I've been following this sorry saga courtesy of a Palace fan resident in Hereford. If I may take the liberty of indulging in some 'copy & paste' work, here are his 'news bulletins' about what can only be called a disaster waiting to happen.
It's a long read but here is the car crash in slow motion:
'Hereford Eagle' 28-03-14
My local side are on the brink of extinction due to being running pretty poorly by a local business man. Came in and signed players on high wages on long contracts and made poor choices for manager. They need 75k within less than two weeks or the show is over. Everyone remembers HUFC mostly for that Ronnie Radford screamer in a cup victory over Newcastle in 1972. Was just wondering what peoples thoughts were on this and if they are really bothered ? Would be a crying shame for this city to lose its club but things do look bleak as they oflate have stumbled from one mini cash flow crisis to another and now into a major one !
02-04-14
Quick update on the situation. £78,000 needed by April 7th. Not too sure why he is so keen to help but the Hereford fans are delighted with him - comedian Omid Djilali contacted the club saying that he wanted to put on a fundraising show for the club. The local theatre (Courtyard) gave him a slot this Sunday evening which sold out very very quickly and so he said that he would also do a show in the afternoon!There are many fundraising events going on including bucket collections from the London branch of the supporters club at Welling FC prior to Welling v Hereford on Tuesday 8th April(if club still in existence). Bury FC held a collection prior to their home game last night and raised £300 and they are doing another collection on Saturday before their next game. Lower league side Royston Town also have held collections before their last 3 games against Slough , Ashford and St Ives and raised over £300.It is believed that so far the club has raised around £20,000-25,000. Like with our club , i think Hereford's fate could go right down to the wire. Considering how recently we went through this , I wonder if there is anything we could do to help ?
Later the same day:
Update tonight is that they only need another 20k and that finally some Premiership teams have got on board with Swansea and Sunderland doing bucket collections this weekend. Things are looking up for the club. My hope of us drawing them in the FA Cup at sometime in the future remain alive , would be one hell of a short journey for me
04-04-14
Think they have nearly achieved their target to stave off inland revenues winding up order as last night the city's cider maker Bulmers (now owned by Heineken)donated £10,000 to the club. Think they might well do it but then a massive restructuring will be needed. Many staff have already been laid off ,other staff and players are still owed wages , the youth team is being disbanded and the youth team manager has taken control of the first team. Think they will be going part time next season but all their supporters want is their club to exist. If they can avoid relegation this season all the better (although they haven't won for 11 games) as relegation would make things that much more difficult.
06-06-14
Well despite a dramatic last few minutes of the season survivial things have taken a turn for the worse again. The money raised staved off the executioner temporarily and the inept chairman has made a hash of everything he has touched pretty much. Hereford had a 5pm deadline yesterday to pay off owed money to players and many other parties but that came and went with the conference claiming they had received no contact whatsoever from the unpopular Mr Keyte. There was a private meeting this morning which he attended in which he has apparently claimed that he has sold the club to a London based business man (who it would seem has a bit of a murky past). The Conference has said that they will make an announcement at 5pm (any time now) and from Hereford United itself the silence has been deafening. I have a lot of very , very , very upset friends at the moment so hoping it will be good news although i somehow doubt it !
Am currently following a journalists live blog who is outside the building. Hereford's representatives have just been summoned into the building, where a meeting has been taking place this afternoon , to learn the club's fate. If it is expulsion from the Conference it is likely to be as good as the end for the club. I believe that if the club dies ownership of the ground transfers to our cash-strapped council who would most likely be secretly delighted as the surrounding area is in the middle of a massive development project as it is.
Later the same day:
They have been given a stay of execution. Conference board have voted unanimously to give them a very short period of time to get and prove their finances are in order or face expulsion and will likely be replaced by Chester.
10-06-14
Some angry people around here. Not blaming conference but poor ownership. Just as it looked promising it seems the London based businessman backed out last night or at least couldn't rescue them. Details sketchy and rumour mill in full flow but their supporters have been royally shat upon by David Keyte the chairman and strung along and given false hope by new owner ( if he still is new owner ) expect the council will be calling in the bulldozers as I write this!
