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An appreciation of Edgar Street
Grounds Tour is a collection of information about football grounds both in the Conference and other leagues written by Steve Johnson. He visited Edgar Street last season and below are his views about Hereford and its ground.
With me about to change jobs, I was having a leaving night-out on the Friday, so decided that it was probably best not to venture to far afield on the Saturday. Feeling considerably the worse for wear, I left home around 9am to catch a train to Liverpool Lime Street. I caught a train from there to Crewe, then changed for the Cardiff-bound Wales & Border service to Hereford. It was like an Indian summer, with clear blue skies and soaring temperatures. As the train pulled into Hereford station, the floodlights of the ground were clearly visible in the distance, but I grabbed some lunch in a cafe by the station before heading for the ground around 1:15pm.
The town centre of Hereford was a hive of activity and it seemed like quite a charming, thriving place. There were extensive signposts for pedestrians around the town centre, but few indicating the route for the football ground. However, I knew the rough direction I needed to be heading in and it wasn't long before the stadium and the adjacent cattle market were in sight. Unlike at Scarborough the previous Saturday, there already seemed to be lots going on around the ground, with queues formed outside some of the turnstiles.
Edgar Street was clearly showing its age from the outside, but at the same time was far from being in a state of disrepair and appeared to be well maintained. I thought the matchday programme was very poor, however, with the limited number of pages littered with adverts and offering very few articles at all. The floodlights in the ground looked unusual, with their outline a similar shape to the Eiffel Tower, with frames at the top to hold the actual lights. There were very few lights actually attached, however, giving the towers a somewhat odd appearance, eccentuated by the presence of mobile phone masts. The turnstiles for the Meadow terrace also stood out, with access gained via steps to the rear of this stand. There was ample parking behind this end of the ground in a large pay-and-display car park, with other off-street parking also in plentiful supply in the vicinity.
The turnstiles opened shortly before 2pm. After taking a brief look inside the Legends bar in the Merton Stand, I made my way through the turnstiles into this stand and was surprised to receive a ticket stub from the gateman. I had seen relatively few pictures of Edgar Street and it hadn't been possible to view much of the ground from the outside, so I wasn't sure what to expect inside the stadium. The appearance of Edgar Street certainly didn't meet with my vague pre-conceptions, however, as whilst the stadium was hardly modern, it did not look dated as I had expected. All four stands had an attractive, charming appearance and it was refreshing to see a delightful, traditional venue still in excellent condition.
My ticket was for an unreserved seat in the Merton Stand. This ran the length of the pitch, with the seating raised a good height above the playing surface. To the front of this stand was a low roof, with offices and the club bar overlooking the pitch below. On the roof of these offices and the bar were a series of pots with flowers, hardly a sight you expect to see at the side of a football pitch, but a nice touch nonetheless. The Merton Stand had a steep rake and offered unrestricted views of the pitch, with ample leg room. A gym was located in the stand whilst another unusual feature were the umpteen flights of steps. The stand was accessed by a walkway in front of the seating area, but it was not possible to walk the full length of the stand along this walkway, with steps leading down to the turnstiles and exit gates and a separate set of steps having to be climbed to get back on the walkway and continue along the stand. Whilst several seats were marked for season ticket holders, I was able to pick an excellent vantage point towards the Meadow terrace, on the front row of the stand.
Opposite the Merton Stand was the Len Weston Stand. This was a narrow double-decker stand that also ran the full length of the pitch and was split equally between home and away fans. The top tier contained a few rows of seating, with a small terrace below. This stand was of a similar height to the Merton Stand although the seated capacity of the latter was far greater. The Len Weston Stand, as with the Merton Stand, was able to offer spectators unrestricted views of the playing surface.
At either end of the ground was partially covered terracing, given a unique character through curving away from the pitch behind each goal. The terraces were similar in size, with the Blackfriars Street End closed for this match. Looking at this terrace, it appeared that this must previously have been allocated partly to away fans as the terrace was split into two sections, with a "no-man's land" in between. It struck me as unusual to see the issue of segregating fans clearly being taken into consideration when designing the terrace, thus making the standard netting usually needed to separate spectators redundant. A scoreboard was situated under the roof of this stand. Edgar Street struck me as a venue that really needs to be seen "in the flesh" - pictures of the ground don't seem to do it justice and whilst new grounds may be an impressive sight, few come anywhere near matching venues such as Hereford United's home for character and genuine warmth.
With the appearance of Edgar Street making such a good impression on me, I knew that if the game did not disappoint, I would have enjoyed excellent value for money at Hereford United. As kick-off approached, it was obvious a large crowd was gathering. With the Blackfriars Street End closed and half of both tiers of the Len Weston Stand given over to the 35 or so Scarborough fans, there were only two and a half sides of the stadium left for home supporters. It was announced around 2:50pm that the Merton Stand was completely sold out, whilst space on the Meadow terrace also seemed to be at a premium. There was room for a few more in the home section of the Len Weston Stand but this was still very well populated. The Blackfriars Street End seemed to be closed through choice rather than necessity and with such a large crowd gathered at Edgar Street, I was puzzled why the whole of the ground wasn't open. A total crowd approaching 5000 would indicate the club certainly has the fanbase to go with an excellent stadium that would make a return to the '92' most welcome.
Most of the atmosphere during the game came from the home fans on the Meadow terrace, although the Hereford fans in other parts of the ground did join in on a few occasions. The two Hereford goals brought scenes of delerium as the home supporters went wild. There were a lot of families sat in the Merton Stand and plenty of characters, including one young girl who screamed at the referee that she could do a better job than him! The ground rarely fell silent and watching the game from the Merton Stand was certainly enjoyable. I moved slightly further back in the stand for the 2nd half to escape the warm glare of the sun, but finding available seats was something of a challenge! Hereford's bull mascot kept the fans entertained and seemed just as popular with the parents as their children!
The train journey back home went smoothly and as the fans filtered out of the ground at the final whistle, I was sad to be leaving Edgar Street. With friendly, welcoming supporters, a traditional ground with decent facilities and what looks like an excellent team on the pitch, Edgar Street is amongst the best football grounds I have visited. A particularly appealing aspect of a trip to Hereford United must also be the fact that, like Northampton Town, the club has a sizeable following of very attractive female supporters! I have heard much about the activities at the ground for an FA Cup tie, with a prize bull led around the ground and the blessing of the swede. I would certainly welcome the chance to return to the stadium for an FA Cup tie. There are few venues remaining like Edgar Street and football grounds such as the home of Hereford United should be cherished. Every aspect of a trip to Edgar Street is superb.
For much more please visit www.groundstour.co.uk
