October 1997

Oct 2nd:

HEREFORD United are giving a trial to 21-year-old goalkeeper Andy Quy. Quy started his career as a trainee with Tottenham Hotspur.

Oct 4th:

TELFORD United 0 Hereford United 0 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford again managed to extend their unbeaten run today with this poor draw at Telford. This match was one of those where you just know that nothing will go right regardless of how much effort you put into it.

The scene was set when Hereford made a fantastic start to game. Gavin Mahon played out to Grayson on the wing, who in turn quickly headed down towards the goal and sent in a delightful cross which Ian Foster connected with, driving the ball into the back of the net after just 18 seconds had passed from the starting whistle.

The referee (note referee) however ruled that the ball had gone out of play when Grayson had made his run down the wing and therefore the goal was disallowed, to the outrage of the substantial Hereford support present.

Hereford finally accepted the fact and got on the with job in hand. The play was held in Telford's half for long periods with some excellent passing plays being made to try and find a hole in what appeared to be an eight man defensive structure.

Telford's keeper Derek Dudley was impressive enough when tested though and made one stunning save from a John Brough header which could easily have been in the back of the net had be not tipped it over the bar.

It was Grayson, however, who missed probably the next best chance in the match when Chris Hargreaves sent in a cross from the left which fell straight to unmarked Grayson. He mis-hit the shot though and it was easily collected by Dudley.

Telford also managed to scramble save a shot off the line after Grayson and Hargreaves again combined well just before the interval.

The funniest point of the match was actually during half-time. Telford's ground was not employing segregation and the Hereford support decided to chance ends with the play so as to remain behind the Telford goal. With the Hereford fans outnumbering the Telford fans by at least 2 to 1 the entire support moved off down the ground. Three Police Officers thought otherwise though and attempted to stop the migration, but with 1,200 fans bearing down on them, they stood precious little hope and quickly gave up. Instead they stood back and watched as Hereford took control of the home end driving the majority of home fans into what should have been the away end. Not what football is really about, but very funny nonetheless.

The second half started with Hereford coming under some early pressure but Nicky Ward was denied by Gayle, who wasn't really troubled again during the match.

Hereford had troubles of their own though as Grayson was substituted following a thigh strain and was shortly followed off the field by Ian Foster who it later transpired had suffered a groin problem.

This left the Hereford strike team greatly weakened and Telford were easily able to contain any attacks even if they made none of their own.

Steve Palmer wasn't bright enough to realise that the attacks were weakened though as he felled Chris Hargreaves and was met with the red card for his second bookable offence following a dissent incident earlier in the match.

A poor result which disappointed the strong away following even if they unbeaten run continues.

Oct 8th:

Andy Milner is unlikely to join Hereford United on a permanent basis, as originally expected. Milner, Chester City's leading scow last season, finishes a month loan spell with the Bulls on Saturday.

Oct 11th:

RUSHDEN and Diamonds 1 Hereford United 0 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford's unbeaten run of some five matches ended today with this defeat at Nene Park. The fairly strong group of Bulls fans enjoyed baiting Adrian Foster for most of it though which did provide some welcome light entertainment.

Nene Park is probably the second best ground in the Conference after Edgar Street of course. The external appearance is impressive and once inside the away end it appears more like an airport lounge with a bar and catering facilities providing for the away fans alone. Televisions hung from the ceilings were also showing the relevant Conference Ceefax pages. There were even dedicated members of staff selling programmes and answering queries. It just goes to show that a man with a healthy wallet can work wonders. The ground in many ways is better than a lot of third and even second division clubs.

Where the game really counts though, Hereford put on a poor performance and failed to produce much of anything, and the single goal fell to another goal keeping error which has seen the loss of so many points recently.

Mison had a dig from a good 20 yards out and Mark Gayle should have collected it easily enough but instead managed to fumble it leaving Darren Collins to surge forward and finish the job easily. A very soft goal thanks to a simple error.

United did attempt a reply thanks to Andy Milner who is still on-loan from Chester. His quick run down the field and reverse play to Rodgerson allowed for a strong shot on goal. Darren Watts reacted quickly and pushed the shot wide of the net.

