Five years ago today BN published a message of support for Hereford FC from Jrhtun. Hereford United was no more and the new club was just getting started and in need of ensuring it could play at Edgar Street.
Hereford supporter
Jrhtun has sent a detailed 'message of support' for Hereford FC to
Herefordshire Council in their attempt to gain the lease on Edgar
Street.
To Whom It May Concern
I
am writing in support of the newly-formed Hereford FC and specifically
to urge the Council to give its full attention to their bid to take
possession, as tenant, of Edgar Street Athletic Ground. I do not have
line of sight of any other potential bidders, but I wish to set out my
reasons for believing that Hereford FC is the rightful heir to the
history that lies within the Edgar Street Ground.
Background :
I was a Hereford United supporter from 1979 through to that entity’s demise in 2014.
That
Club was ‘my’ football Club from the age of eight, to the age of forty
three. Those years covered some highs and some lows, but throughout, it
was always a badge of honour to support my local team rather than a
‘famous’ team. Looking back, those vacillations of fortune taught me a
lot as I grew up (learning to cope with Triumph and Disaster ‘those two
impostors’, as Kipling would have wished) – so I value that association
with the Club highly. There is external evidence of the value I placed
on my association with Hereford United - the Club’s important dates
managed to intrude on my personal life even when it seemed impossible: a
defeat away at Leyton Orient in 1997 when I should technically have
been in Sydney, Australia, where I worked; the Conference Play-Off
Finals in Leicester, which fell on my Sixth wedding anniversary, but
where I managed to not only be in two places at once, but to persuade my
wife to accompany me).
In
summary, while (through work commitments) not a regular attendee, I was
a passionate and proud supporter of Hereford United. Which make the
last eighteen months extremely difficult. I work in the financial
services industry and I could see the end coming (though this did not
stop me sponsoring players, ‘buying’ the penalty spots in order to help
fund a new pitch), and I certainly could see the May-December 2014
owners for what they were. The integrity of my Club was compromised and
its name damaged. I was open about my desire to move on, to leave the
debt with the charlatans and reform behind a so-called ‘phoenix’
entity. I believe that Hereford FC is that entity.
Why I support Hereford FC :
- A focal point for the people of Hereford
– Hereford needs a centre of gravity. For assorted reasons (economic
reality; social trends; poor development management), the City that I
grew up in has changed into a disparate place, where the residents have
little to bring them together. The Cathedral ? Society no longer
clusters to places of worship. Bulmers ? HQ has gone to Scottish &
Newcastle, and now Heineken; beyond Bulmers, there is no one employer
which, nationally relevant, is a source of employment income for local
residents and a source of pride and reputation outside the County.
Agriculture ? Consolidated into large industrialised production sites
who amplify their margins with hired-in labour. Military ? Never been a
focal point. Tourism ? Hereford is not the good-looking City it used
to be, and a glance at the Hereford Times’s Letters page will tell you
that, apparently, the fear of shuttered public lavatories seems to
somehow outweigh the attractions of the Chained Library in the minds of
visitors. Hereford is a City that has, however, always had Hereford
United to be that focal point, to be that lodestone of local passions,
and to be that nationally known entity that can represent the City
outside its own County. But Hereford no longer has any such entity.
Hereford’s residents do not have a focal point. In short, there is
nothing left in the City around which the local population can bond. To
which the local population can commit, as a group, as they rest from
their working hours. Hereford’s residents NEED a focal point – or the
City, itself, will continue its downward trundle.
- Hereford FC has the mandate to become that focal point
– I have been a member of Hereford United Supporters’ Trust since its
formation. My three children also became Junior Members, having been
sponsors of players for the final three years of the Club’s existence (a
selection which, itself, managed to represent Triumph in the shape of
Ryan Bowman’s home kit, and Disaster, in the shape of Danny Pilkington’s
home kit – Nicky Featherstone, hobbling slowly, somewhere in between).
