Monday, February 06, 2023

Gowling's record at Hereford

If you asked any Hereford fan to describe Josh Gowling's tenure as manager, inconsistent will no doubt be mentioned.

Indeed, if you go by the statistics on Wikipedia, the 39-year-old only won 43 of his 111 games in charge, with a win percentage of 38.74. 

Gowling was initially appointed Hereford manager on an interim basis on January 21, 2020 following the departure of Russell Slade. 

At the time, then Bulls chairman Andrew Graham said: "Josh will remain in charge for the forseeable future whilst the search for a permanent manager gets underway. I am fully aware of how important it is to get this decision right, and so we will not be rushing into making a hasty appointment."

Gowling - who joined the club as a player for a second spell in December 2018 - soon brought in experienced former Kidderminster manager Steve Burr as his assistant.

His first game in charge was a 1-1 home draw against Curzon Ashton. However, it wasn't until March 3 when Gowling achieved his first win, a stunning 4-1 success at York. Another win, this time at Farsley followed, before the Bulls drew 0-0 at Kettering. However, the Covid pandemic was starting to rear its head, and after a 4-0 thumping at Spennymoor, the 2019/2020 season was stopped.

Three months later, on June 12, Gowling was named as permanent Hereford manager. He said: "I am honoured to have the opportunity to manage at a club that means a lot to me, and I want to thank the board for giving me the chance to carry on the task we started back in January. The chairman has been very supportive over the lockdown period and both myself and Steve cannot wait to get started again."

Due to the pandemic, the following season's campaign did not start until October 3, an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round match at Gosport, which Hereford won 3-1. However, the Bulls would exit the competition at the next stage when they were humbled by Stafford Rangers by the same scoreline.

In the league, it was a mixed bag of results, with Hereford conceding eight goals in consecutive games at the end of November and beginning of December, against Kettering and Chester respectively.

As restrictions started to ease, fans were slowly being allowed back into stadiums. Wins over AFC Fylde and Kidderminster were much needed. However, more disruption caused by Covid followed, and Hereford only ended up playing two more league games during 2020/2021.

The Bulls were, however, allowed to continue to play in the FA Trophy, and what a run the club went on. After conceding a last minute goal against Aldershot that levelled the quarter-final tie at Edgar Street, Hereford held their nerve to win on penalties. 

Due to not being allowed to watch the games in person, fans instead had to follow matches via a live stream service. And there was plenty of jumping up and down in living rooms across the county as Hereford then beat Woking 1-0 in the semi-finals to reach Wembley, the Bulls' second trip to the capital in the space of just five years.

Gowling's team would face lower-graded Hornchurch, managed by former Stevenage and Grays manager Mark Stimson. Just like they did in the FA Vase Final, Hereford took the lead but ended up on the losing end, the Essex side prevailing 3-1.

Two weeks before the final, Gowling and Burr both signed two-year extensions to their contract. Rob Crawford, who was the chairman at the time said the pair had done 'a tremendous job in difficult circumstances' and deserve the chance to continue to help the club move forward over the next two seasons.

However, one could argue that the management team had a disadvantage going into the 2021/22 season due to all of the other clubs having much more time to recruit due to the previous league campaign finishing in February.

It meant the Bulls didn't have a settled pre-season, with signing centre-halves particularly proving difficult.

The club started the season poorly, with only three points from the opening six games to their name. It wasn't until September 28 that Hereford recorded their first win, which so happened to be at York again. The Bulls were unable to kick on though during October, and fans were fearing that the club would be in a relegation battle come the end of the season.

Nevertheless, November proved to be a fruitful month. A 1-0 win over Chorley was followed by victories over Guiseley, Blyth and Chester. However, there wouldn't be another FA Trophy run with the Bulls exiting the competition at the first time of asking after losing to Kidderminster on penalties.

Other good wins would follow over the next few months, which included victories over Kiddie and Gloucester and a 4-0 success at Farsley. However, despite being 'in and around the play-offs', Hereford were never able to break into the top seven, successive 3-0 away losses at Kidderminster and Curzon Ashton being particularly frustrating.

Four consecutive draws in March pretty much ended any hopes Hereford would get into the play-offs, although a 4-1 win at Blyth to end the month showed what the team could do on their day. The Bulls ended the season on a whimper though, with only two wins coming from their final eight games to finish eight points off the play-off places in 12th.

