Hereford FC chairman Chris Ammonds has spoken about the problems with the floodlights at Edgar Street.
"Like all supporters, at the club we are very frustrated that the new floodlights are yet to be installed.
“We have actually had them on site at the Blackfriars End since mid-October when installation did initially start, but concerns about the foundations at the Meadow End due to the height of the water in the ground meant that the work programme – which is complex due to the lack of large vehicle access to the ground at the Meadow End – had to be halted after just a couple of days.
“The concerns meant that our appointed contractor – Musco – had to look at new designs for the foundations at the Meadow End, which then had to be agreed and signed off by various authorities. The new designs will come with increased costs and that is something that discussions are ongoing about so we have clarity.
“We do not have floodlight installation experience at the club and therefore we are completely in the hands of the expert contractor in terms of what needs to be done to ensure safe installation. Throughout this whole process we have been guided by them on the best way forward.
“We have expressed concerns about the time this whole process is taking and yesterday (Wednesday 18 December) we had a meeting with Musco to try to get a more definitive timeline on the programme and an update on potential costs.
“Earlier in the day we also had an extremely useful meeting with the Football Foundation to update them on the current position and the events of Tuesday night when the lights on one of our old pylons completely failed with 90 seconds to go in the Scarborough Athletic match.
“I can reassure supporters that club officials are in absolutely no doubt how urgently we need our new floodlights installed and that we have been pushing hard to move things forward – including proactively contacting local companies who may be able to help with the work on the foundations.
“While we are hopeful that we will be able to restore the lights on the pylon that failed on Tuesday night as a short-term fix, we are making it clear to our contractor that the new lights and pylons are desperately needed and although the Christmas break will not help progress, we will continue to make this point over the next couple of weeks.
“I’d like to thank our supporters for their patience and understanding about this ongoing project – the amount of time that has been spent on this issue by people at the club (both paid and unpaid) is enormous and hopefully this hard work will be rewarded soon. It certainly deserves to be.”
Hereford FC can also confirm that the National League has been provided with a full update on the situation with the floodlight installation programme and the issue that occurred with one set of lights late in Tuesday night’s match.