Adrian Foster, now known as 'Donkey' Foster failed to collect a second for Rushden with a golden opportunity in the second half. His powerful shot was denied by Gayle, and the ball rebounded back towards Foster. To screams of abuse and laughter though 'Donkey' Foster managed to shot wide of the goal when a simple tap-in would have secured a clear lead.

Only one other real scoring chance presented itself for Hereford in the rest of the match. Richard Walker returned a poorly cleared corner into the box and John Brough rose to meet it, but his shot was easily contained by Darren Watts.

A typically poor piece of defending cost further points and United must deal with these simple aspects if they are to rise from the Conference.

Oct 13th:

A FANS forum meeting took place this evening, here's a report from HUISA.

A Fans Forum with the Players, will never be better timed. Immediately prior to this Forum, the news about players wages broke and I don't think I was alone in feeling just a wee bit ashamed of the abuse I gave some of them at R&D, for what was in truth a remarkable performance, in the circumstances. Its just that we didn't know at the time. Although in truth the rumour doing the rounds at R&D, that the receivers were due to be called in on Monday, was if anything worse.

The Forum was attended by Norts, Dodge, Fishlock, Tony Agana and Jenny Pitman. I estimate that around 150 fans turned up. Needless to say perhaps but financial issues dominated the meeting, and the mood of the fans was very sombre. The one real plus of the night was the very positive attitude of the players. Despite everything, they all came across as committed to the cause and actually said that if anything, the crisis had brought them closer together as a group. They even talked of winning the Conference, although I for one would settle for still being in existence, at this precise moment in time!! The realism was there for all to see however, then they talked of "hanging on for as long as they could at the Club", but accepting that they had to have one eye on a potential future employer.

The one issue that struck most present, as representing the worst aspect about the whole affair, was that neither the Chairman or indeed any of the other Directors, had had the common decency to explain to the players, why they had not been paid and when they might expect to see some of the money they were due. Peter Hill apparently had not been near the Club for almost two weeks and it was suggested that he was deliberately avoiding the Players! Think about that for a minute and ask yourself how you would react in similar circumstances. I think the Manager and Playing Staff are a credit to the Club - and yes that includes one Mr. Hargreaves (oh no I've said something nice about him - Bollox will never let me forget it!!).

I rang Peter Hill, on the Tuesday after the Forum, and sparing you all the excuses, he did admit that "perhaps he could have handled the communication with the Players a bit better, but he was a busy man". He went on to say that he had made sure that his messages had got through to the Players through Gary Watts, the Club's financial manager (????). What have we done to deserve a Chairman of this enormous stature? One other thing he did let slip in the conversation (and I have only just remembered this), was that he had been talking to Scarboro' about "players". I don't think we are buying do you? So who's he trying to flog (they are reported to be looking for a striker??). Answers on a postcard - and don't forget you read it here first!!

ANDY Milner, the Chester striker, is not being sold to Hereford United where he has been on loan. Graham Turner can not, or doesn't want to, pay the asking price of £10,000.

Milner has scored just once in six outings. He may stay on loan for another month.

Oct 14th:

SITTINGBOURNE v Hereford United in 4th Qualifying round of the FA Cup is to be played on Oct 25th.

Oct 17th

FROM the Independent:

When Hereford United were relegated from the Football League in May, they were hoping to follow in the bootsteps of Lincoln City and Colchester United, who both won promotion from the GM Vauxhall Conference at the first attempt.

Instead, to their fans' horror, they are in danger of emulating Newport County, who suffered a financial collapse following the drop out of the League in 1988 and were unable to complete their first season in the "fifth division."

A fans' forum this week was shocked to be told that players and administrative staff had not been paid for a month. Last night the supporters were given the chance to help United, when another public meeting was held to try to secure financial support for the beleaguered Edgar Street club.

Peter Hill, the Hereford chairman, has blamed a number of factors for his club's plight. "At the end of last season we knew we needed to find between £750,000 and £900,000," he said yesterday. "Then we discovered that were getting only 50 per cent of the Football League's television money - we were expecting 100 per cent in our first season outside the League. Then a transfer tribunal priced Dean Smith at £42,500 - we were expecting at least £150,000 from Leyton Orient. Then the bank reduced our overdraft limit."