The objective for the current campaign was to get the squad in place quickly, with a proven goalscorer or two being key. 

Gowling brought in experienced forward Tyrone Barnett as his first summer signing, while former Shrewsbury marksman Aaron Amadi-Holloway put pen to paper on the eve of the season. Lekan Osideko, who bagged a six-minute hat-trick in a pre-season friendly at Coalville, was also on board.

If entertainment was what the Hereford faithful craved for, then they would go home happy on the opening day of the season, with the Bulls sharing a 3-3 thriller with Spennymoor at Edgar Street.

But just like the previous campaign, inconsistency again proved to be Hereford's Achilles Heel. The Bulls swiftly lost to Scarborough before beating Chester and Buxton. However, they ended the month with defeats to Banbury and Gloucester.

Only one win was secured in the league in September, which was the token victory over Blyth. The other success came against Bromsgrove in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup. No one would have foreseen then that the Bulls would go on a cup run, but they did, all the way to the first round and televised home match against Portsmouth in front of the BBC cameras. 

Hereford got to that stage following a last-gasp victory at National League side Bromley, which so happened to be on a plastic pitch, a surface that Gowling said on many occasions that he was not a fan of. 

The Portsmouth game was played just two days after the death of Ronnie Radford, who will forever be remembered by Bulls fans for scoring 'that goal' that helped beat Newcastle in one of the greatest FA Cup shocks.

Backed by a record Hereford FC attendance of 4,912, Hereford unbelievably took a first half lead through Miles Storey. In the end though, the gulf in class told and Portsmouth comfortably won 3-1. 

One could argue that Hereford's poor second half performance - even if it was against a League One side - was the start of what was to come over the next few weeks. Just four days later, Gowling's side were humbled 2-0 at Kettering before only narrowly beating bottom club AFC Telford.

A 1-0 defeat to Peterborough Sports - described by many fans as one of the worst performances they had seen by a Hereford side - duly followed and it seemed another frustrating season was in store. Any hope that the Bulls could muster a run in the FA Trophy were truly put to bed by lower-ranked Heybridge Swifts, who claimed a stunning 3-0 win. Next up were back-to-back games at Darlington and King's Lynn, who at the time were in the top two positions in the league. However, despite losing both games 2-1, Hereford at least put up a fight and there was hope that the team could turn around their fortunes.

A midweek 1-1 home draw versus Chorley was frustrating due to the away side scoring late on, but again Hereford's performance was encouraging. So, with a healthy crowd cheering them on against Kidderminster on Boxing Day, one would hope that another good display would be forthcoming. But as has been evident throughout both this and previous campaigns, a bad game is always around the corner for Hereford, and so it proved with Harriers claiming a 1-0 win.

The reverse fixture at Aggborough was much better though, although Hereford were still only able to claim a point. The Bulls were starting to look over their shoulder at the wrong end of the table, meaning that maximum points in their next two games were a must. They were both Edgar Street, with Scarborough followed by Farsley just three days later. For the first time in a long while, Hereford put on displays that the fans could be proud of, with the first half against Farsley being particularly impressive.

However, in order to truly propel themselves back up the league, the Bulls had to maintain the level of performances and put a run of results together. However, that was not to come. A defeat at Gloucester followed, and despite seeing off Buxton, three losses in a row soon came at the hands of Banbury, Spennymoor and Farsley respectively. That proved to be the last straw for the board, with Gowling removed by the post and his assistant, Yan Klukowski and captain Jared Hodgkiss taking temporary charge. Until when, who knows.

So, what legacy will Gowling leave? No doubt, he was very passionate about the club and and always had its best interests at heart. Travelling thousands of miles during a season from his home in Grimsby is no mean feat, and don't forget he also agreed not to be paid for a time whilst the club's income was being hit by Covid. 

He also took the club to a FA Trophy Final, as well as the first round of the FA Cup, with the money generated by the Portsmouth game no doubt coming in very handy. However, it's the bread and butter of the league where managers are judged, and sadly Gowling's tenure will be remembered as one who couldn't quite take the club to the next level. 

The disruption of Covid of course didn't help, and even this season, he has been hampered by lots of injuries. But a manager is judged by the players he signs and the results on the pitch. And when the majority of fans started calling for his head, there was only going to be one outcome.