There is a view that it's time to consider changing the name of Hereford FC back to Hereford United. The idea was talked about at the HUST AGM last week and they are expected to ask their members in the New Year about any possible change.
To enable a change 75% of the club shareholders must vote for it.
Below is one shareholder's view. Other views are most welcome.
Who pays ? Changing a name isn't cheap.
It is suggested that through HUST there are moves afoot to change the name of Hereford Football Club to Hereford United Football Club…..
A positive action some will contend , others will regard it as simply a yearning for the good old days of yesteryear , some may take the complete opposite view that it is a retrograde step , a distraction and an entirely self-indulgent waste , it matters not a jot which way you view it in those emotional terms … but what it is going to be without doubt is a very expensive and time consuming exercise !!
As a shareholder of HUFC in the past and now an HFC shareholder , I believed that when HUFC died my shares were worth nothing and that the club I supported was dead and if there was to be something in its place it needed to be new , a phoenix , a new club building from the bottom creating its own history and that was why I was happy to invest in buying shares and volunteering for HFC.
So in the light of the what HUST now aspire to …..what I would hope will be made clear over the coming weeks will be :
Who is going to pay for this “rebranding” exercise ? It surely cannot be the existing shareholders using existing shareholder funds , it cannot come from match day revenues (50/50 or Golden Goal) etc as that is money designated for share purchase by HUST or to support the existing playing budgets.
Who has undertaken a fully detailed cost and risk benefit analysis of the proposals? Has one been commissioned already? Perhaps those who are to vote on any firm name change proposals whoever they are will be provided with the details , so only an informed choice will be made !!
Who is going to manage the process , co-ordinate the activities , contact the sponsors , arrange to change documentation ….etc etc , the activity is list pretty long … these processes don’t just happen they are implemented.
What are the proposed time scales involved ?
The cost of such an exercise even for a modest small enterprise such as HFC is likely to exceed £50,000 , how do those who find this proposal attractive or seek to promote it suggest how it is paid for……. ??????
How many actual HUST members were present when this matter was promoted ? I think we should know.
This is an uncosted and ill thought out indulgence driven by a few.
If this change it ahead it will be Josh Gowling's budget that will suffer.