The history of Hereford United Football Club covered the years from the club's formation in 1924 to 2014. For an overview of the club itself, see Hereford United F.C.
1924–1945 Before the formation of Hereford United there were four leading amateur clubs in Hereford and it was believed that a higher class of football could be sustained if they were to amalgamate. After a meeting in the city, both Hereford City F.C. and Hereford Thistle F.C. decided to remain independent while St Martins and RAOC (Rotherwas) decided to merge, and thus Hereford United was formed in 1924 with Dr E.W. Maples as chairman.
The new club joined the Birmingham Combination league and began playing their home matches at the local athletics ground on Edgar Street, where Hereford City also played their matches. The first competitive match was against Atherstone United in August 1924 which ended in a 2–3 defeat. The following week Hereford travelled to Kidderminster Harriers for an FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round, losing 2–7.
Hereford spent four seasons in the Birmingham Combination League, with a best finish of 4th. The club was well-supported with gates of over 2,000 for the big matches. One of the most notable players of the early years was Viv Gregory who was a prolific goalscorer, scoring 60 goals in one season. Indeed, Hereford managed to score over 100 goals in the 1926–27 and 1927–28 seasons. Hereford were elected to the Birmingham League for the 1928–29 season by virtue of their impressive league performances and reaching the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup. They finished 11th in their first season and had a record attendance of 5,000 for their second successive cup final match, a record which stood for eighteen years. Hereford's average league finishing position was 8th in the first half of the 1930s. A highlight was reaching the FA Cup first round for the first time in 1932–33, losing 1–2 to Accrington Stanley. By 1938–39 the standard of the Birmingham League had dropped with only 11 teams participating, and attendances at Edgar Street had also dropped. A public meeting was called and it was decided that the club would apply to join the Southern League, an application which was accepted. Subsequently, the club became a limited company.
1945–1966 Hereford's first season in the Southern League (1945–46) saw them finish second to Chelmsford City, a team who had been controversially awarded points for unplayed matches. Second place was again achieved in 1950–51 behind Merthyr Tydfil. In 1958–59 the Southern League was split into two sections: North-West and South-East. The winners of each section would contest a play-off to decide the winner of the league. Hereford won the North-West section but were beaten by Bedford Town in the play-off. A minor blip in 1964–65 saw the club relegated but this was quickly rectified with promotion the following season. Hereford's exploits in the FA Cup were steady performances to the First Round on several occasions before they reached the Second Round for the first time in 1948–49, losing 2–1 to Exeter. In fact Hereford managed to reach the Second Round six times in nine seasons. 1958–59 saw them reach the Third Round for the first time, quite an achievement for a Southern League club. In the Second Round they had defeated QPR 6–1 which was a record win by a non-league club over a league club at the time. Hereford played Sheffield Wednesday at Edgar Street in front of a record crowd of 18,114 but lost 3–0. This is still the highest attendance ever for the club. Hereford did not reach the Third Round again until 1965–66 where they were defeated 2–1 by Bedford Town.
1966–1986 Hereford finally won election to the Football League in 1971–72, after finishing second in the league, largely thanks to their excellent FA Cup run. In this run they played ten matches, of which five were replays. In the second round, they needed two replays to defeat Northampton Town, and then faced Newcastle United of the First Division in the third round. Newcastle were held 2–2 at St James' Park before the replay at Edgar Street, which was covered by the BBC. Newcastle scored after 82 minutes through Malcolm Macdonald but then Ronnie Radford scored a 30-yard screamer at the Meadow End to make it 1–1, prompting a pitch invasion. Ricky George, who had been brought on as a substitute just minutes before, scored the winner in extra time. Radford's goal, with commentary from John Motson, was voted BBC Goal of the Season for 1971–72. In 2002, it ranked 97th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. Hereford had reached the fourth round for the first time, and their next opponents were West Ham United, another First Division team. After a 0–0 draw at Edgar Street, the Bulls were finally knocked out in the replay at Upton Park, losing 3–1 with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick.
In their first season in the Football League, Hereford finished runners-up to Southport in the Fourth Division and were promoted to the Third Division. The next two seasons saw Hereford finish eighteenth and twelfth before taking the Third Division title in 1975–76 – the club's greatest honour. The following season saw Hereford finish bottom of the Second Division and they were relegated.
The club were again relegated from the Third Division the following season and so were back in the Fourth Division for the 1978–79 season. Hereford remained in this division for the next nineteen seasons. The club generally finished the seasons in low positions (including seventeenth for five consecutive seasons) and had to apply for re-election to the League in 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1982–83. 1984–85 was a better season for Hereford when they finished 5th.
