Battle of the Phoenix clubs: Hereford FC and AFC Telford United to go head-to-head in FA Cup first round
Both clubs were founded after the originals suffered liquidation, but football was brought back to their respective towns by supporters who understood the need to have the game in the community
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Your support makes all the difference.When Hereford FC and AFC Telford United take to the pitch in their FA Cup first round clash on Saturday in front of packed house of 4,900 at Edgar Street it will be a meeting of two teams who wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for their fans.
Both clubs were founded after the originals suffered liquidation, but football was brought back to their respective towns by supporters who understood the need to have the game in the community. Hereford United went bust in December 2014, in the middle of the season, whereas Telford United went out of business ten years earlier in May 2004, but new clubs have risen to replace them.
Telford supporter Richard Worton recognised the importance of ensuring the club did not die, he said: “I think having a phoenix club was important for the town's identity. For a town of its size to not have a team, especially one that had a wonderful heritage in the FA Cup, was something fans clearly were unwilling to contemplate.”
Telford is the blueprint Hereford will want to follow, to a certain extent, as they achieved four promotions in their first decade as a club. The Bulls have collected back-to-back promotions in the two seasons since their inception, leading them to the the seventh tier, one below Telford who are in the National League North.
As a club Telford have enjoyed their successes and are now learning from their mistakes over the last decade, necessary reflections their hosts on Saturday will be hoping to avoid as they make their way back up the pyramid. Andy Sinton’s stint in charge won’t be remembered fondly as he brought in former professionals who struggled to adapt to non-league and attendances dwindled.
A change to a shareholder model, allowing for greater outside investment, took place in November 2016 has started a new dawn for the club. After recent relegation battles, Telford now have Rob Edwards in the dugout, looking to take his young team back up to the National League, as they sit just one point off the play-offs.
Former Wolves defender Edwards has used his connections to get access to the Championship side’s training ground, a luxury at this level, something which helped attract ex-Liverpool midfielder Jordan Lussey to the club. The former England youth international, 22, is the sort of player Telford want to attract: a talented footballer with something to prove and a desire to make it back into the Football League, and shining in the FA Cup could be the profile boost he requires.
“For me it’s important to get back to league football as soon as possible, it’s nothing to do with financial position [of the club] or nothing like, so I need to make sure the team I’m coming to plays the right football and look at the style the manager wants to play, the players already here, the facilities. When I came down to Telford and saw the set-up Rob’s got in place it was a no-brainer,” Lussey told The Independent.
Both clubs have a strong history of FA Cup giantkilling. Hereford United’s Ronnie Radford scored one of the most famous goals of all-time when he smashed one into the top corner as The Bulls knocked Newcastle United out in 1972.
Whereas Telford don’t have anything as memorable to their name, but can boast of beating 11 league clubs between 1982 and 1992. This year, the finances are equally as important to the two clubs, who can secure their short-term future with a run in the competition.
“The FA Cup is one way in which the bond [between club and fans] could be at least partially restored. Success attracts people, and in that respect it’s no different for AFC Telford United than it is for clubs much higher up the pyramid,” Worton explains.
“Making progress in the Cup, perhaps pulling off a giant-killing, or securing a tie with a Premier League club, would be the ultimate aim, but reaching the first round isn't to be sneezed at. £24,500 in prize money won to date, and with £18,000 for the winners on Saturday, would make an appreciable difference to the club.”
Following the meteoric rise to the fifth tier, interest declined in the team, as even supporters in a trust craved success and Telford’s aim of being the best part-timers in the country became a struggle in the increasingly professional National League. Since the changes in 2016, the club is still trying to re-establish its identity and a successful FA Cup campaign could be the catalyst needed for Lussey and his team-mates.
“You only have to look at what Lincoln City did last season,” Lussey said. “I think it [the FA Cup] does mean more to lower league clubs - there’s a massive buzz around the place. I experienced it last season at Southport when we took Fleetwood Town to a replay and extra-time and I know it was a massive financial benefit for Southport, especially with the game being on BT as well.
“There’s a whole big buzz about the place, everyone’s talking about it, the fans are talking about it, the fans have backed the players and a lot are going to be travelling down on Saturday, so the atmosphere is going to be great.”
Opponents Hereford United were in League One as recently as 2008-09 and their descent was a rapid and tragic demise, as they went out of business mid-season in 2014-15 due to mounting debts. But were re-established in the Midlands Football League in the summer of 2015 and have been promoted in successive seasons, which means they are more than confident of downing Telford in front of a packed Edgar Street.
Midfielder Rob Purdie joined the club after being released by Leicester aged 19, now aged 35 he’s back at Hereford for his fourth spell with the club that means so much to him. He remembers when the club went out of business in 2014 and believes many saw it as a blessing in disguise.
“It had been taken over by someone who wasn’t right for it and many people saw it as a relief when it folded, as they thought something fresh could start. It should never have got to that point, but when it did, it needed to go bust to give it a chance of getting back up to where it used to be.”
When the new version was founded, Purdie decided it was the perfect place to end his career, which had seen him play over 300 league games. Although he knew Hereford well, playing for a part-time side has been an eye-opener for the experienced midfielder.
“I could have gone higher - and spoke to a few clubs - but I was turning 32 and after a bad injury, I’d lost a bit of love for football over the years and I wanted to be passionate about what I did until the end of my career and enjoy it, so Hereford was the perfect choice. I live in Hereford, I knew the fanbase and I saw it as the final product of my career to get them back to somewhere where they should be.
“For me it’s the same club, it’s the same fans you see before and after the games at the same ground, the directors I knew anyway from supporting the club, so it’s exactly the same club for me.”
Hereford fans have done a lot to keep the club going, but continue to act in the interest of players. They raised almost £10,000 for striker Jamie Cuss to undergo surgery following a knee injury, they also came together to pay £1000 towards treatment for defender Ryan Green’s Achilles problem and even found a pair of golden ‘Totti’ boots for club hero Purdie, which has helped build the bond between players and supporters.
“When you’re a professional player it’s so easy to just get in your car and go home, now it seems a lot more personal: players are friends with the supporters and the supporters try to do things back for players. And you don’t get that at many places and you definitely don’t get that in the league.
“Clubs kind of distance themselves from the fans as they just want the money, whereas here everybody is in it together and that’s the biggest difference I’ve seen from Hereford United to Hereford FC.”
Now the club are looking to the future on the stable grounding they’ve worked hard to achieve, which would be assisted by FA Cup progression. The run in the competition so far has already seen them defeat National League side Eastleigh and getting further will boost their profile for years to come.
“There are a lot of fan-owned clubs who get to, and even surpass, the level they’ve been at before and we take inspiration from that. What Hereford won’t do is overspend and end up going bust again, so if we have to consolidate for a few years and then go up. We’ve had two promotions but there might need to be a period where we make some money so we can push again. Overall, Hereford want to be back in the Football League and that is a hell of an ask and it’s a long-term plan.”
Regardless of the result at the weekend, those in the stands will celebrate their club’s continued existence, which is far more important than any win, loss or draw, as the supporters will just be happy knowing there’s many more to come and they’ll be a crucial part of it.
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