Season Preview - The Opposition (Part Two)

Mark Jones continues his look at Hereford’s rivals in the National League North with the 2023/24 season just around the corner. Here’s part two of the A-Z, or rather the A-W.

Boston United

There are Bulls fans who consider last season not to have been one of underachievement, more the natural level for a club of the overall profile of HFC. If the middle of the lower half of the NLN is that natural level, it’s quite a depressing thought, and I don’t buy into it. However, one club who really did indisputably underachieve last season given the money they invested in it was Boston, and they look transitional, and therefore beatable, this time too (they’ll probably now win the league by 20 points of course).

However, manager Ian Culverhouse knows his onions at this level, winning promotion with Kings Lynn a few seasons back with a side that wasn’t averse to finding a way to win in whatever way necessary.

Ex-Bull Ben Pollock has left the club for Spennymoor, whilst striker Michael Gyasi has signed from Chesterfield, and is already, at 23, seemingly ‘much-travelled’, having been at Dover, Altrincham and most of the places in between. A career record of nine goals in 72 games wouldn’t even strike fear in Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

Brackley Town

Play-off losers again last season for the umpteenth time. Hopefully their moneybags owner is now getting fed up and ready to move into some other hobby like stamp collecting. That seems unlikely though, because…

Striker Dan Turner has joined for an undisclosed fee from Leamington, and that looks like a promising bit of business as the Saints look to finally gain promotion. Turner averaged a goal every three games last season in a very poor and ultimately relegated Leamington side. Incidentally, the Brakes have replaced him with a certain Ty Barnett.

Other useful (and presumably quite expensive) arrivals include 20-year-old midfielder Liam Cross following his release from League One side Northampton Town, Boston’s Jordon Crawford and Banbury’s Jay Williams. In the latter’s case, that should say ‘included’, because after two off-season months with the club he moved on to Crawley. Zac Lilly has been brought in as his replacement, and Bulls fans will be hoping to see more of the ricket-prone Mini Metro rather than the purring Rolls Royce from that singularly schizophrenic defender.

There’s been no news of them recruiting anyone at all from Bala, presumably because they don’t have to, given that their owner has yet to discover the delights of philately and is still throwing money at the seemingly futile quest to get Brackley promoted instead.

Ex-Telford manager Gavin Cowan is the latest coach to put his head on the Brackley chopping block, and can expect to wave goodbye to that head pre-Christmas if the club isn’t in the play-off positions by then.

Buxton

Really good first season in the NLN for the Bucks last time, just missing out on the play-offs. A plastic pitch way up in the Peak District clouds arguably makes things tricky for visiting teams, but the fact that it gives the home team the guarantee of getting games on throughout the winter seems very sensible given their location. Defender Max Hunt and strikers Jake Wright and Jordan Burrow have joined the club over the summer. Hunt was with Yeovil last season, Wright and Burrow were with Boston, manager Craig Elliott’s former club. Burrow has a solid CV, and did well at York, but hasn’t been particularly prolific anywhere else. That could be a decent partnership up front though if Elliott can get a tune out of it.

Chester FC

One of only three NLN teams last season showing any sort of consistency and class, but ultimately that counted for nothing as they were dumped out of the play-offs by Brackley. Top scorer Kurt Willoughby has moved up a division to Oldham having scored 27 for Chester last time and will be a big miss, as he successfully played that poacher role so prized by every club, and seemingly so tricky a role to successfully cast. 23-year-old Zac Goodson has joined from Altrincham as a replacement. In common with several Hereford summer signings, he’s looked full of potential further down the pyramid but will now need to turn that potential into cold, hard NLN goal-getting.

Despite losing Willoughby, Chester will be hopeful of an improvement on last season’s third-placed finish, which in itself was a massive improvement on the season before that. A similar club to Hereford in many ways, so if they can make such giant strides in a short space of time having finally found the right manager in club stalwart Calum McIntyre, surely the Bulls can too? Those giant strides have resulted in season ticket sales of well over 1500, and a boost the budget target of £100k met. All very impressive, and symptomatic of a sense of momentum and optimism at the Deva.

They looked solid and organised rather than spectacularly good last season at Edgar Street, and the suggestion is that a Caddis XI will at least match them in that respect this season.

Bizarrely, they have a pre-season friendly scheduled against a Manchester United XI on 7 August, which by my reckoning isn’t pre-season.

Chorley

Usually tough and competitive at this level, the sort of team it sounds like Paul Caddis would like to shape Hereford into becoming. They were in the play-off positions for much of last season before petering out a bit allowing others to edge past them.

Evesham-born Andy Preece will be hoping for better from his players this season, although main goal-getter Connor Hall has jumped ship to Solihull, a club that seems to be collecting NLN strikers.

Other established players like Scott Leather and Jon Ustabasi have also left, to be replaced largely by youngsters from their education programme. A fabulous approach if it works, and one to be applauded.

Ex-manager Jamie Vermiglio has returned to the club as chairman, and given his success with the Magpies in the past this should give them a boost. They also have a new owner in Prince. Not that one, he won’t be pulling the strings from the Paisley Park in the sky, it’s Prince Yemoh.

Like Boston, they look a bit transitiony this season to me.

Curzon Ashton

One of the smaller clubs in the division, but they punched above their weight last season and were in contention for the play-offs right up until the final day. Admittedly that was the case for a huge swathe of clubs, so perhaps it’s nothing to write home about. The Nash used to make a habit of finishing 18^th more often than not. They don’t anymore.

Ex-Bull Miles Storey will be playing for the club this season, and hopefully hasn’t miraculously discovered how to finish over the summer. He could conceivably still find a way to hit Hereford Waitrose when playing home games in Greater Manchester. Only joking of course, he seemed like a smashing fella, Miles.

Midfielder Alex Kenyon looks like a good signing from Chester.

Part three to follow tomorrow!