The following article, written by Shane Roberts, was originally sent to Talking Bull but was not published.
REFLECTIONS ON 2014/15
Yes, I was one of the few hundred who still watched the Bulls last season. Each had their own reasons for doing so, and most had nothing but respect for the boycott. Personally I had no intention of falling out with anyone over the issue- I respected others’ views and actions and asked only that they respect mine. (To the person who mentioned disparagingly on Facebook that I had attended our away match at Brighton during our 1997 relegation season, and to the other person who agreed that such conduct was “unbelievable”, I would simply say that we played at Brighton in October, long before anyone could have known how the season would pan out in May. How can I be criticised for that?)
Anyway, I reiterate that I fully appreciated the reasons for the boycott. I thought long and hard about whether to attend the opening game- for a long time it had looked like the club might fold during the summer, meaning there would be no decision to make, but as it became clear that the Bulls would start the season I felt unable not to attend. I admit that curiosity played a very large part, and quite expected that, after a couple of games, I would conclude that the football was merely a “sideshow” (as was also suggested on Facebook), and join the ranks of the boycotters.
An unfamiliar team lined up against St. Neots Town, the pre-season title favourites. Indeed, for the first 20 minutes no-one had a clue who any of the players were, until the team line-up belatedly appeared on the scoreboard, where it remained for most of the rest of the game. (For the reasons behind this, see PA announcer Matt Healey’s excellent post on Bulls News on Dec 21st 2014, two days after the club folded. He combines a fans’-eye view with some insider knowledge, as well as revealing how he had to wrestle with his own dilemmas about whether to continue on the PA.)
To my surprise, the two teams looked fairly evenly-matched. Both sides tried to play football, rather than the hoof-fest I had half-expected, and ultimately the only difference between the sides seemed to be our lack of match-fitness as St. Neots ran out 2-0 winners. The lack of any meaningful pre-season action obviously cost Hereford, and the St. Neots manager remarked after the game that he was glad his team hadn’t played us after six or eight games. (A video of the whole game can be found on Youtube for anyone who is interested.)
The next home game against Slough followed a similar pattern, but we came away with a point from a 2-2 draw after conceding in the first minute. By now the few hundred “faithful” were starting to familiarise themselves with some of the players, who themselves were starting to gel as a team. (Much has been made of manager Jon Taylor’s use of 46 players during the season- yes, at times there did seem to be some unnecessary tinkering with the team but in general the core of the team was the same every week.) It was becoming clear that this was a hungry young team with plenty of potential, and the players’ habit (probably ordained from above) of running to the fans at the end of the game, not just to applaud but actually to shake hands, was widely appreciated.
As usual, we lacked a decent striker. In my 30 years as a supporter only Stant, White and Guinan really stand out, so this is obviously a recurrent theme! Deqwon Eubanks and Nathaniel Lewars looked to have found their level when they dropped down to Westfields (sorry, chaps!), whilst the awful Samuel Akinde’s record of more red cards than goals speaks for itself. Serge Mor Diop hit a purple patch during the team’s run of six straight wins in late October/early November, netting eight times in five games, but frankly most of them were tap-ins and he never really looked the part. The later signings of Steve Vetier, and Dan Sullivan (on loan from Torquay), augmented our options up front.
In midfield, though, Salvador Ramirez and Bilal Yafai, in particular, really stood out- the latter’s trial at Cardiff City came to nothing, but he is surely capable of performing at a higher level than his current (at time of writing) Conference club, Nuneaton. Sam Bobes-Gilroy was always a combative presence, whilst in Javia Roberts we had a flying winger, equally at home on either wing or in either full-back position, whose pace terrified opponents and often put me in mind of Chris Price in his pomp. His final ball wasn’t always great, but then, if it was he wouldn’t have been playing in the Southern League! Luke Williams was confident in goal, with Louis Cutajar, Joshua Hawker and Obi Onyeike solid in defence.
This all begged the question- if the club’s owners really had no interest in football, why would they have assembled such a promising, vibrant side? My attitude throughout, perhaps naively, was to give them the benefit of the doubt- the promises of building for the future, whilst ultimately not backed up off the pitch, certainly seemed to be taking shape on it. I only saw Tommy Agombar once, away at Paulton, and did not speak to him, but several other fans there seemed happy to. I gather Tommy also attended other far-flung away games- why would a man allegedly only interested in asset-stripping do that?
We’ll probably never know all the answers, but sadly we do know how it all ended, and Andy Lonsdale’s initial bullish claims that he would appeal against the winding-up order were, as we know, replaced by complete silence when the deadline for the appeal came. This probably speaks volumes.
On the pitch, however, the team started to realize its potential with a 5-1 away thrashing of Banbury. I remarked to my long-suffering girlfriend that “this has been coming”, to which she retorted that we’d have to beat someone decent before I could start getting excited (Banbury were bottom at the time.) Well, we followed this with five more successive victories in all competitions, rising to 11th in the League, and Taylor began to talk of reaching the play-offs. Such talk did not seem fanciful, to me at least, and I was again ruing our lack of a pre-season.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this run came to an end after Roberts and Yafai were crocked in the 3-1 win at Frome. This proved to be United’s last-ever win. Thankfully, I was there to see it, but managed to miss our second AND third goals in one toilet visit! A record even for me. Incidentally, speaking of away trips, I managed three in all- the two I’ve already mentioned, plus Dorchester (I wanted to do Chippenham as well, but unfortunately I was away when we played there.)The friendliness and support of the home fans at all three clubs will long be cherished, and I hope the new club will find the same in the Midland League. Apart from a slightly nervous-looking steward at Dorchester asking me how many fans we would be bringing (answer: “I haven’t got a clue!”- this being our first away game), the idea of segregation seemed completely alien- by Frome, I didn’t even bother asking.
Our new adventure is about to begin- I hope I’m cheering on HFC in the Premiership in another 30 years (ha!) I wouldn’t have missed the last 30 years for anything- so many great games, so many friendships made, so many trips to places I would never have otherwise visited (Scarborough, Southport, er- Stevenage!) But, on the pitch at least, last season deserves to be remembered as more than a coda. With time, this could have been another great Bulls team. What a shame only a few hundred of us ever saw them.