Later that day in response to a question about Bulmer's ( the Cider people, based in Hereford):
They did make a large donation a couple of months ago. chairman to blame , he had three offers to take on club debts and take over running of the club , he ignored one from the supporters trust and supporters association combined and instead opted for this businessman that nobody had heard of other than doing a stint for armed robbery in the eighties , he made the wrong choice , the businessman was unaware of full picture unlike the others and pulled out forcing Hereford United out of the league and almost certainly out of existence!
11-06-14
From the HUFC messageboard:
I hope Mark F doesn't mind me sharing this but he has just posted the below on Facebook.
I don't think I need to add anything further (apart from to say that I feel honoured to get a mention alongside people who, in comparison, really do deserve too):
"I have just created what I fully expect to be my final article for the Hereford United FC Official Website after 20 years service to the club. I cannot lie, I've been in tears while doing it (I promised myself I wouldn't!).
I've just checked my bank account for the 10th time today to find that, as expected, my wages have not been paid in despite a 5th promise in 7 days. Eviction is on the cards for my wife and I with too many other bills piling up. I am not the only one t...hat works at HUFC to be in this situation.
I'm sad to say that in the last few years I have seen some truly brilliant and dedicated co-workers (I think of them as family & friends) dragged further and further down into a very nasty mire. Their loyalty to the club has been a true inspiration to me, and I will never forget that.
My good friend & colleague Jamie Griffiths called it a day earlier today, I just cannot find it within myself to work at the club without him on board. A more dedicated person than Jamie I have never met. I feel for him and his family as much as I do for myself and mine.
Our media team 'volunteers' of Steve Niblett, Gregg Davies, 'Stig' Ammonds, Mark Ammonds, Chris Phillips & Rhys 'the camera guy' gave of their time for free, and did such a professional job along with it, all for the love of the club. They are brilliant people. Not forgetting those stalwarts from our past like Paul Jeffs and Jon Wells that did so much for the club in our earlier 'online days'.
Lee Symonds, Paul Harris, Ellen Moore Baggus & family, Rachel Norledge, Dave Preedy, Jamie Edwards, Steve Brotherwood, Adam Jones, Martha Baldwin, Steve Thomas, Chelsea Corner, Leigh Renton, Linda Richards and everyone else that works or worked at the club, none could be replaced by anyone better than them. (So sorry if, that in my despair, I have missed anyone).
It's been my pleasure to meet hundreds, if not thousands, of great Hereford fans over the years. These people are the Hereford United.
I do not wish bad things upon those people whose decisions and follies have driven our club to an all time low, all I will say is that I hope that they go to bed each night and think of us for a few seconds.
HUFC will never die. It's in our hearts and our blood.
I hope and pray that the club will end up in the hands of the people that deserve it the most, The Supporters. The supporters of Hereford United ARE the club.
Thanks for your support, it's been a ball!"
17-06-14
Latest is that the new owner claims that he bought the club for a quid but had been told the debts were 250k but are in fact 1.3 million (so he says). He has a criminal record as does a sidekick of his and he is installing a man named Mark Ellis as a sports coach. This Mark Ellis likes to talk himself up claiming to have worked for many clubs and been responsible for their success (Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal are two that spring to mind).The new owner Tommy Agombar(or something like that) has said about all of this debt he was unaware of which is why Hereford could not compete in Conference but have been accepted into Southern League Premier. He seems a fantasist as despite this debt and not having £350k to pay the Conference as a bond which would have kept Hereford's place there he says he has a 3 year plan to get Hereford into the league (which means promotion 3 years running!) , that they will remain full time and will go on a pre-season European tour - bonkers !!! Yesterday he was confronted by a few fans before and after a meeting with local council and interview with him was filmed on fans phone , if anyone can put links for the two videos off youtube on here they are well worth a watch especially to count the number of times he says 'i am a football man' and when he compares Hereford to the East End where he is from 'cos everybody knows each other'. The saga continues.....
18-06-14
Seems Tommy failed the fit and proper persons test and has resigned as a director today. Nobody seems to know what is going on. Makes 2010 for us seem quite ordinary in comparison !
