Five years ago today, Monday April 20th 2015, Peter Beadle was back inside Edgar Street having been appoined as the first manager of Hereford FC. Over the next three seasons he took the club from the Midland League to the National North League. Three promotions in three years. And a trip to Wembley for an FA Vase final.
Then, for reasons that still remain unclear, he was sacked on Sptember 13th 2018 and replaced by Tim Harris.
A look back to that Monday Morning In April 2015.
A look back to that Monday Morning In April 2015.
Newly appointed Hereford FC
manager Peter Beadle never thought he would come back to Edgar Street
despite keeping Hereford United in the Conference last April.
"After the Aldershot game we still had about ten days of work to be done here with the youth team," Beadle told BN.
"They had their final against
Pegasus on the mid-week of that week and then we had some who had to
finish course work and college work.
"Really it was the uncertainty that was difficult to comprehend because no-one really knew where we were going to be.
"We spoke to four of the youth team players with David (Keyte) and offered them contracts for the following season.
"So you thought that's a good
start but then it was a case of speaking to Keyte about my role at the
club knowing there was going to be no youth team.
"And he said I've spoken to them (Agombar) about you and put your name forward and it's really up to them to make contact.
"So when they didn't and the season started, I never thought for one minute I would come back, of course not."
BN - But you are back.
"I am and I'm extremely pleased to be back.
"Like I said before it's a club
that's given me a chance to be back in full-time football when I did the
youth team for the fourteen months when I was here.
"And it's a club that became part
of me because the people here have been great, they've been very
supportive of me and I know that comes with having a team that plays
good football and the kids were enjoying what they were doing and
everyone was talking about the youth team and we had a fantastic FA Cup
run.
"So when things go well people
speak well of you and with what we did there, it was a shame that
couldn't carry on because we did have a fantastic group of young
players.
"Then with Martin (Foyle) leaving
and me being asked to take over the first team was a big challenge at a
time the club was in turmoil because the youth team wasn't being paid,
the first team wasn't being paid, I wasn't being paid but it was an
opportunity you can't turn down.
"I didn't want to let supporters
down or the people of Hereford down and fortunately for me we got that
luck and we stayed up on the last day.
"It was a day that many people
will remember and I'll never forget but after that you move on and
everything changes and nothing stays the same.
"So this is a completely fresh start."
BN -Given the club is part-time
have you got a limit on how far away any player might live because of
the travelling to training?
"No, not necessarily.
"Obviously we can ask the
question of any player and say look do you want to come and play for
this fantastic club with a hugh following on this fantastic football
ground.
"There are some players who would
travel many miles for that and it's about playing in an environment
that is as close to a professional football club as you can get.
"We are hoping we can give that
to many players and not so much about the money. There are sometimes you
want the better players you've got to pay better money. And sometimes
to get them you might have to go further afield.
"There are no parametres how wide our net goes but obviously the closer to Hereford the easier it is going to be to attract.
"We've got make to make sure we do the best we can with what we've got to bring in and have the best squad we can.
"We proved with the Hereford
youth team that there is young talent out there. We may not throw too
many in there this year because the first year there will be a hugh
amount of expectation and a lot of pressure on us and the players to
perform well.
"That's a challenge we have to
rise to so it might be a bit too early to have a really young side to
work with but it is out there and it's up to us to find it, enhance it,
and make it better so we have a strong future."
BN - So you're talking of a mix.
"And I think that's the way to
go. We want to try and make sure we have the best of the experienced
players and the best of the young talent. They want to be hungry for
success and they want to work and learn. Like the youth team and the
first team did late last season.
"With the first team, we changed
the style and the way we played over eight games which was a very short
space of time but we got there.
"We transformed it a little bit
and the players throughly enjoyed what we did and how we worked and we
want to try and do that with the new club."
BN - How well do you know the new coach Matt Bishop?
"I've not worked with him.
"Matt was a coach educator on a
coaching course that I did but I've known Matt as he went in at Newport
where I had previously been and I knew people at Newport and they said
what a great chap this man is, not just a great coach but a good person
who lives and dies football.
"I did some work on a course with him last August, got chatting to him.
"And when this came up I was about to do a coaching assessment and I rang him for some advice.
"We had a really good chat on the
phone and he asked what I was doing. I said I'd applied for Hereford
and he said what a great club. So I said if I get it will you come and
he said yes, I'd love to. As simple as that.
"Since then we've been in a lot
of contact and talked about things and I know we have the same
philosophy about how the game should be played, the type of characters
we would like.
"I got through to the second
stage of the interviews and they asked if Matt would come with me to the
second interview which he did and we spoke at the interview as a pair.
"We were both singing off the
same hymn sheet, both extremely passionate about what we wanted to do
here and how we were going to do it. Maybe that got us over the line.
"Matt will bring a hugh amount of
knowledge and experience to the game and he's had success. That feeling
and emotion of being in a team that's going to win promotion. I've been
close but not won one yet, may be this will be the year."
BN - Money will be tight this
coming season but what happens if your close to promotion and you feel
an extra striker might seal it and the board says no?
"That's the ups and downs of a
football manager and a board. That's what builds a successful football
club, a manager constantly on at the board saying I want this, I want
that, I want more.
"If I don't I'm not doing my job
properly. They will expect me to be banging on their door saying I would
like this, I would like that.
"It's up to us to wheel and deal to get the best we can for the football club."
BN - Do you already know your budget and will you cope with it?
"Yes and yes.
"At the end of the day whether
the budget is £500 or £500,000 you've still got to be able to get the
right players to come and play for you.
"We've got a budget we think we
can work with as in we can put a team out there that is going to be
challenging and we've to make sure they are doing exactly that.
"That's the aim and that's what
we've got to work with. We knew what it was from the second interview.
That's the budget, that's what the club can afford.
"We've got to make sure we put the best value for money out on the pitch we've got.
"And if we do that I think we'll be pretty close."