It got worse. Hereford need an average gate of 5,000 to break even - and crowds are down to 2,000. "There are no Al Fayeds here," Hill said. "I'm just a normal football director."

Hereford hope to move to a new stadium by the end of the century, but they will not net all the proceeds of the sale of Edgar Street because the ground is council-owned. They have, however, had a loan of £500,000 to keep them going from the property developers Bristol Stadium Group, from whom they are now seeking a further loan. Their bank has also agreed to pay the wage bill this week.

Hereford still intend to maintain a full-time playing staff this term, and Hill is hoping to bring up to five new directors on board soon. "There is some light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Oct 18th:

HEREFORD United 1 Southport 1 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford United were robbed of victory today at Edgar Street as Southport's Paul Mitten fizzed a final shot past Mark Gayle in injury time.

The match had started promisingly enough and looked set to be a well deserved victory as United controlled the majority of play and were consistently the stronger side. Ian Foster looked set to open the scoring with his determined attack on goal. His shot was low and powerful but Southport's keeper, Billy Stewart, managed to block the shot with his legs and the ball was cleared.

Foster didn't relent though and started another assult shortly after. This time he played the ball at the top corner, striking the joint of the bar and post, sending the ball back into play. Jamie Pitman was on hand to collect and finish the job with his first touch though from just outside the 6 yard box with a narrowing angle.

Southport did make a couple of attempts to break through the home defence with little success as the ball was cleared repeatedly and pressure reapplied to the visitors.

Gavin Mahon again came close to finishing one of his flamboyant 25 yard drives as it rattled the bar over Stewart's head.

The second half started a little shakey as United struggled to get to grips with Southport but regained a positive pressence as the match continued. During the lapse though, Southport squandered a chance to equalise as Phil Bolland failed to latch onto a free-kick cleanly sending the ball wide of goal.

United were still looking for the goal to guarantee the victory in the dying minutes of the game as Pitman had a shot saved at his feet from the fast approaching Stewart and Ian Foster again hit the woodwork.

The insult came on the break as has happened all to often recently. Paul Mitten collected the ball during a final last-ditch attack by Southport during injury time, and drove the ball home through a mass of players. Mark Gayle didn't even see the ball let alone save it.

An unfair result which insulted the players who have only just been paid thanks to the continuing financial difficulties.

Hereford: Gayle, Rodgerson, Fishlock, Pitman, Brough, Matthewson, Hargraves, Milner, McGorry, Foster, Mahon.

A VERY well attended HUISA Members Meeting (there must have been 100+), was held at the Richmond Place Club prior to the Southport game. Much of the meeting was taken up with discussion of the proposed scheme and as I have already said the vote against was unanimous.

Also present at the meeting were Alistair McHarg and Ian Griffiths who are two members of the "5 Herefordshire Businessmen". They informed the meeting for the reasons for their interest in the Club and what they were trying to do to save it. They are not in support of the Bulls 1100 scheme. They answered questions from HUISA members and made clear their preference for staying at Edgar Street, whilst admitting that if the business case was strong enough, they could be persuaded to relocate to another site. They do not think that the Grafton site is a starter and told the meeting that they found it interesting that Robin Sly had been on to them, trying to sell both his stake in Grafton and shares in the Football Club (both offers, politely declined). They also made it clear that if they do gain control of the Club they would look to get the fans involved as much as possible, indeed they would have to reply on the fans considerably, whilst they attempt to put the Club back on an even keel. I believe the meeting was also unanimous in the view that this help would be forthcoming.

Both Alistair and Ian answered a number of questions from HUISA members, unfortunately I am unable to print all the views they expressed for a number of reasons. Lets just say it was very positive! And of course you should have been there!!!

Other points from the meeting are as follows:

We have arranged a meeting with Chief Inspector Suzette Davenport for Monday 3rd November, at 7pm (at Hereford Police Station). She has agreed to meet a group of about 6 or 7. According to Andy Graham's notes from the last but one Members Meeting, Elaine, Mike, Les, Phil, Jolyon, Sarah and Heather volunteered to attend on behalf of HUISA. Would they contact me to confirm that they are still available/interested. Subjects for discussion, will include, Cheltenham KO Time, supporters treatment at Away games and Keith Hall. If you have any other subjects you would like us to discuss with the Police, then please let me know.
The HUISA Constitution circulated with the last Newsletter was agreed. If new members want a copy then please let me know. And nobody picked up the bit about Scum Fans!!!