11-07-14
The latest in the ongoing saga in brief is as follows - despite promising to pay staff 'on Friday' every week for the past month or so , the new owner Tommy Agombar has failed to do so. Pretty much all of the staff involved in the running of the club have one by one quit after so many broken promises. Hereford have had friendly after friendly after friendly cancelled (some being teams who play in the county league , and also Cardiff and Plymouth to name just two of several) , many due to clubs acting in solidarity with the Hereford supporters and not wanting to be seen to associate with the new owners. Also it seems that the owners have failed to renew the safety certificate on the ground and so the council have said that no football can be played there for now which led to the cancellation of further friendlies. The pre-season European tour (struggles to hold back laughter) has strangely enough failed to materialise and a couple more winding up orders have been adjourned. The supporters trust held a vote on whether to boycott home games (if they ever happen) and 95% voted in favour of this. Then this week has been the most extraordinary so far - the new manager was named , a John Taylor who was the assistant boss at Banbury United/Town whatever it is ? His assistant was named as Neil Phelps whose experience consists of running a local team 'Pegasus' under-13 team and also their womens side. To top it all off today a team has finally decided to risk angering the supporters and has agreed to play Hereford United in a pre-season friendly - the team.....Sinkums F.C. who play in the Herefordshire Sunday League Division 3 and are like many of us once were , a bunch of lads who turn up on a Sunday morning , still absolutely wasted from the night before and are about as fit as Sylvester Stallone's mum !!! The saga continues....
08-08-14
Quick update - The new owners didn't manage to obtain a safety certificate for Edgar St in time for any pre-season friendlies. They did manage to play a friendly behind closed doors in Yorkshire against Besiktas losing heavily. The only friendly they played in Herefordshire was also played behind closed doors against a local pub team called The Stagecoach which I believe Hereford won. They have announced the brand new squad for the new season made up entirely of teens and players in early 20's (think oldest player is 21), none of whom are local. The owners are holding a fans forum tonight (could be interesting!!), although some of the leading figures are already saying that they will not be attending due to receiving threats. They have managed to obtain a temporary safety certificate for the first game of the season which is tomorrow at home to St Neots Town although it stipulates that no more than 1000 are permitted to enter the ground , despite Southern League rules being that capacity should be a minimum of 1950 , but they are desperate for Hereford to grace their league !!! It is believed that the attendance will be only 100-200 with around 1000 protesting outside the ground. Local company Cargill (formerly Sun Valley) who have sponsored the club and all of the club's community projects have just withdrawn all support for the club after having sponsored them for the past 24 years ! The supporters trust are currently fund-raising with the aim of starting a phoenix club if the present owners do not leave a.s.a.p. and have gained the support of many , many former players who have played in pre-season matches for a supporters trust team , both games were away from home and had close on 1000 Hereford supporters attending. Some former staff have STILL not been paid despite being promised every Friday for the past few months. The pre-season tour of Europe (hilarious !)never happened (surprise surprise) and on Saturday the owners will begin their 3 year plan to get Hereford back into the football league (must win promotion every season , no pressure there then !)They have released financial figures which show that their playing staff budget for this coming season is £129,000 , which with a squad of 18 means they will be on 7k a year each (these players are full time by the way). No doubt I will be back on here soon. Hope i am not boring anyone , it is just that it is such a soap opera and these owners are so incompetent it's hilarious !! Makes 2010 for us seem like plain sailing !!!
..just seen a little more info online regarding current owners and budget - Tommy Agombar did a 7 year stretch for dishonesty , Andy Lonsdale was convicted for fly tipping , Joel Nathan was once bankrupt and Philip Ganvrill has an IVA in place. The club has budgeted for £200k in sponsorship and yet has no sponsor. It has budgeted for the sale of 200 season tickets and has sold............3 !!!!!!
09-08-14
Final score - Hereford United 0=2 St. Neots. Attendance of 574 including 30 visiting supporters with hundreds of home supporters protesting outside the ground and refusing to attend games under current regime. According to local press the owner spent some time during the second half down on the bench trying to dictate tactics. Not an ideal start to owners prediction that Hereford will 'walk this league' !
15-08-14
Looks like this will be one of the last posts on here. Seems Hereford United will cease to exist on September 1st. An historic football club dies because of the idiotic and selfish actions of a few men over the past 3 months , very sad indeed! Hereford United R.I.P. Could be a while before they play Kidderminster again!! Most likely outcome now is that the supporters trust will start a new club from the very lower leagues from next season. Yes we have problems but my Hereford United supporting friends are absolutely distraught!!! Hopefully in some future year we might face the new Hereford club. Had always hoped to watch us play at Edgar Street , looks like that may take quite some time now!!
