July 1998

July 1st:

FOOTBALL Association chiefs are to meet Midland clubs who face the loss of their youth training schools after Sports Minister Mr Tony Banks offered to intervene.

Mr Banks offered to arrange a meeting between the FA and Kidderminster Harriers after Wyre Forest Labour MP Mr David Lock raised the club's case in the Commons.

Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United have been refused a licence for their youth schools of excellence after the FA decided to award licences only to Premiership and Football League clubs.

That came as the FA awarded a licence for an independent training centre in Leominster.

July 8th:

DEFENDER Chris Lane has joined Hereford United. He was a trainee at Everton but has recently been released.

July 11th:

THIS is a simple appeal for as many Albion supporters as possible to go to the Hereford friendly on July 18.

This will be the club's first Saturday friendly so there's an obvious opportunity to see our new players and show off your new shirt.

With the new Worcester bypass open, the drive takes barely an hour through gorgeous scenery with the opportunity to visit a friendly country inn. Admission is cheap and there's ample parking available right outside the ground.

The Edgar Street lease has been sold to developers so it's probably your last chance to visit a ground that wouldn't look out of place in Division Two. Hereford United are simply on their beam ends. They've been unable to afford to retain most of last season's team and only funding from United's ISA allowed the club to travel to their last two away fixtures. They need to raise money quickly just to stay in business.

Please go if you can.

SIMON WRIGHT, Grorty Dick Fanzine

July 18th:

HEREFORD United are running the rule over three possible recruits from the Football League after welcoming ex-Walsall man Mark Taylor and former Hull City duo Ian Wright and Paul Fewings to Edgar Street.

The trio have linked up with Graham Turner's Bulls for pre-season training with a view to a permanent move.

Director of football Turner suggests the arrangement will allow the players to look at the Conference club, and for him to assess their credentials. He says it is still very much early days in agreeing any contracts and other clubs are also monitoring th e situation.

Birmingham-born Taylor, now 32, started his career at Walsall, before moving to Sheffield Wednesday for a season in 1989 and then switching to Shrewsbury in 1990-91 where he has remained ever since.

Wright, a 26-year-old defender, hails from Lichfield and came through the ranks at Stoke City before spells at Bristol Rovers and Hull, while Fewings, a 20-year-old forward, made his debut for Hull in 1994-5.

Turner, wiser about the needs to win the Conference after last season's first campaign, said: "We need some experienced players. We need people who have seen it and done it all.

"It's a tough league and we need people who can look after themselves physically and who can play a bit."

HEREFORD United 2 West Brom 1 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford United faced some stiff opposition for their first pre-season game with the new-look squad.

The fans were a little apprehensive and wondered what to expect, from what appeared on paper to be a team of mis-matched players.

Worries were enhanced further as West Bromwich Albion opened the scoreline after just 5 minutes but the Bulls fought back strongly and we rewarded in the 18th minute with a goal from Ian Wright after United won a corner.

The match was played with moments of inept ability at times and sheer brilliance at others. The Bulls continued their drive though and Dennis Bailey sealed the match in the 82nd minute with a clean goal from about 10 yards out.

Gavin Mahon played a strong game as did Gavin Williams and Ian Rodgerson. Some of the new arrivals also played some stunning football at times, including the talented Chris Lane of Everton and Mark Taylor of Shrewsbury.

Star keeper, Andy Quy, played another great game and cannot really be blamed for the early goal as an error at the back let him one-on-one with no-where to go.

No-one played a bad game and things are looking promising for the coming season assuming that the team continue to show today's skills and effort in the months to come.

BEFORE the WBA friendly manager Graham Turner gave an interview to Talking Bull. Here's part of it.

TB - Why did you decide to take over the club last season?

GT - I thought the club was going nowhere fast. I was in attendance at the EGM and it struck home to me when one of the VP's who was prominent in saving the club in 1982 stood up and said he would not lift a finger to save the club whilst the present board was in place and I thought if that was the general opinion of supporters, and you got the impression that it was, all we would do was drift into oblivion. We were in a hell of a mess financially and I felt it needed some drastic action. Almost on a whim an offer was made to Peter Hill for his shares. I told him he had 24 hours to make his mind up. I'd called a press conference either to say he had accepted our offer or he'd refused it. It didn't seem to me at that time that the 5 business people from around here were ever going to get control of the club. It seemed a total impasse and drastic action was needed and that was why I went in with an offer. I was quite surprised in the end when he said yes. It was a long protracted deal which took nearly 6 months to sort out. I've not yet got Robin Fry's or those of Cosworth's. There have been one or two obstacles put in the way. There was agreement and his solicitors have had my bankers draft now for about 2 months. I'm still working on that. I've not given up hope of getting them but it's proving very difficult. I've said it often before there was a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders when the club went out of the league. There were mitigating circumstances; I can sit back and think did I really ever have a fair chance with transfer embargoes and the financial position of the club? That doesn't matter. I was manager when the club went out of the league and there is that determination to make sure that when I leave here the club is in a far better position financially, might have been relocated to a nice new stadium and to make sure we are back in the Football League. I feel that sense of responsibility. I've been in the game long enough to know that there are pitfalls in what I have done. There is a chance that somewhere along the line I might lose some money and I am not naive enough to think that with all the problems we have got that it's going to be easy. Through the summer it has been tremendously hard work until 8 or 9 o'clock at night, starting early mornings with letters to various people. We have had a tremendous response from the local business community and supporters all of which leads me to believe that we can pull everything round.