In accordance with the Constitution, we now need to elect Officials and Committee Members. Ideally a good number of these should live in or be based in Hereford itself. If HUISA is to flourish it will need a strong active set of Officials and Committee Members, so please come forward. In accordance with the Constitution, all nominations will need to be proposed and seconded, by a HUISA member. With Membership forever increasing, this should not be difficult! I would hope that we can put the new structure in place at the next members meeting.

Oct 18th:

Hereford United have extended the loan spell of Chester City player Andy Milner. The Vauxhall Conference side are keen to sign the striker on a permanent basis, but at the moment they can't raise City's asking price of £10,000.

Hereford 1 Southport 1

Southport grabbed a Conference point in a 1-1 draw at Hereford United. Mitten drove home his third goal of the season in injury time after Jamie Pitman had given Hereford a 25th minute lead in the first meeting between the former Football League clubs.

 Oct 19th:

FURTHER troubles ahead for Hereford United it seems after more than 400 of their fans protested at the end of the 1-1 draw with Southport in the Vauxhall Conference match at Edgar Street yesterday reports the Sunday Telegraph.

The supporters, who had been stunned earlier in the week by the disclosure of Hereford's financial crisis, were demanding the resignation of chairman Peter Hill, who has been in charge for 20 years.

Hereford were relegated from Division Three at the end of last season, and have not paid their players or staff for the past six weeks.

Oct 25th:

SITTINGBOURNE 2 Hereford United 2 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford were hard pushed to escape with a draw at this match, thanks to the continuing poor efforts of Andy DeBont who contributed to both of the Sittingbourne goals.

The match had started well though, with Hereford making all of the early running which allowed Murray Fishlock to open the scoring on 27 minutes. Brian McGorry started the move with a well placed cross from the right which the Sittingbourne keeper managed a touch on, leaving the ball to fall for Murray to simply tap into the back of the net.

The entire first half was controlled by United as they maintained pressure on Sittingbourne. But alas, to no further avail.

The second half provided a brace of keeper errors though. The first came just 5 minutes after the re-start when a cross from Peter Overton came within easy reach of Andy DeBont, had he bothered to move for it, but he remained stationary. Trevor Matthewson almost seemed to panick at this lack of effort from DeBont and tried a last ditch effort to clear the ball for a corner with a diving header, but only succeeded in scoring an own-goal.

The verbal abuse DeBont must have received from Matthewson, had an almost complete, but tragic effect on DeBont though. The second error came barely 5 minutes later as Damien Hodge crossed into the box. DeBont rushed for the ball and failed to get there quite soon enough, so tried to punch the ball away, leaving it free for another Sittingbourne player to have a shot. Trevor Matthewson had other ideas though and cleared from the line, but again the ball was quickly returned and the job finished. Punishment dealt.

Give United their dews though, they quickly picked themselves back up and piled on the pressure to a flagging Sittingbourne squad.

Ian Foster rattled the woodwork with a fine effort after beating the majority of the defence on his own.

The equaliser came after 72 minutes when Murray Fishlock was released down the wing, then sent in a perfect cross, allowing the young Gary Cook to rise above all else and convert his first goal for United outside of the reserves.

The winner just wouldn't come. United will have to meet Sittingbourne again at Edgar Street and attempt to finish the job they should have completed today. If they fail then I would consider a threat against Andy DeBont's life a serious consideration.

Oct 26th:

HUISA have released some details of the current financial position at Edgar Street.

The £500k from the BS Group is a loan which the Club has to pay back whether relocation goes ahead or not. The BS Group are charging interest on it at an undisclosed amount, but this is likely to be several points above the Bank's base rate. The BS Group may be prepared to make another £250k "loan" in return for another 25% of the relocation deal. The "London Property Developer" wanted a similar return although at least his £250k would have been a "punt" not a loan. The impression that I got of the latter deal, was that its development extended to no more than a few phone calls and PH (Peter Hill - HUFC Chairman) had yet to meet the individual making the "offer". Businessman of the Year is obviously in the bag again then!!