17-10-14
Latest update. Hereford sit in 16th place in the Southern Premier League having won only 4 times so far this season. They were also dumped out of the FA Cup by an even lower league side despite leading 2-0 at half time. The owner Agombar failed the 'fit and proper persons test' and claims he no longer has any influence there , this despite him having interests in the company that have taken over the reigns , the fact he is at every game , the fact he is often seen heading to the changing rooms to chat to the players and the fact that his son has since played for the team. His co-criminal (not a lorry thief like Mr. Agombar but a fly tipper) is awaiting the result of his 'fit and proper persons test'. The clubs supporters trust are still refusing to attend games under this regime until they keep their promise of clearing all debts (they have been promising for nearly 6 months now) and crowds have dipped to just over 200. A recent Kidderminster Harriers home game was televised and Kidderminster allowed Hereford fans to have part of the ground to protest in to bring the situation to the attention of a wider audience (very good of them it has to be said). Some of the current squad are still sleeping in one of the bars at Edgar St and some of those who are lodging locally have been turfed out as the club haven't paid the people who have been housing them. After yet another adjournment last time around the club are in court again on Monday facing a winding up order. They still have no shirt sponsor , no advertising inside the ground (all due to people not wanting to put money into the crooks pockets).Offers have been made to buy the club back for the £2 paid and take on and clear the debts but they refuse to sell(they couldn't care about the club , it's the land that they are after). Even the St. John Ambulance have just said they will no longer cover the games at Edgar Street. To show you what level they are now playing at they recently had a home game against a village side from near Slough who brought 0 supporters - yep - 0 !!
18-10-14
They drew nil nil away at Poole today. They forgot to take a kit and had to borrow one off the home team. Unbelievabe!!
24-10-14
The latest winding up order was yet again adjourned , this time until December 1st after the dodgy owners claimed 1.5 million pounds of investment is coming from a businessman in Belize ( they have claimed this before) , the courts bought it for some reason. This latest adjournment was the last straw for Herefordshire Council who yesterday attempted to repossess Edgar Street but were denied entry and locked gates have been put up by the owners around players entrance today in order to prevent entry being gained. The Council now seem determined to gain possession of the ground due to the money owed and the fact that they are still not receiving any. Seems a bit back to front this one , club owners want the leases to the ground in order to sell to be built upon whereas the council want to regain the ground in order to ensure football is still what the lands use is and that they receive money from whoever will play there.
25-10-14
It has been reported that Hereford Utd have paid the council the £48,000 owed to them. Very strange how they suddenly came up with the money. They still have a lot more cash to find yet unfortunately!!Very sorry state of affairs down there. Seems the assistant manager is spending the nights at the ground. Considering they are the only full time team in the league their current league position is a bit embarrassing too!!
01-12-14
Club's date with destiny adjourned for 8th time. Owners excuse for not having funds this time was that they pulled out at last minute after receiving threats on social media. Lonsdale (a man whom has been at the helm of many many companies , 95% of which went bankrupt)has said he will now fund the million needed (why not do this months ago if you have it !?).Club and majority shareholder were both fined today by FA for not taking the fit and proper persons test.They have been given until December 15th to take fit and proper persoms test and clear all debts or be thrown out of all of football (wonder if they mean it this time or will be fooled by a new excuse). The farce continues...
10-12-14
Latest developments today are as follows - Andy Lonsdale has been named new club owner. He is a convicted fly tipper ( on a large scale) and has owned around 20 companies before , all of which bar around three have gone bankrupt. The club are next in court ( 8th appearance) on Monday. They have been told that they must have the money in place this time with no excuses or delaying tactics or that will be that for the club. He has claimed that he will be paying around a million which is needed out of his own pocket ( which begs the question , why didn't he do this at any of the previous court appearances) . Also , the FA had given the club until today to provide various guarantees which they had promised to do so , yet again they haven't delivered and the FA today kicked Hereford United out of all footballing activities. Despite this the owners say their game on Saturday will go ahead - not too sure how they think that will happen!!?? Next update will be next week!! Hope I am not boring too many people , just keeping you up to date with the pantomime like goings on at the club and the crap and lies that their supporters have been enduring for six long months now.
If there is anything more tragic and farcical in football than this.....I don't want to know.