The contributors to the site are pleased to note that recent figures show that the popularity of Bulls News is still on the increase. The last few days have seen over 4000 daily visits to the site. We try to offer a blend of news across football as a whole with the obvious leaning towards Hereford United and matters relating to clubs in the same league. Once again, the coming season will see us provide full match reports for every game. In addition, previews of each game and travel arrangements will appear 2/3 days before every fixture with the usual hint of humour. Where possible, we hope to continue to include the occasional interview along with opinions on most things affecting the progress of the team and those who support it. As usual, we welcome constructive criticism and suggestions via our Email address.
.jpg)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Friday night is Chester Night
The Hereford United fixture list is already showing one change.
The game at Chester will now be played on Friday October 12th not Saturday October 13th.
Meanwhile a spokesman for Hereford United has said that the match day prices will be published today.
News Round Up
Morecambe boss Sammy McIlroy has taken a swipe at agents after apparently losing a second of his promotion winning side. After Danny Carlton's departure, Chris Blackburn is expected to join Swindon once he returns from holiday. McIlroy told the local press: "It riles me. The agent will not get back to me and that annoys me because I know him personally. He's touted Chris Blackburn to Swindon. I've spoken to Swindon's manager Paul Sturrock and he says he's been offered the player but hasn't signed him as he's in India."
Former Bulls loanee Karl Hawley has signed for Preston on a three year deal. The move is a likely catalyst for David Nugent's departure to a Premiership club, that will net Bury a substantial percentage from their original transfer agreement. Chester have made an increased cash offer for Tranmere winger Kevin Ellison.
Boston's chief executive Barrie Pierpoint is expected to launch a takeover of the club after Standing Alone further delayed their own takeover of the club. Pierpoint was actually employed by Standing Alone and was out of contract with them at the end of the month, but has resigned the post claiming that he is "the club's newest fan".
Grimsby have recorded 2,200 season ticket sales, banking over £375,000. They have recorded £250,000 in sales in the last 14 days. Rushden have sold over 600 season tickets for the coming season, only 200 short of last season's total.
Sills targeted by Rushden and Diamonds
Tim Sills is now a target of Rushden and Diamonds according to local press reports this morning.
Sills had been linked with Aldershot but they were unable to meet the wages costs involved as Sills is under contract with Hereford United for this season.
Stenevage were also said to be interested but their chairman Phil Wallace has said: "We've been unsuccessful in our attempt to sign a striker from a League Two club but we'll continue to look around."
R&D manager Garry Hill says he wants to bring in a more experienced forward to partner Simeon Jackson, Michael Rankine or Lee Tomlin up front.
Hereford to play Rotherham at home on opening day
Hereford United will play Rotherham, formerly of League One, at home on the first Saturday of the season. The last game will be against Grimsby also at home.
The full fixture list for Hereford United can be found on the BBC Website - click on fixtures on the left of this article. This season the club will have six new grounds to visit compared with last season. They are at Bradford, Brentford, Chesterfield, and Rotherham all of whom were in League One last season and Dagenham & Redbridge and Morecambe, both promoted from the Conference.
Bulls News are unable to publish the full fixture list because of licencing arrangements. The site would have to pay over £250 to print the list.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Talking Bull in danger of folding without New Editors
Talking Bull is in danger of folding unless new editors can be found quickly.
The Hereford United fanzine is close to bringing out its 100th issue and the current editors have said they will stay on until that goal is achieved but they need budding editors to come on board as soon as possible so as to ensure a smooth change-over.
Anyone interested please contact either Peter(peter@hufc.com) or Chris(zebemach@ukonline.co.uk) as soon as possible.
GT: No Contact From Orient Or Tam
Graham Turner has told the Hereford Journal that neither Leyton Orient or Tamika Mkandawire has officially told him about the player moving to the London club.
In today's paper, Turner is quoted as saying: "The only player to come and see me this week is Rob Purdie and he said he would get back to me. We've had no letter of confirmation from Tam and certainly nothing from Leyton Orient. A lot of players will come back to us next week - at the moment there is some activity in terms of contracts."
