This article, written by Tomas Shore, was originally published on:
https://www.the-newshub.com/stories/hereford-uniteds-sad-and-avoidable-demise
As the FA Cup 3rd round weekend comes to a close, many teams’
dreams of a giant killing upset have been dashed and many are still
hoping for that buzz that only the FA Cup can bring. One of the greatest
FA Cup moments now comes with a slightly bitter tinge to it. Ronnie
Radford’s thunderbolt of a goal against Newcastle in 1972 for Hereford
was scored for a club that, at this moment in time, no longer exists.
It
was only 6 years ago that Hereford were flying high in League 1,very
much punching above their weight and playing the likes of Leeds and
Oldham who they recorded memorable wins against. This only lasted a
season but it seemed like a club in good health. The then manager,
Graham Turner, owned the club from 1998-2010 and managed the club from
1995-2009 and again for a spell in 2010. When he took over the club in
1998 he saved it from large debts incurred by the previous owners. By
all accounts he left the club in good financial health.
In
2010 the club was bought by David Keyte.in the 2011-12 season Hereford
slipped back into the Conference where it stayed for the next 2 seasons.
During the 2013-14 season it became abundantly clear that the club was
in dire financial difficulty. David Keyte had decided that the best way
out of a bit of financial troubles was to not pay the players or
manager. This is when the whole business becomes very murky. Keyte
refused to sell to the Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) who had
planned meticulously how to service the clubs debt and keep Hereford
running as a club.
In May 2014 the club was
sold for £2 to Tommy Agombar who, it emerged very quickly, had a
conviction for being the leader of a gang which stole lorries. Agombar,
unsurprisingly, failed the fit and proper owner test and resigned as
director. On 17th June Agombar was suddenly no longer listed as owner
leaving Keyte once again as sole owner.
During
this stage Hereford were thrown out of the Conference and entered into
the Southern Football League, Conference Premier, the 8th tier of
English football. In this time Agombar was 'advised' by Andy Lonsdale.
In August, after a month of uncertainty of who actually owned the club,
Lonsdale is named as director of the club. Lonsdale had been involved
with Agombar during his brief reign at the club. He was also owner of
Feltham FC where he fell out with the locals and the law due to large
scale dumping of rubble, more than he was given permission to, at one
end of the ground.
In this time it emerged
that Alpha Choice Finance, the company Lonsdale used to become majority
shareholder, is owned by Alan McCarthy. Now McCarthy appeared to want
very little to do with running the club and left that to Lonsdale.
However, as owner of Alpha Choice Finance, McCarthy had to pass the fit
and proper person test; he does not submit the paperwork for this to the
FA leading to the FA charging Hereford United with breaching their
rules. It was this situation which led to the FA suspending Hereford
from all football activity on 10th December. This was quickly resolved
by Lonsdale buying out Alpha Choice Finance and becoming majority
shareholder.
Lonsdale and Agombar both
undoubtedly put money into the club but with this chaos, rumours of the
ground being sold off for real estate, countless mysterious investors
dropping out and McCarthy, Lonsdale and Agombar all blaming the fans at
some point you can understand why the HUST boycotted matches and why
attendance is at its lowest ever levels.
The website SaveEdgarStreet,
through a Freedom of Information request found that previous owner
David Keyte had opened up talks about the possibility of selling the
ground for real estate. Lonsdale and Agombar have never denied they are
looking into this but they have stated they are investing in the club
and looking to pay off the debts.
Between May and December
Hereford United had a winding up petition adjourned 8 times. It was
stated a few times that creditors had been paid only for this to be
immediately refuted by either the creditors or the league. The murkiest
aspect was the mysterious investors which Lonsdale claims to have found
which pop up and disappear at an alarming rate. Lonsdale openly blamed
fans for what says is a 'toxic atmosphere' which no-one wants to invest
in. This was despite HUST repeatedly stating they will sit down with the
owners once the creditors have been paid.
If
we focus on two of these investors, Alpha Choice Finance and European
Finance Guarantee we can see that neither stand up to much scrutiny.
Alpha Choice Finance, the company which was majority shareholder till
yesterday, no longer exist and were found to be in breach of the
financial regulator when they failed to submit their paperwork a few
months ago. European Finance Guarantee were another investor supposedly
brought in to pay off creditors. They're listed as a dormant company and
a quick search of their given address, 45-157 St John Street, London,
EC1V 4PY, is a 'virtual office space' used as a place where anyone can
register an office. According to a BBC report this building is often
used as a front for fraudulent companies.
On the 19th
December, in slightly farcical circumstances, Hereford United was wound
up. The ruling came as the court heard Lonsdale was stuck in traffic and
the judge stating that he’d had enough. The winding up petition could
turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The council have been very clear
that they want the club to remain a community asset and had tried to
seize the stadium during Lonsdale’s reign. In the meantime HUST are
working hard to establish a club to play next season. A phoenix club
akin to AFC Wimbledon will come out of Hereford but it is a situation
which should never have got to this point.
Ronnie
Radford and Hereford’s giant killing past are very much in people’s
memories this weekend. When people see that goal again and again they
should think of the supporters it brought so much joy to and a football
club beloved by many. Ownership and lack of support for fans is a modern
problem for many clubs and it should be a problem that is taken
seriously. Fans are what make occasions like the FA Cup so memorable and
to see any set of fans treated this way is a major blemish on the
running of the beautiful game.