1986–2006 Decline and relegation The 1989–90 season again saw a mediocre performance in the league, with the club again finishing 17th. They were more successful in the Cup competitions, particularly the Welsh Cup which became the club's first major silverware for 14 years. They scored nine goals past Connah's Quay Nomads in Round 3, where Paul Burton became the youngest Hereford player to score a hat-trick, at the age of 16. After wins over Kidderminster Harriers and Bangor City, they beat rivals Cardiff City 3–0 at Ninian Park in the first leg of the semi-final, before holding on in the return at Edgar Street to reach the final for the first time since 1981. On 13 May 1990 they met Wrexham at Cardiff Arms Park and won 2–1, thanks to an 84th-minute winner from Ian Benbow.
In the FA Cup, Hereford reached the Fourth Round for the first time in eight years, after a memorable victory over Walsall. With three minutes left on the clock, Hereford were 1–0 down but a penalty drew them level, then long-serving player Mel Pejic scored the winner in the 89th minute. The reward was a home tie against Manchester United, who were then 15th in the First Division. In front of the last five figure crowd at Edgar Street to date, Hereford were defeated by a Clayton Blackmore 84th-minute winner. This relieved the pressure of dismissal that manager Alex Ferguson was reported to be under at the time, and the Red Devils went on to win the Cup that season.Hereford out to add to their Little Book of FA Cup Shocks Guardian Unlimited, 25 January 2008. Retrieved on 8 May 2008.How Robins saved Ferguson's job BBC Sport, 4 November 2006. Retrieved on 8 May 2008.
The early part of the 1990s saw little progress in terms of the club's Football League position, with seventeenth position being attained on no less than five consecutive occasions, under five different managers. Indeed, both Colin Addison and John Sillett were brought back for a season each in an attempt to revive the club, with little success. However the club managed to hit form under Graham Turner, who joined at the beginning of the 1995–96 season. In early 1996 the club mounted a challenge for promotion when they went from nineteenth position to sixth position in two months, securing an unlikely play-off place. However they were unable to sustain this form in the play-offs, losing over two legs to Darlington. The season was also notable for the fact that Steve White, with 29 goals, was the highest league goalscorer in the top four divisions of English football thus emulating Dixie McNeil who achieved the same feat twenty years previously.
The season that followed, 1996–97, saw a complete reverse in the club's fortunes. With debts mounting and the club having made a loss of over £300,000, Turner was forced to sell key players such as White and Richard Wilkins. A terrible run of form when the club went three months without a win meant they were sucked into the relegation dogfight. Brighton & Hove Albion, with their own well documented troubles, had seemed destined for relegation for much of the season. But they climbed above Hereford on the penultimate day of the season, leaving the Bulls 24th and bottom of the entire Football League. Both teams were level on points, and Hereford had a better goal difference, but the goals scored rule was in effect and Brighton had scored more goals. On 3 May 1997 the two clubs met in a relegation decider at Edgar Street, which was the subject of considerable media interest as one club would relegate the other. Hereford needed a win to survive while Brighton only required a draw thanks to their having scored more goals. A capacity crowd saw Hereford take the lead in the first half through an own goal by Kerry Mayo from Tony Agana's cross. Brighton equalised in the second half against the run of play through Robbie Reinelt, who snapped up the rebound after a shot crashed against the post. In the last minute Hereford had a chance to save themselves but leading scorer Adrian Foster shot weakly at the goalkeeper when one-on-one. The final whistle blew and Hereford were relegated after 25 years in the Football League. Graham Turner subsequently resigned as manager but withdrew his resignation after strong support from the board and supporters. The general belief around the club at the time was that the club were merely 'on loan' to the Conference, but it would prove to be a long road back.
Financial crisis in the Conference By May 1997 the club had severe financial problems with debts of over £1 million, and a sizeable list of creditors. Chairman Peter Hill and the board secured two loans of £500,000 from a developing company to pay off some but not all of the creditors. As part of the arrangement control of the two leases on the Edgar Street stadium was also passed to the developers. By November 1997 matters off the field overshadowed the team's performances with the club in crisis with running costs mounting up and wages unpaid. Eventually a Company Voluntary Agreement was proposed to avoid the club being wound up by creditors, including the Inland Revenue to whom over £140,000 was owed alone. When Hill walked away from the club at the end of the 1997–98 season, Graham Turner bought the majority shareholding and took on the burden of the debt, along with Joan Fennessy. Had he not bought the shares it is likely the club would have gone under as nobody else came forward to take control of the club. On the pitch Hereford could only finish sixth in their first Conference season with the highlights being double wins over rivals Kidderminster Harriers and Cheltenham Town. Most notably a run to the FA Cup third round saw a memorable triumph over Brighton at Edgar Street which was featured on Match of the Day.