TB - What do you now see as your role within the club?

GT - Right at the moment I've no idea other than I have said to the staff that there is no demarcation in roles. Everybody has got to muck in and do whatever jobs need doing. I am fortunate in the quality that I've got; Joan Fennessey on the administrative side, Keith Downing on the football side. I've got Colin Oliver in charge of ground and stadium, Ron Jukes in charge of all my scouting so there are more people there who I can lean on quite heavily. Whether it ends up that I spend a little bit more time on the administrative side and less with the players remains to be seen. So far through pre-season we've mixed it up nicely between Keith and myself taking sessions. The majority of the time Keith has worked with the players but on several occasions I've been able to get out and get things done. It has been a difficult situation. We've had to almost prise money out of Chelverton. They still owed us somewhere between £60,000 and £100,000 depending on how much the supervisor required. One of the problems was that they wanted a financially viable plan for the coming season and so obviously there had to be cutbacks. There has been a huge reduction in wages and expenditure to meet with Chelverton's requirements. We had the required £30,000 to see us through the summer sent to us Thursday afternoon so at least now we should pay our way right up until the first league match.

So my role is not yet set as to whether it is managing director, manager of the team, chairman of the board. Whatever unfolds, whatever needs doing over the next few weeks I'm quite happy to do it and then see how the situation changes. See where we need help. See whether a new chairman is waiting. I'd love to think that there is someone out there prepared to put money in the club. I've said often enough that if there is anybody I'm quite happy to sell my shares and let them take the helm as Chairman but I've got to know it is for the right reasons and that is for the future benefit of the club and not for the benefit of developers or speculators.


TB - How often are the players going to train?

GT - We will train all day Monday and Tuesday. If there are no midweek matches then the next training will be on the Thursday probably evening time where the part-timers can come and take part in pattern of play, set pieces, all those sort of things if they are going to figure in the team. We have booked Leominster Leisure Centre on the astroturf, under lights, for that very reason. We've got that booked through the season on Thursday nights so I'm hoping that we can combine the part-time players with those on full time. We've been fortunate to get Stuart Evans from Halesowen. He's been able to train full time because he's a University student and he could go through the summer months training with us. John Snape is slightly different. He's got a good job and needs the time to spend at work. He has done a couple of days full time with us but he will train in the evenings with another club and then join up with us on Thursday nights. We've got to make sure that we integrate them into the team as well as we possibly can. They have got to feel part of it. I've got to say I've been impressed with both of them so far and I'm sure we can make it work.

TB - Does the loan that we have had from Chelverton mean that we are now breaking even on a day to day basis?

GT - What we've had to do is set a budget for the coming season which has included variable income such as the sale of players and cup revenue. What we've done is base it on last season's figures. It might have been a decent cup run. We might improve upon those figures. It remains to be seen but we had to put something in there so I thought the best course of action would be for the league gates to work on an average of 2,500. I think we were about 13 short of that last season so that was realistic and worked on the figures from the FA Cup. So that financially viable plan has gone in. The problem we have got is the paying off of accrued debts notwithstanding the £1M we owe to Chelverton and Bristol Stadiums or the £90,000 we owe to the bank (over £25,000 we owe to the bank from the 1982 company) we have to service some past debts and some commitments to leases, hire purchase, all those sort of things I think the budget we have set down should see us break even but it doesn't allow for things like the debts to taxmen, to one or two other clubs, to more recent debts that were not included in the CVA. So we'll have our work cut out making ends meet but the plan we've put into operation I'm sure can see us through the season with a strong enough squad which is the important thing. If we are going to succeed we have to attract more people through the turnstiles. If we are going to attract more people through the turnstiles we have got to do well as a side and be up there near the top of that table. So we've got to make sure we put a squad together good enough to do that. I just feel very optimistic about that. I think we've worked hard during the summer to persuade people to come and join us and it's not finished yet. We still need another couple of players. I think we'll have a squad good enough to mount a challenge. I think we've got a strong enough squad to please the supporters.

