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Post Info TOPIC: A Message from Hereford Supporters Club !
Mr Commercial


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A Message from Hereford Supporters Club !
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A message from London Bulls, the south east supporters branch of Hereford United 

 

Dear fellow football supporters,

 

Im sure you are all aware of our current financial plight which has been well documented in the media.

 

Weve been facing administration for months, narrowly evading a court hearing in late January and now face another imminent deadline. The club needs to find £78,000 by the end of this week to pay an unpaid tax bill, otherwise well face a HMRC winding up order on Monday 7th April, the day before we head to Park View Road.

 

We know that this story will sound all too familiar to you Wings fan, having faced a similar winding up order only 3 and a half years ago. We were heartened to hear that you heroically rallied around your club and found a staggering £60,000 in just over 3 months to fend off the taxman.  

 

Just like the football family helped you in 2010, were calling on all those who helped you to help us.

 

Through national press attention, celebrity endorsements, Twitter campaigns, bucket collections and eBay auctions we hear that we are only £20k away from meeting this first bill. To top it off, the comedian Omid Djalili has amazingly agreed to put on a benefit stand-up show in Hereford this coming Sunday 6th April, with all proceeds going to the club.

 

We are touched that so many have already pledged their support to the cause.

 

But the taxman is still on our backs. Even if we survive Monday and have a game to play on Tuesday 8th April, well have further bills to pay before the season is up and could be facing liquidation in the Summer. Thats why your club has kindly agreed to allow London Bulls to organise bucket collections at turnstiles, pitch-side and in the clubhouse, before, during and after the match on Tuesday. Any small donation is gratefully accepted. The money raised will be used towards meeting the demands of our creditors, the tax man and helping to ensure our players are paid. We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to you and your club for helping us to facilitate this.

 

Please give all you can to save a great club from vanishing and consigning 90 years to the history books.

 

For the love of Ronnie Radford

For the love of the FA Cup

For the love of John Motson

For the love of grassroots football

Lets Save Hereford United

 

Yours

 

London Bulls

 


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Kevin


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As much as I sympathise with their plight and the innocent football fan possibly losing his club as a result of the stupid decisions made by previous/current chairmen, directors, owners and/or managers, I don't recall the "football family" helping us, I seem to think Welling United supporters saved the club all on their own.

I hope they survive. Don't want to see any club go out of business.

However, this isn't the first time they have been in trouble, and like with the boy that cried wolf, if they haven't learnt their lesson after previous incidents then my sympathy levels run out very, very quickly.

I'd rather invest any cash I might have in my club not someone else's.

All the best Hereford, but I'm a Welling fan.

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Greendale


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Kevin wrote:

As much as I sympathise with their plight and the innocent football fan possibly losing his club as a result of the stupid decisions made by previous/current chairmen, directors, owners and/or managers, , I seem to think Welling United supporters saved the club all on their own.

I hope they survive. Don't want to see any club go out of business.

However, this isn't the first time they have been in trouble, and like with the boy that cried wolf, if they haven't learnt their lesson after previous incidents then my sympathy levels run out very, very quickly.

I'd rather invest any cash I might have in my club not someone else's.

All the best Hereford, but I'm a Welling fan.

 Not entirely true that no other club helped us Kevin.  Braintree Town arranged a bucket collection like this for Welling when we played there shortly after we were given our deadline to pay off the taxman.  I believe they have also helped us recently with advice regarding the ground improvements.

I don't like to see any club go to the wall as it is never the fault of the fans if it has been badly run.  I am happy to put in a pound or two if a bucket comes round.

 



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Wingnut


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Greendale wrote:
Kevin wrote:

As much as I sympathise with their plight and the innocent football fan possibly losing his club as a result of the stupid decisions made by previous/current chairmen, directors, owners and/or managers, , I seem to think Welling United supporters saved the club all on their own.

I hope they survive. Don't want to see any club go out of business.

However, this isn't the first time they have been in trouble, and like with the boy that cried wolf, if they haven't learnt their lesson after previous incidents then my sympathy levels run out very, very quickly.

I'd rather invest any cash I might have in my club not someone else's.

All the best Hereford, but I'm a Welling fan.

 Not entirely true that no other club helped us Kevin.  Braintree Town arranged a bucket collection like this for Welling when we played there shortly after we were given our deadline to pay off the taxman.  I believe they have also helped us recently with advice regarding the ground improvements.

I don't like to see any club go to the wall as it is never the fault of the fans if it has been badly run.  I am happy to put in a pound or two if a bucket comes round.

