On this day five years ago it was confirmed that Peter Beadle was to be the first manager of Hereford FC.
Here's the announcement from the club:
This from Hereford FC:
We are delighted to announce that Peter Beadle has today been appointed manager of Hereford FC.
The appointment comes after a
lengthy selection process that has lasted more than five weeks and seen a
round of second interviews take place for those shortlisted after their
first interview.
Beadle is a familiar face at
Edgar Street as he was the manager who inspired Hereford United’s escape
from relegation from the Conference Premier at the end of the 2013/14
by memorably winning the last two games – at home to Alfreton and then
away at Aldershot on what was an unforgettable day for the club’s
supporters.
Arriving at Edgar Street as
Beadle’s assistant will be Matt Bishop, a hugely experienced coach who
currently works as a Coach Educator for the Football Association.
Bishop is a UEFA Pro Licence
holder and, having featured for a number of Welsh Premier League clubs
during his playing career, he has since gone on to be Assistant Manager
at Newport County and Aldershot Town, and also for the Welsh Under 17
and England Under 20 teams.
Speaking about his appointment, Hereford FC’s new manager said:
‘I’m delighted and very proud to have been appointed as manager of Hereford FC and cannot wait to get started.
‘Matt and I are hugely excited
by the journey that lies ahead and although we are under no illusions
about the challenges we will face in our new roles, we have no doubt
that we are the right people to take this club forward.
‘It will come as no surprise
to people when I say that Edgar Street has a special place in my heart
and the support I have had from people who felt I should get this job
has been truly humbling.
‘We have a lot of work to do
between now and the start of the league season in August because we are
going to be putting a squad together from scratch. However, with the
contacts we have we believe we can put a squad together that Hereford FC
supporters deserve after all the hard work that has been done by so
many people to ensure football will be played at Edgar Street from the
start of the 2015/16 season.
‘I’d like to take this
opportunity to thank the Hereford FC Directors for giving us this
opportunity at Edgar Street – we will be doing all we can to prove their
decision is the right one and give all supporters a team they can be
very proud of.’
Meanwhile, Hereford FC’s Football Director, Martin Watson, has given his thoughts on Beadle’s appointment.
‘This is an extremely important decision for the club and one that we have taken a lot of time over.
‘The calibre of the applicants
we had for the job was excellent and all the people we interviewed came
across well. The decision we faced was as hard as we expected which is
why we decided to conduct a second round of interviews
‘However, in the end, we felt
that the way Peter Beadle and Matt Bishop intend to work together as a
team offered us the best possible chance of achieving the targets we are
setting in terms of climbing up the leagues and we are delighted they
have accepted our offer to become our management team.
‘Peter is obviously well known
to football fans in Hereford, but Matt also comes highly recommended
and has a great deal of experience to bring to the club. Gareth Davies –
who has helped us with the interview process – knows Matt’s qualities
as a coach and is really pleased with his appointment too.
‘I must thank Gareth for all
the help he has given us over the past five weeks and there is no doubt
the football knowledge he brought with him to the table was vital to the
interviews we conducted. He was able to ask searching questions about
the footballing philosophies of our candidates and that really helped us
test each of them thoroughly.
‘As soon as is possible we
intend to organise a Fans Forum with Peter and Matt at Edgar Street so
they can be formally introduced to supporters, who can then listen to
their plans for the future.
‘There is no doubt that today
is a significant day for the club and is one that only serves to build
excitement for the future even more.’
Later in the day Beadle spoke to BBC Hereford and Worcester:
Beadle Very Excited About Hereford FC
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| Peter Beadle Talking To The Local Press At Edgar Street After The Game Against Alfreton In April 2014 |
Peter Beadle, Hereford FC's first manager, has said he is very excited about his new job.
"I'm very very excited about the project ahead of us," Beadle told BBC Hereford and Worcester.
"We've got an awful lot of hardwork to get through between now and the first game of the season whichever league we will be in and whichever date that is, but we can't wait to get started.
"I wanted to get back into football as quickly as I could and obviously with the football club starting again it does hold a special place for me with regards to what I achieved there last year with the youth team and also with the first team at the end of the season.
"Looking at the size of the project it was one I really wanted to do and a job that I could do and so put my name in for it and went through a rather long process but at the end it's turned out the right way for me.
"I had my first interview five weeks ago and I thought it went quite well but obviously you never know what other applicants are in for the job and the club have done an excellent job of keeping it as close to their chests as they can and without letting anybody know what was happening.
"Then I had to wait four and a half weeks to find out I had been fortunate to find out I had made the final two. Then I had a second interview at the beginning of the week and then found out the news on Wednesday.
"It was fantastic news and lots of emotion running through me at once, a bit of fear, apprehension, excitement but mainly just pride that I've been given the opportunity to get this club up and running again and hopefully guide it to where it wants and it should be."
Presenter Andrew Easton then asked about possible players for the new club.
"I got a list as long as my arms and legs at the moment of players you like to bring in and you work your way through that list.
"Not being involved in football since the early part of this season I've managed to get to quite a lot of games in at all levels and managed to see quite a few players.
"I've got a wish list that I'd like to bring in but we have to be careful and do things right because teams are still in their seasons with a couple of weeks to go.
"We have got our eye on a large amount of players. All players we feel that could do the job and wear the shirt with pride."
Easton suggested with good season ticket sales to date, Beadle will have the fans behind him.
"The fans have been fantastic and outside of thanking the board for giving me and Matt the chance to be part of the club when it starts but also a big thank you for the support I've had personally with people wishing me well and hoping I'd get the job.
"It has hit home the size of the project in hand and the size of the task we've got when in just a week with no phone lines or credit card machine we sell nearly 500 season tickets and that is phenomenal in itself and if we can have that support from the very start then I'm sure they will play a massive part in moving the club forward very quickly."
It will be all new players at Edgar Street next season?
"This is not the usual senario. When you go into a club you normally have a core of players whether it be half a dozen, a dozen. You normally have a start with a group of players.
"This is completely different. We are starting from scratch. We have no players signed to the club at the moment.
"So when we bring these players to the club they will take a little time to bed in as a lot of them won't have played together before.
"Some of them may know me, some of them may know Matt, some may know one another, but they will never have played together as a team.
"So we have got to make sure we hit the ground running as best we can. It's going to be a tough ask."