There were two other offers in the Summer apart from that of the BS Group. One of these was from Sun Life who were prepared to pay £750k for essentially the same deal, but on more favourable terms for the Club. Some of the money would also have been a "gift" to the Football Club, not a loan. PH blames Barclays Bank for not giving the Club the two weeks they needed to complete the deal. Ask yourself the question: What Bank Manager in his/her right mind, faced with the choice between £500k and £750k, provided evidence was available of both deal, as PH claims it was, is going to refuse a cash strapped Club the time (only two weeks) it needs to bring in 50% more cash on better terms? No I don't believe it either! So why did they go for the BS Group, do you think????

All the Club's debts are due to the loss of 50% of the League Funding, the Dean Smith Tribunal, the "New Directors" not coming on Board and of course the Fans not coming through the turnstiles! (I kid you not, he said all this!). Thankfully his prudent and expert financial planning had averted a real crisis!!

The BS Group get 25% of any profit from the sale of Edgar Street for re-development, the Club gets 75%. This is after any fees and charges have been paid.

PH has resigned from Cosworth Developments for undisclosed reasons.

PH has a letter from the Football Licensing Authority stating that Edgar Street will be obsolete by 1999. He wouldn't show it to us.

It will cost at least £2.5m, to bring Edgar Street up to standard. I asked for sight of the professional costing to support this figure. He promised to send them to me but they must have got lost in the post. PH said we might get grants for £0.75m - 1m for the work.

A new stadium would cost £5-6m, and if the Local Authority put their name to it, 90% grants would be available - according to PH.

The Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise are owed £90k each. They are preferential creditors. The Club have been repaying both at a rate of £10k/7.5k per month respectively. Last month's payments were not made!

The Bank have reduced the overdraft from £200k to £125k, and the Club are at the limit. PH said that the Bank would want this repaid from the £250k, if it is raised and would then want to change the formula for agreeing the O/D (i.e. they would want to reduce it). The Chairman and other Directors have guaranteed the largest part of the O/D, so why let them get of "Andy Graham" free??

"Last week" Babcock Wines launched a winding up order, against the Club for unpaid bills of £2.9k, which the "Directors" paid, to stop the action.

Oct 28th:

HEREFORD United 3 Sittingbourne 0 (report by Peter Povall)

A completely different performance by United sealed this match within the first half and Sittingbourne can consider themselves lucky not to have been beaten by a much higher margin.

The goalkeeper errors of the first match had vanished, but this could have been due to the fact that Andy Debont had hardly anything to do during the match, let alone make a testing save.

The first goal came after just 2 minutes when Chris Hargreaves completed the work of both Jamie Pitman and Ian Foster who had already made attacking plays, only to have their shots saved and returned immediately back into play.

Ian Rodgerson confirmed the dominance of United 5 minutes later after driving his shot through a thick defence. It clipped one innocent defender and moved just of the the Sittingbourne keepers reach.

United were looking to their next match in the FA Cup against Brighton as they piled on even more pressure causing confusion in the Sittingbourne defence. One back-pass was hoplessly underpowered and allowed Chris Hargreaves to collect the ball and drive it past the lone keeper to seal the match.

The second half was much the same except that further goals were just not forthcoming, though not for the want of trying.

The result pleased the fans and the final whistle blew to a chorus of "Bring on the Brighton".

And below is a match report from Sitttingbourne of the game.