 

 I can see both sides to this. Don't want to see a club go under and happy to put a couple of quid in if it helps.

However like Kevin I have no idea who this mysterious "football family" is who helped us. "Serves you right" was the most common response I got at the time (and they were right) but it was Welling fans who got us out of the mess and nobody else.

Good luck to Hereford but don't make the same mistakes AGAIN!



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London Bull


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Kevin,

I completely understand and appreciate the points you are making. We have been in this situation before and if you are losing sympathy you can imagine how us, Hereford supporters feel. More and more fans are becoming discontent with the way the club is, and has, been run, but unfortunately we dont get much of a say.
Please know that we are, as fans, being proactive in having a greater say in how our club is run to ensure we arent in this situation again. We have recently set up, with supporters direct, a supporters trust for exactly that reason, you could have a look here if you are interested.

Lots of people are choosing to donate to trust instead of the club directly so that the money that is given to the club can be exchanged for shares, thus increasing the supporter voice on how the club is run. The trust is in its infancy and all the fundraising efforts are to try and give us a chance to get the club through a tough spell and look to a brighter future.


It is a real shame the wider football community didnt come to your aid in your hour of need and it is testament to your great support you managed to do it. There is definitely a lesson to be learnt from that and please know, heaven forbid, should you ever find yourself in that situation again I will be first in line to throw a few quid into the bucket for you.


As I mentioned before I fully respect and understand your decision to not contribute but please know us fans are doing what we can to just make sure our club survives.

Please note that donations in the form of 3 points will also be gratefully accepted.

See you Tuesday



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cj


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I will contribute and wish you well in the future, I remember Braintree helping us.

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London Bull


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Thanks gentlemen, it is all greatly appreciated and won't be forgotten.

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Falconwood_1


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Trusts are the best way to go for all clubs, will gladly contribute. Best of luck.

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J Lyman Stone


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I cannot believe how Hereford lost £499,000 in one year.
This is a huge amount of money at this level and I cannot understand at this level as to how you could make such a loss.
I do not remember many clubs helping Welling out.
I do remember this season that the majority of other teams supporters, managers and players have slagged us off totally.
We have been told that our dressing rooms are no good, the grass on our pitch is too long, the floodlights are not bright enough, the ground is hard to find, there is nowhere to park a coach, the pitch is too bumpy, our team play the wrong type of Football, we play a game called hoofball according to Woking who are in fact the worst team I have seen all season!!, we shouldn't be in the league as we are too small and shouldn't be beating some of these so called big teams. I appreciate Braintree helping us as they are a similar size club to ourselves and their supporters who I spoke to were ok and did not slag off Welling at all.
I will not be putting money in the Hat for Hereford as I come from Welling and support my home town team and without being rude am not interested in any other club and what their predicament is.

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Kevin


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Again, I sympathise, and I have no problem with Hereford whereas I do with many other clubs. Imagine a situation where I help Hereford now though and then next season you stay up at our expense, I'd be gutted.

Good luck though of course.

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name & dob


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Kevin wrote:

As much as I sympathise with their plight and the innocent football fan possibly losing his club as a result of the stupid decisions made by previous/current chairmen, directors, owners and/or managers, I don't recall the "football family" helping us, I seem to think Welling United supporters saved the club all on their own.

I hope they survive. Don't want to see any club go out of business.

However, this isn't the first time they have been in trouble, and like with the boy that cried wolf, if they haven't learnt their lesson after previous incidents then my sympathy levels run out very, very quickly.

I'd rather invest any cash I might have in my club not someone else's.

All the best Hereford, but I'm a Welling fan.

With you on this one Kev.....Sorry but its a No from me ..... 



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Danson Mark


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Kevin wrote:

Again, I sympathise, and I have no problem with Hereford whereas I do with many other clubs. Imagine a situation where I help Hereford now though and then next season you stay up at our expense, I'd be gutted.

Good luck though of course.

 But saving Hereford might send Dartford and Aldershot down. That has to be a good thing.



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Matt The Hat


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I will put a pound or two in, don't think we can sit in our moral high tower. Braintree helped raise a few quid, we are better people than saying it's your problem deal with it. I've always enjoyed my trips to Edgar Street hope you raise the necessary funds and you keep your team playing on the pitch.

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MarkX


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Yep i agree!....remember who the ones were that had a go.....Dartford (and they continue to) , Woking, Dover etc......it is never the real supporters that are to blame.....I wish them success.....do they still parade a bull before the game or when did that stop?

