Former Hereford United player John Brough is now a coach at Lydney Town after quitting as manager of North Leigh.
In an extended interview with Jon Palmer he speaks about why he left Hereford and afterwards playing with other former Hereford players at Cheltenham.
It's 20 years this summer since you signed for Cheltenham Town. What are your memories of the move?
I got the call from Steve Cotterill about two weeks after I decided
to leave Hereford, who were having financial difficulties. We didn't get
paid for six weeks at a time through the 1997/98 season, which wasn't
ideal.
I had a few options, but within five minutes of chatting to Steve I'd made up my mind I was on my way to Cheltenham.
How did Steve Cotterill persuade you to join the club?
I had seen them play twice and they had finished second and won the
FA Trophy in their first year back in the Conference. He is very
convincing so it didn't take long and we had a five minute chat and that
was it, I was on my way to Cheltenham and what a good decision it
proved to be!
You scored against Cheltenham for Hereford at Whaddon Road, what do you remember about that match?
Before the game I wasn't feeling great, but the manager Graham Turner
said in the hotel he wanted me to play up front, with Tony Agana and
Chris Hargreaves on the left. It was no problem as I was used to it and
we started really well in the game. I remember getting my head to a
cross from the right, in between Banksy (Chris Banks) and Boka (Mark
Freeman), I think it was and we won the game 2-1. I think that put me in
Steve's thoughts because I could play up front, but my main position
was at the back, so he was getting two players in one really. Throughout
my six or seven years at Cheltenham I was used in various positions.
What was it like being one of the 'Hereford four', experiencing the
pain of relegation from the Football League, but then winning the title
in your first season at Cheltenham along with Neil Grayson, David Norton
and Richard Walker?
That relegation really drove us on. Neil was already at Cheltenham when I
joined and I'd played with Norts at three clubs: Notts County, Hereford
and Cheltenham. He initially only came to get fit, but he had a
fantastic season and Titch (Walker) came midway through the year. When
it is on your CV that you been part of a team that has gone down, it was
a real positive to get back into the Football League. It was coming from full-time to part-time to sign for Cheltenham, which
was different. I was driving down from Derbyshire with the boys twice a
week for training and also for matches. Once we got on a run and with
the sort of players we had at the club, I don't think anyone could touch
us that season.
