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| Edgar Street As Seen From Waitrose - BN Picture |
'Over the road from the shiny new Waitrose in Hereford is a dilapidated row of buildings clad with corrugated metal. It's only when you look up at the four pylons topped with floodlights you realise you are standing by a football ground.
'Edgar Street until last year was the home of Hereford United, perpetrator of one of the greatest upsets in FA Cup history. In 1972 Newcastle United - a high flyer in what was then called the First Division - was knocked out by non-league Hereford. Ronnie Radford's goal attained iconic status - close your eyes and you can see the TV pictures, the ball rising from the mud and then an invasion of small boys in anoracks.
'I used to stand with my brothers in the already crumbling terraces in the 1980's and it was sad to see the debt ridden club bump from crisis to crisis before finally being wound up just before Christmas.
'By then many fans had deserted upset with the way it was being run. A campaigning blog declared 'We Want Our Club Back'. Now they are getting their wish.
'Hereford FC is to be born from the ashes although the so-called 'Phoenix' club will have a long way to rise. It's likely to be starting life on one of the lowest rungs of the non-league ladder. But, crucially, it will be owned and run by the supporters - I bought my own £10 share as a Christmas present to myself.
'The point is that a football club is not a normal business like a supermarket. However the mega clubs of the Premier League might sometimes regard them, fans are not customers. You might go down the road to get a better deal on baked beans but you'll never switch teams because a rival's pint and pie are cheaper. And true fans remain loyal even if what is on offer on the pitch is distinctly substandard.
'So the fans who stayed away from Edgar Street did so with the heaviest of hearts and are now rejoicing in returning to their roots. This week they voted on a new club badge - the traditional Hereford bull at its centre - and the process to appoint a new manager is under way.
'As the daffodils peep through on the banks of the River Wye, green shoots of recovery are visible at Edgar Street, too.'