Players have until next Tuesday, June 19th, to accept the offers on the table. With the impending loss of Andy Williams, there are seven left to accept or reject the deals.
Meanwhile, The Mirror is reporting that a £150,000 fee has been agreed between the Bulls and Bristol Rovers for Williams' services, however the report is believed to be a reference to the accepted bid in January rather than current negotiations.
Macmillan Renton Appeal close to £1.1m
This morning we received the following letter from Ron Davies MBE, the Herefordshire Fundraising Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Thank you so much for the wonderful donation of £13364.67 and all the hard work that went into raising the money. When you told Lynda how much you had raised we were absolutely overwhelmed.
As you know last Friday evening was a celebration of reaching the £1m mark in the Appeal and during my speech of thanks I was able to announce to the audience your generous donation, which was met with rapturous applause and puts us well on the way to £1.1m.
It is only thanks to people like you that Macmillan is able to give support to patients and their families and move a step closer to our vision of the very best cancer care for all.
Thank you so much for your support and your donation will make a difference.
Yours sincerely
Ron Davies
Bulls News would like to thank the Hay Festival for their co-operation in raising this money, all who kindly used our car park, the Hereford United supporters that helped man the park and not least Ron and Lynda at the Macmillan Fundraising Office in Hereford for their support.
News Round Up
Stockport have signed Macclesfield striker Matty McNeil on a one year deal. The 30 year old scored just six times in fifty appearances for the Silkmen after coming from non-league football.
MK Dons have transfer listed striker Izale McLeod after he rejected new terms. The 22 year old has scored 60 times in 135 games since arriving from Derby but the Dons are only interested in 'serious offers' for the player. Wycombe have signed defender David McCracken on a free transfer. The former Scotland u-21 player joins from Dundee Utd, where he has been since a youth player.
Chesterfield have signed Gregor Robertson from Rotherham on a free transfer. The former Scottish u-21 player has signed a two year deal. Boston have called a public meeting this Sunday to discuss their current plight amid continuing fears that they may not survive the summer.
Willo signs three years deal at Rovers according to WDP
Andy Williams has signed a three year deal at Bristol Rovers according to this morning's Western Daily Press. His departure from Edgar Street comes after an offer to move last January was turned down by the 20 year old striker.
The paper goes on to report that no announcements will be made by the clubs whilst they try to arrive at a compensation deal. If they fail the fee will be decided by a tribunal.
Yeovil to visit Edgar Street in Carling Cup
Hereford United will entertain local rivals Yeovil Town in the first round of this season's Carling Cup.
The Somerset team are expected to bring a good following to Edgar Street. The two clubs haven't met since they were both in the Conference.
The last meeting between the two sides was the 4-0 win at Huish Park in March 2003 that saw Adam Lockwood, Kevin Gall, Kirk Jackson and Michael McIndoe all score in a thrashing that also saw Hereford end the game with nine men on the field of play as both John Grant and Tony James were red carded.
Earlier in January, the Glovers had knocked Hereford out of the FA Trophy by a 2-1 scoreline with Colin Miles and Adam Lockwood ensuring the game was almost over after just four minutes. Ben Smith got one back for the Bulls.
A 0-0 draw at Edgar Street during the previous September represented the other league meeting that season.
The game will be played on Tuesday August 14th with a 7.45pm kick-off.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Wallis commits sole to Dover.
Former Bulls player Jon Wallis has signed a one-year deal to play at Dover Athletic under new manager Andy Hessenthaler. Wallis originally joined the seaside outfit on loan from The Bulls and later extended his stay following his release from Edgar Street. His performances in the centre of midfield made him a firm favourite with Dover fans and the penning of this deal has been greeted with great excitement in the ranks of the Athletic faithful. Dover finished last season in third place in the Ryman League Div 1.
