Oates Back With Hereford For Blyth Trip

This from Hereford FC:

Jimmy Oates admits that his loyalty to Head Coach Marc Richards has played a big part in his return to Edgar Street, as the former Hereford-man arrives on loan from League 2 Exeter City until the end of the season.

The Australian-born defender is no stranger to Hereford Head Coach Marc Richards after the pair met whilst playing in Australia.

"I met Marc in Sydney with Manly United and played with him for a couple of years" said Jimmy "he then got offered the job at Hartpury as Head of Football and offered me a scholarship to come and study and play over here.

"He's been a really good mate for the whole six years or so that I've known him and I've really enjoyed working with him. He's definitely someone who I respect massively. 

"How he goes about everything, he's very professional, it's been a really good experience with him and I'm really looking forward to continuing it."

"There were some other offers on the table that would have meant less travelling for me, but I've got a lot of loyalty to Marc so the decision was a straight forward one."

The former Hereford FC club captain is also no stranger to Edgar Street having spent a highly successful three seasons with The Bulls between 2015-2018. The popular right-back made 136 appearances during that time, scoring five goals. 

Oates was voted Player of the Season by the fans in 2016/17 and captained the club during the 2017/18 Southern League Premier title-winning season.

"I've got amazing memories of the club and a lot of love for the club, so I'm really looking forward to coming back and playing some games.

Jimmy will join up with the squad on Friday ahead of the long trip north to face Blyth on Saturday in Vanarama National League North action.