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Andrew Nicholson aka Courtjester


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They have got their facts slightly wrong though - it was nearer 3 weeks to raise the money rather than 3 months wasn't it? I can't make Tuesday but I hope they survive. We got ourselves into the financial mess that they now find themselves in, even if the amounts are different, so I'm not sure we are in a position to criticise.



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Wellington Boot


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With the money that exists in football it is a great shame that the likes of Hereford are on the brink. Was a lot of the loss due to attempts to maintain / regain league status?

Don't begrudge them a donation, but really they need a lot more money than a few buckets will collect.



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Wingnut


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Danson Mark wrote:
Kevin wrote:

Again, I sympathise, and I have no problem with Hereford whereas I do with many other clubs. Imagine a situation where I help Hereford now though and then next season you stay up at our expense, I'd be gutted.

Good luck though of course.

 But saving Hereford might send Dartford and Aldershot down. That has to be a good thing.

 Is the correct answer!



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MarkX


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Yaaaay!!!

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Russ


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Braintree were trying to take Pugh and Cumbers for nothing at the same time as the collection. A fantastic gesture by the 'football family'...

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stafford


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Some may recall my views on our own plight given the somewhat 'pithy' nature of one exchange at the time.

Sometimes something is sufficiently broken that the best thing that can be done is let it go and start again. I acknowledge Braintree have been of assistance in certain things over the years and for that reason it was difficult to put the boot in too much over their fixture congestion due to the state of their pitch, however the observation still needed to be made. Maybe the structure at Hereford is not repairable in their reduced status and it may be time to start again.

I also understand that you cannot just tear up people's contracts if you are relegated and that this can lead to an overspend if the revenue is less in a lower league. I presume the argument against clauses in contracts to cover the relegation scenario is that this is seen as 'lack of ambition'. However, I have several ambitions I would fulfil if I had a guaranteed higher level of income ad infinitum but I don't so, I have to tailor whatever agreements I make accordingly. Why are football clubs different?

I would much prefer at trip to Hereford than Aldershot or Dartford (not entirely due to my residential location) but when you have the incident of one of our number smoking on the terrace (which he probably should have known not to), saying he wasn't aware he shouldn't and then being admonished with 'Haven't you been to a football match before?', it doesn't readily demonstrate a club structure that has adapted to their new status mentally. It is not difficult to understand from that how financially that may also be the case. (In recent times we have been to grounds where you could GROW tobacco on the terraces, let alone smoke it!)

In our case a few years ago, with one or two exceptions, the prevailing attitude internally was it was our problem and ours to solve by ourselves. We did and have prospered since due to a fine managerial team but even we still possess some of the structural issues we had before the crisis. Being a smaller organisation they just don't run to the same level of noughts.

As I understand it, Hereford are currently running at about half the home attendance they need to break even. Given that I presume this wasn't based on complete pie in the sky, would it not have been more prudent to try and encourage those people back through the turnstile several months ago. I presume they have a direct interest in the club prospering and are likely to be more receptive to its plight than rivals or persons with no interest whatsoever. If you got 1000 of them back through the turnstile for one game you would make more money than through any number of bucket collections. If you cannot get them to care, why the presumption that others should?

 

 



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London Bull


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Wellington Boot wrote:

With the money that exists in football it is a great shame that the likes of Hereford are on the brink. Was a lot of the loss due to attempts to maintain / regain league status?

Don't begrudge them a donation, but really they need a lot more money than a few buckets will collect.

Indeed, the party line is that we overspent whist trying to stay in the football league, sickening contract payoffs off to less than successful and deserving managers, grossly overestimated attendances (for 2 years running!), a risky price cut in tickets that didn't pay off, combined with a cut in funding and players on football league contracts have left us where we are. I know there is more to it that that but like I said, Im only a fan.

Youre right, I know one bucket collection won't seem to make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things but its just us exiles trying to do what we can to help and make a difference from down here, it is just part of many other fund raising initiatives and events. We aren't relying on others to pull us though but just asking if anyone would like to help. This morning I am mourning the loss of all my signed/matchworn memorobilia which was auctioned off last night in the hope we pull though and can have an influence in our club moving forward.

Again, I completely understand reasons for individuals not wanting to contribute and by no means do we expect anyone to do so, but please know it will help and if nothing else restore some faith in the football community that appear to have let you down when you needed it.



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Moo


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Certainly agree with the earlier comments about the so-called 'football family' not doing much to help when we were in trouble (not that we asked for it, and it was a problem of our own making anyway).