Hereford in Southern Section of Carling Cup
Hereford United are an unseeded team in the Southern Section of the Carling Cup. The first round of the Cup takes place on Tuesday August 14th and the draw takes place tomorrow morning at 10am.
The rules of the competition mean that Hereford United will meet one of the seeded clubs in round one. The ties are decided on the night with extra-time and penalties if required.
Southern Seeded:
Charlton Athletic
Watford
West Brom
Southampton
Colchester United
Plymouth Argyle
Crystal Palace
Cardiff City
Ipswich Town
Norwich City
Coventry City
QPR
Bristol City
Southend Unitd
Luton Town
Yeovil Town
Swansea City
Millwall
Southern Unseeded:
HEREFORD UNITED
Northampton Town
Gillingham
Cheltenham Town
Brighton & HA
AFC Bournemouth
Leyton Orient
Walsall
Swindon Town
Bristol Rovers
Brentford
MK Dons
Shrewsbury Town
Peterborough United
Wycombe Wanderers
Notts County
Barnet
Dagenham & Redbridge
Steve Guinan - A profile
Below is a profile of Steve Guinan, who will be back at Edgar Street this coming season.
Steve Guinan, who was born on Christmas Eve 1975, started his career as a trainee at Nottingham Forest and, despite showing great promise, only appeared in seven first team matches in a near seven year spell at the City Ground. He was loaned out to a succession of teams, with varying degrees of success, with his spell at Plymouth Argyle a highlight as he scored seven goals in eleven league matches. He eventually signed for Cambridge United three days after his 24th birthday. However three months later he was sacked, after throwing food at an official club dinner, and went back to Home Park where he spent two seasons. After falling out of favour in mid 2001, Guinan ended up training with Exeter but was unable to sign for them due to a transfer embargo.
In the latter half of the 2001-02 season he signed for Shrewsbury Town and the following season, he joined then Conference side Hereford United in July 2002 after a successful trial. He made his debut for the Bulls in a 2-1 home win against Farnborough Town on August 17th.
Guinan enjoyed two successful seasons at Edgar Street and was top goalscorer on both occasions, scoring three hat-tricks. Notably he was named Player of the Round after scoring three against Harrow Borough in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round. Hereford were title contenders all season and, despite missing several games through injury, Guinan scored 29 goals from 40 appearances (in all competitions). Unfortunately the team faltered in the play-offs, with Steve missing the first leg through injury.
In May 2004 he was snapped up by Cheltenham Town. In his second season with the club he notably scored the winning goal in the League Two play-off final. This season, just ended, he has made 23 appearances and scored 1 goal, in all competitions. On 17 January he was placed on the transfer list. On 25 January he returned to Hereford United on loan. Guinan (pictured with Stockport's Michael Rose) enjoyed a successful return to Edgar Street and scored seven league goals in 15 appearances, including a hat-trick in Hereford's 4-1 win away at Lincoln City. He was also voted Player of the Month for February. He was released by Cheltenham at the end of the season and signed for Hereford United earlier today.
Off the field Guinan has been at Gloucester University for the past couple of years studying sports science. He is also understood to have gained several FA coaching badges.
Profile adapted from Wikipedia and www.hu-fc.co.uk. Picture by Andy Compton of the Hereford Journal.
Shots Out Of Sills Race
Aldershot assistant manager Martin Kuhl has admitted defeat in the race for Tim Sills.
Kuhl has told the Aldershot News and Mail that the wage demands of the player, who has 12 months left of a League Two contract, are too much for the club that has issued disappointing financial results in the last couple of seasons:
"Unless the wage demands are sorted out, any deal for Tim is dead I'm afraid. I have been told that he is going somewhere else now and while we were interested in bringing him back, we can't afford his wages.
"We would like to speak to him but we are so far away from each other in terms of wages that it is not something that's going to happen at the moment. Tim is a very good player and I'm sure there are a few clubs after him but we can't afford what he wants."
Stevenage and Rushden are now believed to be the main bidders in the race, with Kuhl's words suggesting that one of the two has agreed a deal with the Romsey born forward.