As such, I have been supportive of HUST’s policy whereby it (politely
and forcefully) held the charlatan regime to account, and then moved
more aggressively to bring that regime to a close. I attended the
meeting of HUST at Pegasus Juniors where, in November 2014, the
Committee met to discuss the options ahead. I was part of the vote
which, by a significant majority, gave a mandate to HUST to link itself
to Hereford FC. It is this large mandate which I believe makes Hereford
FC the right entity to assume the mantle of history provided by
Hereford United FC (1939) Ltd. A Club exists primarily in the
representation that it offers to its supporters; secondarily, within the
echo of its stadium. Hereford FC has got the supporters – it now needs
to reclaim the stadium.
- Hereford FC has shown leadership, transparency, and integrity
– I have no qualms that Hereford FC was formed well before the demise
of Hereford United (1939) Ltd. I am experienced enough in the world of
business to see this for what it was – prudent future-proofing within a
fast-moving, and fast-deteriorating, situation. I believe that the
Management Board of Hereford FC has, in its short life, proven itself to
be proactive, strong in its protection of supporters’ interests, and
able to move fast when it counts. I do not know any of the individuals
personally. Beyond this, the Management Board has been extremely clear
in its communication with the Supporters and the Media – engagement has
been welcomed (from friend and foe alike), direct answers given. The
leadership shown (in a tricky situation) and the transparency offered
combine to deliver a picture of integrity that I believe offers a firm
foundation for the short-, medium- and long-term success of Hereford FC –
all that remains, in fact, is the need for a stadium with the history,
location and capacity that is offered by Edgar Street.
- Hereford FC has brought together funding and complementary operating skills
– I am not a supporter that believes that a Football Club is best run
by its fans; fans tend to have abundant passion but scarce interest in
operating detail. I believe that a committed and experienced operating
team, operating with transparency and from a firm financial footing,
offers the best chance of a long and happy life. To repeat, I do not
know any of the individuals involved, but it appears to me that Hereford
FC’s Management Board has managed to collect together a very
complementary set of skills: financial reporting and analysis
experience; business leadership experience; commercial income
experience; and, critically, the experience of the Supporters Group,
HUST, which amplifies the access to skills by the number of engaged HUST
members represented by HUST’s Board Members. Beyond this combination
of skills, Hereford FC has managed to source initial investment which
would appear to be at a remarkably low cost – especially given Hereford
FC has stated that no profits will be taken by shareholders out of the
Club. Sourcing equity funding can be expensive, and sourcing equity
funding can be complex. Hereford FC’s Management Board appears to have
sourced cheap equity funding which seeks to have no lien over the
business – a remarkable feat. The importance of this should not be
underestimated, and the value of this to a landlord should be huge, I
would have thought, as you (the Council Landlord) examine the competing
bids.
- Hereford FC has demonstrated commitment, to Hereford and HUFC’s stranded fans – due
to my work, I live during the week in London (I spend my weekends an
irritating 800m from Herefordshire, in Monmouthshire). But even from
here, it is clear that Hereford FC has the interests of the City and
HUFC’s stranded fans, at heart. The drivers behind Hereford FC have
moved fast to form; swiftly to unite the fan group; and effectively when
facing the immediate tasks to hand, whether that be engaging with
Hereford Council or whether engaging with Surveyors promptly when
seeking to assess the dilapidation that the Edgar Street stadium has
been suffering since the charlatans took over (and their subsequent,
inevitable, eviction). Through all this, Hereford FC has shown that it
understands the fans, and will listen to the requests of fans. Indeed,
had that not been the case, I would not be taking the time to write this
letter.
Finally,
I believe that the Council must take the time to examine, calmly and
objectively, what it might have done differently to prevent the
destruction of Hereford United FC (1939) Limited. Granted, the
operating metrics are nothing to do with the Council. Granted, nobody
can read the future. But perhaps the drafting of leases too clearly
offered a glimpse of non-football riches to a bunch of Essex boys ?
Hereford needs a Council that backs the City having a focal point – the
drift of the City has gone on long enough. There are elections in May
and I am sure that Hereford Council will want to be honest about its
role in the football club’s demise, and clear about its role in the
rebirth of a football club. For sure, the voting Supporters of Hereford
United (1939) FC and of Hereford FC will be keen to learn the Council’s
roles.
I
believe that, for the reasons above, Hereford FC represents the best
chance of a long-term rebirth of the Football Club as Focal Point and I
urge the Council to support its application to become the new tenant of
Edgar Street Athletic Ground.