Sittingbourne's sojourn in this seasons Littlewoods FA Cup ended at Hereford United's impressive Edgar Street Ground when the home side comfortably beat them by three goals to nil. This was always likely to be the case as Sittingbourne's injury and suspension list was added to with the non appearance of Saunders and Ponsford after injury in the first game. Added to this, Walker and Pearson were carrying injuries previously sustained and would surely not have played if there was any other choice.
About 50 die hard Sittingbourne supporters made the long trip to "wildest" Herefordshire including a contingent of four Plymouth University students sporting the "Bourne" colours. There was much amusement as the Sittingbourne supporters were led to their own private enclosure with its own personal "Burger" bar.
The game started brightly for the Bourne when with just 40 seconds on the clock, Lloyd Hume burst through the Hereford defence only to shoot wide. This was encouraging, however, as it was one more shot than they had managed in the whole of the first half in the first tie! Any joy was short lived however, for with less than two minutes gone Hereford attacked the Bourne end in numbers and Hargreaves, who turned in a "man of the match" display scored with a low shot that deceived Hough in the Bourne goal.
Just eight minutes later, Rodgerson burst through from defence and hit a shot that rebounded off Darren Smith into the Bourne net leaving Hough stranded. So 2-0 with only eight minutes gone. Things were not looking good for the "Bourne"!
Hough was in action again almost straight from the re-start when he made an excellent save from that man Hargreaves. It was by no means one way traffic though and efforts from Haylock, Miller, Overton and Hume came from Sittingbourne. Haylock saw his shot rebound off a defender but unfortunately for the Bourne, the outcome was not the same as the earlier effort from Rodgerson. This time the ball deflected harmlessly wide. Miller drove the ball across the Hereford goal only for it to evade all the Bourne attackers. Overton was just beaten to the ball by De Bont in the Hereford goal and Hume, when in a good position hit the ball wide.
Hereford hit back with a free kick, after a Walker foul, which was punched out by Hough whilst he was standing right on the goal line. Hough was again in action, when in the 28th minute, Haylock lost possession of the ball to a Hereford attacker and the result was another fine save.
Herefords third goal came in bizarre circumstances. In the 43rd minute a Hereford player was injured near the Bourne penalty area. The referee, Mr French, thought the injury was serious enough to stop play. From the resulting bounce up Hereford played the ball sportingly back to Hough. Hough kicked it out in the general direction of Haylock. Unfortunately for the Bourne it was not accurate or powerful enough and was easily intercepted by Hargreaves who gratefully kicked it into the net. A very poor goal to give away.
Sittingbourne started the second half with substitute Seager on for Hume. I assume Hume was another injury victim as Hume was one of Bourne's better players in the first half.
In the 51st minute that thorn in Sittingbournes side, Hargreaves, set himself up with a chance but his shot went wide. Shortly after, at the other end, Haylock, in an excellent position, shot wide from a free kick. Straight from the resultant goal kick the ball went up the Bourne end and was intercepted by Hodge. His lazy pass was intercepted by Hargreaves (good at interceptions is Hargreaves!) and with Hough stranded, shot wide of the Bourne goal. This was followed by Hargreaves passing to McGorry who in turn passed to Mahon. Mahon's shot was well held by Hough.
In the 67th minute, Hereford made their first substitution. Cork coming on for Foster. The same Cork who in scoring the equaliser at Sittingbourne with his first touch, bought this tie back to Edgar Street. It was the tall Cork who next tested the Bourne defence when, despite looking suspiciously off side, shot wide with only Hough to beat. One minute later a high shot from Hargreaves was left  (admired?) by Hough but luckily for the Bourne it bounced harmlessly of f the top of the cross bar.
In the 76th minute, both teams made substitutions. Sittingbourne sent on Tyrone King for Rowlands (another who was injured on Saturday) and Hereford substituted Fishlock for Warner.
At the Hereford end, Miller was just beaten to the ball by DeBont after a good pass for Alan Walker. Walker, though, nearly made a costly mistake when Cook beat him to the ball only to see his shot pushed wide by Hough. Hereford then had a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the Bourne penalty area. Smith fouled Hargreaves, McGorry took the free kick and again Hough came to the rescue with a finger tip save.
In the 84th minute Hargreaves had a goal disallowed for off side. This was followed by Hereford's third substitution, Williams replacing Pitman.
In the 89th minute, Sittingbourne should have scored a consolation goal when Overton picked out Miller with a good pass but Miller hit his shot wide when in a good position.
The brave Pearson, still struggling with injury, was substituted by Tommy Binks and the final action of note was when Pavey's shot was well saved by DeBont.
The final whistle came with Hereford having shown their class and earning a first round tie with Brighton and Hove Albion. Just the tie they wanted! Sittingbourne fought well over both ties, particularly in the second halves, but they always lacked the pace of Hereford's full time professionals. They must now pick themselves up for Saturday's important Dr Marten Premier Division away fixture with Halesowen.