Guinan Signing Confirmed
Hereford United have confirmed the signing of Steve Guinan following his release from Cheltenham.
Guinan initially played for the Bulls between 2002 and 2004, leaving for Cheltenham on a free transfer. He returned in January on loan for a total of three months, scoring seven times and notching his 50th goal for the Bulls.
No details on his contract have yet to be released.
Barnet's Fairclough under fire.
Barnet Manager, Paul Fairclough, is being criticised in some quarters for abusing his position as coach to the England Non-League XI (Now England C) team following the Barnet signing of York midfielder Neal Bishop. Bishop played for Fairclough’s England set-up in the recent Four Nations Tournament in Scotland and has now joined Barnet under a Bosman move. York fans are up in arms as this follows their loss of Andy Bishop to Bury and Clayton Donaldson to Scottish side Hibs in similar circumstances.
There are suggestions in Non-League circles that the position of England C coach should be “neutral” but this, of course, would also rule out all the Conference managers leaving very few qualified candidates for the job. The fact is, Fairclough has been in charge of the National Game XI since January 2003 and this appears to be the first time one of his selections has moved to join him at Barnet.
Voice goes into management
Former Hereford United striker Scott Voice is going into management.
Polymac Services Midland Alliance club Tipton Town have announced that Voice has been appointed as assistant-manager while continuing to play.
Voice formed a successful partnership with Steve Piearce at Wolves and also played with Matt Clarke before the youth team was broken up as all three left Molineux. He moved on to play for Stourbridge and later Bilston Town in the Dr. Martens Western Division, where he scored fourty six goals last season. When he was available on the Bosman Ruling, Graham Turner swooped to bring Voice to Hereford in the summer of 2001, hopefully to rekindle his partnership with Piearce. His first season with the Bulls was a disaster through injury, and after a loan spell at Hinckley United, he joined the Dr. Martens Premier Division side in January 2003. In December, he moved to Redditch United.
Willo and the WDP
According to this morning's Western Daily Press, Bristol Rovers remain on the trail of Hereford United forward Andy Williams.
Out of contract at the end of last season, the 20-year-old has been offered a new deal at Edgar Street.
But talks with the Pirates are believed to be at an advanced stage and Williams could even be a Rovers player by the end of this week.
On June 7th, last Thursday, the WDP reported that Bristol Rovers are finally on the brink of landing Hereford United striker Andy Williams.The 20-year-old marksman has already been in talks with the Pirates and is expected to finalise personal terms in the next few days.
Reading between the lines it appears that talks with Williams are taking longer than expected.
News Round Up
The Boston exodus has begun, with veteran keeper Andy Marriott leaving for Exeter on a free transfer despite still having 12 months left on his contract. Few, if any, of the contracted players to the York Street club are expected to be there for the start of the new season. Meanwhile, chairman Jim Rodwell has confirmed that their demotion to the BlueSq North was down to not paying football creditors in full. Exeter have also signed defender Matt Taylor from Team Bath.
Chester are chasing Kilmarnock winger Stevie Murray. New boss Bobby Williamson and chairman Stephen Vaughan have spoken openly about their transfer targets, with Murray the fifth named player. The other four have already chosen moves elsewhere. Barnet have signed York midfielder Neal Bishop, who was out of contract at the Kit Kat Crescent. The 25 year old has just been voted York's player of the year. The Bees have also sold defender Simon King to Gillingham for an initial £200,000.
Morecambe have rejected Carlisle's initial £30,000 offer for Danny Carlton. The striker has penned a deal at Brunton Park, but if the clubs cannot agree a fee the matter will be decided by tribunal. Bradford are virtually debt free after local businessman Mark Lawn pumped a seven figure sum into the club. Lawn will become co-chairman with current chairman Julian Rhodes.
Dagenham have confirmed the signing of Peterboro's Shane Huke, and added released Barnet midfielder Richard Graham.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Important meeting take precedence over match-day price announcement
Despite reporting last Wednesday that matchday prices would be announced today (see earlier Bulls News article), Hereford United now say that the information will be released in a day or so.
