Louise Phillips’ longform piece “The Fall of the
Giant Killers" is featured in the new edition of Blizzard magazine.
The
magazine can be bought in both hard copy and digitally. The download
version is available today with the hard copies following in the next
couple of days. It features some of the the best football writing and is
worth supporting. Or, in the words of one reviewer on their home page,
"It's like a Who's Who of who isn't a tw*t in the world of football
journalism” .
Here's the link:
www.theblizzard.co.uk
And here’s the intro to the piece.
Fall of the Giant Killers
By Louise Phillips
On a dark Friday afternoon in a small courtroom the week before Christmas, Hereford United Football Club (1939) Limited was dissolved. The owner Andy Lonsdale had failed to arrive with the proof he had £1million to pay the club's creditors. 'I'm instructed that the transfer has been made,' Lonsdale's lawyer told the progressively incredulous judge. 'Mr. Lonsdale is stuck in traffic.' He conceded that he had personally seen no evidence of the transfer taking place. The liquidation order was uttered with such little fanfare some of the supporters and reporters in Courtroom 7 were initially unsure it had actually taken place.
The hearing followed a five month boycott which had seen the club attracting gates of barely 400. The previous evening Lonsdale had reneged on his promise to address a meeting of the Hereford United Supporters' Trust. Instead, HUST members and the local MP had discussed plans for a supporter-run phoenix club they hoped to rebuild.
Outside the High Court, fans expressed sadness and relief when they spoke to reporters. As far as they were concerned, their club had been dead since the summer. Hereford United had been torn apart by the arrival of its controversial owner, whose arrival had set fan against fan and exposed the lack of ownership safeguards in the English game.
Here's the link:
www.theblizzard.co.uk
And here’s the intro to the piece.
Fall of the Giant Killers
By Louise Phillips
On a dark Friday afternoon in a small courtroom the week before Christmas, Hereford United Football Club (1939) Limited was dissolved. The owner Andy Lonsdale had failed to arrive with the proof he had £1million to pay the club's creditors. 'I'm instructed that the transfer has been made,' Lonsdale's lawyer told the progressively incredulous judge. 'Mr. Lonsdale is stuck in traffic.' He conceded that he had personally seen no evidence of the transfer taking place. The liquidation order was uttered with such little fanfare some of the supporters and reporters in Courtroom 7 were initially unsure it had actually taken place.
The hearing followed a five month boycott which had seen the club attracting gates of barely 400. The previous evening Lonsdale had reneged on his promise to address a meeting of the Hereford United Supporters' Trust. Instead, HUST members and the local MP had discussed plans for a supporter-run phoenix club they hoped to rebuild.
Outside the High Court, fans expressed sadness and relief when they spoke to reporters. As far as they were concerned, their club had been dead since the summer. Hereford United had been torn apart by the arrival of its controversial owner, whose arrival had set fan against fan and exposed the lack of ownership safeguards in the English game.