Hereford Football
Club with the backing of local initial investors and
supporters rose from the ashes. The first season
was a remarkable tale of success and emotion.
League and Cup success has led to promotion and
a trip to Wembley in the FA Vase Final. The feel
good factor returned to Edgar Street and the people
of Herefordshire have embraced this phoenix club.
Success has not simply been confined to results.
The stadium is adjacent to the £90m Old Market
retail and leisure development and the football club’s
attendances, of up to 4,000, have much improved
connectivity to the city centre’s retail and leisure
offer. As the club rises up the leagues there is the
prospect of larger attendances, including much
greater ‘Away’ support.
The location of the ground brings a special vibrancy
to the city, however the stadium itself fails to either
visually live up to or commercially capitalise upon this
opportunity. There is significant scope for a partial
redevelopment of the ground within the confines of
the original stadium boundaries. This could improve
the ground facilities without impacting negatively on
the ongoing use for footballing purposes.
The club and the ground could make an even
greater contribution towards the vitality of Hereford
City. Even beyond match days, the Edgar Street
ground and the club has the potential to become a
focal point at the heart of the city, of which the club,
its supporters, and the city should feel proud.
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Opportunity
An opportunity exists to remodel Edgar Street
Stadium stands and terraces to provide a variety
of ancillary facilities and to improve the match
day experience for the supporter base. Hereford
Football Club already benefits from an on-site gym
but limited training facilities which could be much
enlarged. It would be both possible and desirable
to build upon and enhance the existing conferencing
and hospitality amenities, and increased match
day supporter facilities including food, drink and
merchandise retail.
These sporting and match day orientated
changes could be supplemented by an even more
commercially focused offer that could provide and
enable significant activities outside of match days to
underpin the sustainability of Hereford F.C Potential
opportunities include small scale retail uses, in
particular on the Blackfriars Street frontage mirroring
the Old Market development, or residential or hotel
units above or behind the stands, benefiting from
the existing building massing in the area and the
neighbouring urban village development. The club
and its supporters would be open to engagement
and involvement in appropriate development
proposals which would improve the offer to their
customers and assist them in realising the football
club’s ambition.