United's club bosses have been taking part in important meetings all day today (Monday) and the announcement on gate prices will be forthcoming in the very near future. was the excuse posted on the official website.
Whether there is any significance in the phrase 'United's club bosses' remains to be seen. Graham Turner is usually regarded as the 'boss'.
Turner would have been back at Edgar Street following his return from Portugal and there was said to be 'quite a bit of activity at the ground this morning.'
Shrewsbury Sign Striker.
The Slops have announced the signing of 21 year old striker David Hibbert from Preston North End. Hibbert started his career at Port Vale before moving to Preston for a reported £150,000 fee. A change of managership at Preston saw the young striker fall from favour and he spent much of last season on loan at Rotherham and Bradford City (both ended the season being relegated). During his Rotherham spell he made twelve starts plus a further nine appearances from the bench and amassed a total of two league goals. His four showings in a Bradford shirt failed to produce a goal at all. Shrewsbury boss Gary Peters is reported on their Official Site to have said “He’s got all the qualities and capabilities of being a good striker.” Bulls News understands that a three year deal has been signed with a nominal initial fee involved and further payments falling due following a number of games.
Wrexham have also signed a striker. 31 year old Eifion Williams joins them from Hartlepool.
Bulls Add Bath Friendly
The Bulls have announced a friendly trip to Bath City on Tuesday, July 24th.
It is their second away friendly announced, and their first match against Bath since December 1993 when the Twerton Park outfit beat the Bulls in a second round FA Cup match.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Admission prices for Edgar Street announced today
The admission prices to Edgar Street for the coming season are expected to be announced today. Speculation suggests that the club will increase the price for adults by £1 but may leave the concession price at last season's level.
It is also expected that the extra £1 that has been charged during recent season when Hereford United has been close to the top of the league will be scrapped.
It is unclear why these match-day prices are being published somewhat later than usual especially as season tickets have been on sale for several weeks.
Some supporters say they have put off purchasing season tickets until match-day prices have been released. This may explain why season ticket sales are said to be slow.
Meanwhile young supporters are reminded that the early bird deals for their age group end next Friday June 15th. Until then they will cost £130 for a stand ticket and £100 for the Meadow or Blackfriars End.
To take advantage of these prices young supporters must be under the age of 16 before 11th August 2007.
UPDATE: As at 7.30pm no news has been released by the club regarding match day prices. Our article was written on the clear understanding that the prices would be published today - Matchday admission prices will be released on Monday, as will the remaining sponsorship prices. - was printed on the Official Website on June 6th, last Wednesday.
Laser guided white lines at Edgar Street
Edgar Street will be marked out with a laser guided 'white line' machine this season.
The laser will supercede the out dated method of using a piece of string and a 'trolley full of white paint'. However the 'circles' will still need to be marked in the traditional way.
Meanwhile the reseed of the Edgar Street pitch is growing well and is expected to be ready for football well before the first pre-season friendly in six weeks time on July 21st. The recent wet weather provided ideal conditions for the grass to establish.
Much of the cost of the work has been the special grass mix used. This mix is formulated to provide a thick mat of grass. It was very noticable late last season how poor the pitch played and hopefully this work should provide an ideal surface for several seasons to come.
Worksop want Boston out of Conference
Worksop Town want Boston out of the Conference. They are set to contest the decision to demote Boston to the Conference North.
Chairman Howard Raymond told today's Non-League Paper: "The Conference rules must cover all three leagues, and we will be asking our lawyers to study this closely and will almost certainly lodge an appeal."
Worksop were relegated from the Conference to the Unibond Premier League last month.
Meanwhile Conference chief John Moules has spoken about the Boston affair.
"Boston are in breach of certain rules, it was felt Blue Square North was the best place for them.
"We are under a confidentiality agreement, as are Boston, and are not allowed to discuss them.
"We had meetings all day on Friday with Boston United and then informed Altrincham that they were staying up."
