Hereford FC are the latest team to join the growing trend of community-owned football clubs after The Bulls supporters secured 50.1% ownership of the National League North side.
Hereford United were originally founded in 1924, but were sadly wound-up in the High Court with debts around £1.3million in 2014 and owing HMRC £100,000 in unpaid tax.
The Whites had been in financial difficulty since they were relegated from the Football League in 2012 and were then demoted two divisions (from Conference Premier to Southern League Premier) without kicking a ball because the new owners declined to put up a £350,000 bond.
A new phoenix club was set up in 2015 by Hereford supporters and local benefactors and Hereford FC was formed, there were five Benefactors who each paid in £50,000 in return for shares in the Club. Individual Supporters collectively paid £39,000 in return for shares in the Club and the Hereford Supporters Trust was granted the opportunity to match these 289,000 shares, over time, by progressive fundraising from ‘rank and file’ supporters.
The target of £289,000 was hoped to be reached by May this year but amazingly the magic number was reached by November 2022!
The funds were moved across before Christmas and the £9,000 cheque which enabled them to hit the target was presented at their recent game against fellow community-owned club Scarborough Athletic.
Hereford United Supporters’ Trust chairman Richard Tomkins said: “This is an emotional moment."
“Some people believed that supporters didn’t have the drive to amass the £289,000 required to match the club’s foundation investment. How wrong can they be!”
The following exert is taking from the Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) and sums up the issues for us football fans up and down the country perfectly.
Football fans, have for years, flocked to watch their chosen team, often in the thousands and in their eyes it is ‘their club’ and it “belongs” to them.
However, in the eyes of the Law, it is a remarkably different matter. Football Clubs are categorised as “Companies” and under Company Law, the Company (Club) is, in fact, owned by its Shareholders. That is to say, whosoever owns more than 50% of the shares owns the Club.
In these circumstances, Owners can, for example:
Opt to move the ground.
Change the Club’s colours.
Move the team to a new league.
Fans, who do not have a say, can do nothing about any of these decisions!
As we have all seen played out in the media, select Premier Club Owners wanted to start a European Super League. Fans strongly protested! Had there not been a strong lobby from Government and Football Governing Bodies, the fans’ protest, would, again, have meant nothing!
HUST website; https://www.hust.org.uk/
Hereford FC have now joined the list of the other 46 community-owned clubs.
Chesterfield
All of which can be found on the map below taken from the Football Supporters Association (FSA) website.
The FSA is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales.
They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, the choice to stand at the match, protecting fan rights, good governance, diversity, and all types of supporter empowerment.
As the national organisation they have regular contact with the Premier League, the EFL, National League, and the FA, as well as a whole host of other organisations within football such as the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).
As a secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Football Supporters Group they have strengthened the voice of fans within Parliament in recent years.
Their casework helps hundreds of fans every year who feel they’ve been poorly treated by their clubs, stewards, or police and they give those fans a voice, the best possible advice, and even legal support where necessary.
You can check out their website here;
It must be said that community-owned clubs will still face trials and tribulations and times of financial difficulty but it takes away the threat of unscrupulous owners with financial agendas.
In an ideal world it would be great to see all our football clubs community-owned with a 50.1% majority, but we are sadly a million miles away from that, but we can still dream and strive for it to happen one day.