July 22nd:

EVESHAM 1 Hereford United 2 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford travelled to Evesham tonight to face another pre-season test. After a rushed trip and getting lost in the one-way system I joined them at the ground and found a comfortable spot on the grass bank overlooking the ground (I did pay to get in).
A quick read of the team-sheet revealed that Quinten Townsend was set to play for Evesham in defence. Things couldn't look brighter.

The majority of the starting line-up was changed from Saturday's match as the YTS players and possible new signings were given the opportunity to show their skills off.

The match started quickly and progressed at a fairly high pace with the players still trying to settle themselves into their roles. Hereford were the first to have a shot at goal with Snape cracking a shot just wide of the post.

Evesham retaliated almost immediately and were driven back. They did get their break in the 20th minute when their sizable number 10 nodded in to claim the opener.

Hereford picked the pace up and Paul Fewings was playing a greatly improved game from his performance of Saturday and rushed through to finish cleanly in the 30th minute.

After the break, the play didn't flow quite so well with some "hoof" tactics showing up, but generally the Bulls played well and were eventually rewarded a deserved penalty in the 83rd minute which Mark Taylor hammered past the keeper.

Another promising performance from the Bulls and I am really looking forward to Saturday's game against Stoke City.

July 23rd:

HEREFORD United are aiming for their third pre-season win in seven days when they take on Stoke City at Edgar Street today.

The Bulls, who beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 with goals from newcomer Ian Wright and trialist Dennis Bailey, also pipped Evesham United 2-1 on Wednesday with a late penalty from former Shrewsbury and Walsall midfielder Mark Taylor.

Director of football Graham Turner is still hoping to persuade Taylor to sign for the Conference Club along with Bailey, the former Birmingham City striker.

HEREFORD 0 Stoke 1 (report by Peter Povall)

A good strike from Dean Crow of Stoke in the 28th minute provided the only goal of the match.

United looked solid enough through-out the game except up front where they were lacking any killer instinct following Dennis Bailey not joining the club.

United had only two real chances that they managed to get on target. The first was a powerful low header from Paul Fewings which the keeper dealt with easily. The second was a very low, curling free-kick by Gavin Mahon from just outside the box. The keeper making an excellent save against the post.

I am still confident in the team to make an impression this season but would be happier with some finishing skills being included where they are needed.

Saying that, if Gavin Mahon can gain some confidence in front of goal, he certainly has all the talent necessary to rack up a fair tally of netted balls this season. If we can come by the likes of Richard Leadbetter the side would be considerably stronger.

Hereford's boss Graham Turner commented afterwards: "I thought we played quite well considering we had to play two different teams in each half."

Stoke manager Brian Little said: "At times Hereford looked a bit brighter and better than us, but it's always hard to play a non-league side away at any stage of the season."

HEREFORD UNITED: Quy, Lane (Cross 81), Walker (Evans 66), Mahon, Wright, James, Rodgerson, Taylor, Fewings, Snape, (Downing 79), Williams (Pemberton 89).

July 28th:

HEREFORD United 0 Bristol City 2 (report by Peter Povall)

Hereford started this game far more positively than Bristol City and were unlucky not be have gone a goal up after the first 20 minutes. During this time, Hereford produced some four excellent changes on goal but failed to convert any of them with Druce, Taylor, Fewings and Cook all having a crack at the net.

Then on the break, Bristol struck back as Matt Hewlett hammered the ball into the net following Andy Quy snap save and parry which left the goal an easy target.

The Bulls attacked again, again being unlucky as Rodgerson headed a looping shot which struck the post and fell easily to a defender.

Play then changed ends and Quy was again forced to make a snap save. The ball then returning through the midfield to Cook who played a wonderful back-heal to Druce who hit his shot wide.

The response to this was savage as the goal kick was played short onto the left wing where it was taken quickly up the line, then crossed square to an advancing Tony Thorope who drilling the ball into the net leaving Quy hanging in the air.

The majority of the second half failed to produce much quality football as City played a possession game. Eventually the Bulls made a break and were again unlucky as Evans had his shot cleared off the line. Further attempts from both Fewings and Williams in the closing minutes were over the bar.

It was nice to see United making Bristol City fight for their goals and I was glad to see us making chances against this level of opponent. It should make for an interesting season.

July 31st:

HEREFORD United have agreed terms with former Wolves striker Richard Leadbeater.

Leadbeater aged 21 scored 12 goals in 12 appearances including a hat-trick against Kidderminster Harriers during a three-month loan spell at Edgar Street last season.

Director of football Graham Turner said: "He is a proven goal scorer at Conference level and I am delighted he is joining us."

Turner is also hoping to complete the signing of former Shrewsbury Town and Walsall midfielder Mark Taylor by the weekend.