£20,000 for Fleetwood

Stuart Fleetwood is the first player for whom the new 'regime' at Hereford United has paid a transfer fee.

Whilst the figure is undisclosed, speculation has suggested the fee may be about £20,000.

There is also a view that may be some add-ons but this seems unlikely.

Fleetwood will have taken a pay-cut to come back to Edgar Street. But at some stage that was going to happen as his contract at Charlton was due to finish at the end of the coming season.

In truth his signing by Alan Padrew was a step too far for the striker. However back at Edgar Street it's a fair bet that he could regain the sort of form he showed against Coventry in the Carling Cup back in August 2006.

And here's a reminder of how Alan Poole of the Coventry Telegraph reported on Fleetwood's evening:

Coventry's defence......were teased, tormented and ultimately torn apart by the man who their coaches had singled out as Hereford's major (arguably their only) threat.

Stuart Fleetwood was jettisoned by Cardiff City because Dave Jones didn't think he was a Championship-class striker. But he boasts the one quality that, as Alan Hansen and co never tire of reminding us, every defender hates - pace.

In Fleetwood's case, that's pace with a capital P, searing speed from a standing start that exposed City's defence inside the first minute and had them creaking at the seams for the remaining 89.

By the time he limped off in the 73rd minute - ostensibly with a tweaked muscle, although Bulls boss Graham Turner cheekily suggested that he bowed out early to milk his standing ovation - he had scored three goals, missed two more self-created opportunities and proved that Micky Adams has more things to worry about than his under-performing attack.

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