London Bull - although money was raised in various ways, the main chunk of the money was actually fans loaning money to the club, which is perhaps something you could look at if it comes to it (although there may not be many Hereford fans willing to do that, considering the length of time over which the club has been living beyond its means).

I will put a few quid in the bucket on Tuesday, which I hope will contribute towards saving the club. Unfortunately, Hereford being saved from relegation is looking less and less likely.

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London Bull


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Thanks Moo that is very kind of you. We all know reform is needed and believe me the fans are not shy in letting that be known.That is a good idea and I'm sure it is something that should be looked at and may already be.

Completely agree, relegation is a far too real prospect, recent performances haven't been great, but then again if I wasn't being paid properly I know I wouldn't be at the top of my game either. Believe it or not relegation doesn't seem to be at the forefront of peoples thoughts at the moment, most just want a club to be able to watch come next season.

Anyway thanks for the support gents/ladies. I have encouraged as many of our lot as possible to have a drink at your place beforhand to help try and help repay the favour. See you Tuesday and all the best for the rest of the season...

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Wingnut


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London Bull wrote:

Thanks Moo that is very kind of you. We all know reform is needed and believe me the fans are not shy in letting that be known.That is a good idea and I'm sure it is something that should be looked at and may already be.

Completely agree, relegation is a far too real prospect, recent performances haven't been great, but then again if I wasn't being paid properly I know I wouldn't be at the top of my game either. Believe it or not relegation doesn't seem to be at the forefront of peoples thoughts at the moment, most just want a club to be able to watch come next season.

Anyway thanks for the support gents/ladies. I have encouraged as many of our lot as possible to have a drink at your place beforhand to help try and help repay the favour. See you Tuesday and all the best for the rest of the season...

 Of course I want my team to win but if you get a point (or three) on Tuesday and it helps to relegate D******* then I could probably just about live with that!



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stafford


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If Hereford go bang, Aldershot stand to lose three points (with lost power to add in the last game of the season), Tamworth zero (with lost power to add ) and Dartford four. Arguable as to whether Hereford's survival is less or more likely to relegate Dartford given it brings Tamworth rea;istically back in to the equation in those circumstances!



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kendo159


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London Bull wrote:
This morning I am mourning the loss of all my signed/matchworn memorobilia which was auctioned off last night in the hope we pull though and can have an influence in our club moving forward.

FOR THIS REASON IM IN!!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU TRUE BULLS FANS.

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Ron Manager


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To London Bull,

I see on Hereford's Official Site that you've recieved a fantastic piece of news in the helping with your clubs struggle.

I too would hate to give up any of my clubs Memorobilia and like Kendo159 said "For This Reason Im in"

Also PM'd you.

Good Luck.


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BigDave


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good luck I will throw a few pounds into the bucket and good luck with the relegation battle but sorry your getting stuffed tuesday night ^_^

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Greendale


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BigDave wrote:

good luck I will throw a few pounds into the bucket and good luck with the relegation battle but sorry your getting stuffed tuesday night ^_^

However I'm sure all Welling fans wish you the best of luck in getting 3 points against our good friends Woking tomorrow. 



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giorgiopin


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Good luck. I will certainly be making a donation to your cause. Am a bit surprised at some of the harsh words mentioned on this page.



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Kevin


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What's been said that's harsh?

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stafford


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giorgiopin wrote:

Good luck. I will certainly be making a donation to your cause. Am a bit surprised at some of the harsh words mentioned on this page.

 Would you have the same sentiment if we were sat where Tamworth and Dartford are, rather than comfortably mid table?



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Davy K


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7 day stay of execution for Hereford,

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Kevin


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Stay of execution being the right phrase, if losing the money they are rumoured to be it's only a matter of time.

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giorgiopin


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stafford wrote:
giorgiopin wrote:

Good luck. I will certainly be making a donation to your cause. Am a bit surprised at some of the harsh words mentioned on this page.

 Would you have the same sentiment if we were sat where Tamworth and Dartford are, rather than comfortably mid table?

Yes I would. I don't see what a club's league position has to do with giving them a helping hand. 



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giorgiopin


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Kevin wrote:

What's been said that's harsh?

Maybe harsh is the wrong word. I just feel that it is a very sad day when any club goes under and it does not help when people are implying things like, 'serves them right'. I believe in offering a hand to a drowning man personally, whoever he may be. 



-- Edited by giorgiopin on Tuesday 8th of April 2014 10:53:19 PM



-- Edited by giorgiopin on Tuesday 8th of April 2014 10:53:44 PM

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