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Bulls enter FA Cup on November 10th
Below are the FA Cup dates for the coming season:
Saturday 18th August 2007 - Extra-Preliminary Round
Saturday 1st September 2007 - Preliminary Round
Saturday 15th September 2007 - First Qualifying Round
Saturday 29th September 2007 - Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 13th October 2007 - Third Qualifying Round
Saturday 27th October 2007 - Fourth Qualifying Round
Saturday 10th November 2007 - First Round
Saturday 1st December 2007 - Second Round
Saturday 5th January 2008 - Third Round
Saturday 26th January 2008 - Fourth Round
Saturday 16th February 2008 - Fifth Round
Saturday 8th March 2008 - Sixth Round
Saturday/Sunday 5th/6th April 2008 - Semi Finals
Saturday 17th May 2008 - Final
League One and League Two teams, incuding Hereford United, will enter at the First Round Proper stage.
As ever TV coverage may mean that games are played a day either side of the above dates from Round One onwards.
Also recently released are the Carling Cup dates. Hereford United join this competition in Round One.
Round 1: Week commencing 13th August 2007
Round 2: Week commencing 27th August 2007
Round 3: Week commencing 24th September 2007
Round 4: Week commencing 29th October 2007
Round 5: Week commencing 3rd December 2007
Semi-Final: 1st Leg: Week commencing 7th January 2008
Semi-Final: 2nd Leg: Week commencing 21st January 2008
Final: Sunday 24th February 2008
Willo 'hasn't actually signed yet'
Andy Williams, the young Hereford United striker being linked with Bristol Rovers, 'hasn't actually signed yet' according to a spokesman for Hereford United this evening.
The Bristol press has been speculating all week that Williams will move to Rovers but Graham Turner, the Hereford United manager, has offered Williams an improved deal in an effort to keep him at Edgar Street.
At present Turner has just five players signed up for next season and expected to play for the club. They are Wayne Brown, Trent McClenahan, Ben Smith, Richard Rose and Luke Webb.
Another player, Tim Sills, is on a two year deal but it is beleived he may be going back to Aldershot assuming terms can be agreed.
Meanwhile Turner is awaiting responses about new contracts from Simon Travis, Rob Purdie, Alan Connell, Sam Gwynne, Marcus Palmer, Jordan Fitzpatrick and Dean Beckwith.
Danny Thomas, Tamika Mkandawire, Andy Ferrell, Stuart Fleetwood, Glyn Thompson, Martyn Giles, Alex Jeannin, and Phil Gulliver have all left the club.
Alty Repreived As Boston Drop
Boston United will slip down to the Conference North for next season.
At today's Conference AGM, it was agreed that Boston would be demoted on financial grounds - starting their second non-league life in the BlueSq North, as it will be known next season.
Altrincham earn a reprieve for a second successive season after staying up 12 months ago as Scarboro were kicked out. Alty, who operate on a strict budget which is believed to be amongst the smallest in the top flight of non-league, have steered themselves away from near bankruptcy five years ago with chairman Geoff Goodwin telling the Messenger: "I do feel sorry for Boston but that's football isn't it? It's justice for us because we have aimed to do the right thing at this club, rather than running it into debt to chase the dream."
Jeannin and Travis highly regarded by York press
The York newspaper, the Press, have a list of players they feel might be targets for York City football club this coming season. Two Hereford United players are in their top ten.
Alex Jeannin - cultured 29-year-old French left-back who played more games than any other Hereford player as the Bulls ended nine years outside the Football League in 2005/2006. Lost his place last Christmas though and has been deemed surplus to requirements by Graham Turner, although he is still a favourite at Edgar Street. Started his career in England with Darlington so might not be adverse to a return to North Yorkshire.
Simon Travis - yet to sign a new deal at Hereford and the versatile defender/midfielder could be tempted back into the Conference following previous spells with Stevenage, Forest Green Rovers and Telford as well as the Bulls. Still plenty to offer at the age of 30.
Travis was linked with Stockport late last season.