During this evening's very informative Fans Forum, Hereford United chairman David Keyte was asked about the lease situation at Edgar Street by BN's Chris Powis.
"I think, apart from the getting the team together, the next biggest thing at this football club is the cloud that has sat over it for 15 years now and all sorts of behind the scenes arrangements and leases - you can do this but you can't do that.
"All we can say at the moment it that it remains top of our list to get a bit of daylight, light at the end of the tunnel.
"We've had one initial meeting with the Richardsons and we are in the throws of putting a meeting together in the next week or two to try and progress things there.
"If we can get through and past the Richardsons ie move them out of the equation then there is a very rosey future for Hereford United as a football club.
"We've also met with the council who are extremely pro-Hereford United. They would like Hereford United to be the direct leaseholder again and that's where we want to get the football club.
"If we become the direct leaseholder then we have options, we have the footprint of Edgar Street. Obviously the key part is the green bit in the middle.
"At this moment we are quite limited in that it is fairly tight, not least where we are sitting tonight, a couple of bars, changing rooms, and the immediate grandstands are the football clubs to maintain and manage.
"The outer part of it is the Richardsons including the social club, the backside of the current Blackfriars Stand and the scrubby bits behind the Meadow End.
"They don't seem to be either willing or able to progress things.
"There is another footprint, the Edgar Street Grid, which seems to be moving equally so slowly and big property developers like the Richardsons won't bother to push on unless they have got some close neighbours such as big commercial names.
"Until that moves forward this bit is unattractive to commercial developers although they are holding the cards."
Keyte then reminded supporters how the Bulls are in debt to the Richardsons.
"Half a million pounds to bail out Hereford United in 1995, another half a million pounds in 97/98 and Richarsons almost indirectly picked up that debt so that Hereford United owe the Richardsons One million and sixty nine thousand. That's quite a cloud under the club.
"We're not going anywhere. They're not going anywhere at the moment and that's what it has been like for probably about ten years.
"It is the thing off the field that we need to shift, to get it clear, a bit of sunlight back on the club.
"I'm personally quite confident that we can do something on that in the next week or two.
"The Blackfriars End developement is one under that cloud. Before we arrived the club went through the process of getting plans drawn up but those we drawn up with direct work alongside the Richardsons architects. So that what was approved for the football club, a little 1600 seated stand, was of a dimension that allowed the Richardsons the lions share of the Blackfriars End to develope something commercial.
"Restrictive to a football club and so the first priority for me is to try and progress the whole thing and get past the Richardsons and then I do feel we will have a bigger picture to play with.
"Do we want a 1600 stand or a 3000 stand? At present we don't have that option of deciding.
"Can we take it down? No we can't until the Richardsons say so. So all the wheels are waiting to turn but they do hold sway at the moment.
"There is some middle ground there somewhere."
Text at top (next game etc)
Next Game: Kings Lynn At Edgar Street On Saturday 21 September at 3.00pm