Hereford United
Capacity: 8,843
08/09 Average Home Attendance: 3,269
Address: Edgar Street, Hereford, HR4 9JU.
Nickname: The Bulls
Home Colours: White and Black
Main Telephone No: 08442 761939
Official Website: www.herefordunited.co.uk
2009/10:- Fixture: Sat 15 Aug 2009 - 3pm
2009/10:- Seating - Adults £15/Conc £12/U10 £3
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CHELTENHAM SUPPORTERS (please read) - Away supporters are accommodated on one side of the pitch (towards the Blackfriars End) of the Cargill Stand. This stand has an upper tier of seating that overhangs a lower tier of terracing. The Blackfriars End (standing), part of which was given up to visiting fans, has failed to receive a safety certificate for 2009/10 and is currently closed. As a result of this closure the game against Cheltenham will be all ticket for Robins fans and once we have been informed of how many tickets are to be allocated to visiting supporters a priority sales scheme will be announced - click here for details of ticket sales scheme.
By Car:
The postcode for your SatNav is HR4 9JU
Distance from Cheltenham - 44 miles
Car Parking and directions
Take M5 north to M50 then westbound to J2 of the M50 where you follow signs A417 Ledbury. On route follow signs for A438 Hereford.
Stay on the A438 into Hereford and after passing the Victory pub on the left, bear right onto the inner ring road that goes around the town centre. At the large roundabout, turn right onto the A49 Edgar Street and then right again into Blackfriars Street. The ground and car park entrance are down on the left.
There is a fair sized pay and display car park at the ground.
By Rail
Hereford railway station is under a ten minute walk away.
Out of the station and turn left towards the Safeway supermarket. Cut through the Safeway car park (heading left) and follow the pedestrian walkway out of the store out onto Commercial Road.
Go left down Commercial Road, where you will pass the Merton Hotel on your right and a Wetherspoons pub on your left. At the top of the road at the traffic lights, turn right (against the direction of the traffic) into Blueschool Street.
Keep walking until you come to a set of lights and a multi storey car park opposite and to the right (this is Widemarsh Street). Cross over, bear slightly right and hen cut up a walkway between the car park and the Council Offices, where you come into a car park (if you head left you will find the Newmarket Pub) head right and walk out the car park. Turn left and the ground is on the right.
Around The Ground -
There is a club bar at the ground which is open before and after the game. This small bar enjoys views across the ground. The Oxford Arms is on the edge of the main car park and it generally welcomes visiting fans. It also has a beer garden.
The stadium is in the city centre and therefore there are many pubs and chip shops around the stadium, all within walking distance, which serve good food and have a friendly atmosphere.
If you arrive at the ground early there is the Victory Tavern where a selection of real ales and a bar which resembles half an old sailing ship, complete with cannons, can be found. Also, just a short walk away on St Owens Street (going towards the town centre) is the Barrels pub, which serves amongst other Wye Valley ales. Like the Victory it is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.Worth a thought -
Hereford has a population of 50,000 people and is the largest settlement in the county.
The name "Hereford" is said to come from the Anglo Saxon "here", an army or formation of soldiers, and the "ford", a place for crossing a river. If this is the origin it suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye.
Hereford was founded in around AD 700 and became the Saxon capital of West Mercia.
Hereford Cathedral dates from 1079 and contains the Mappa Mundi a medieval map of the world dating from the 13th century which was restored in the late 20th century. It also contains the world famous Chained Library.
Hereford was once the site of Hereford Castle which rivalled that of Windsor in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a secure stronghold for English Kings such as Henry IV, the castle was dismantled in the 1700s and landscaped into Castle Green.
After the Battle of Mortimores Cross in 1461, during the War of the Roses, the defeated Lancastrian leader Owen Tudor (father of the futureHenry V11) was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution. Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owen's son Jasper.
During the civil war the city changed hands several times and at one stage was beseigedby an army of 14,00 Scots. The city was finally taken for Parliament in December 1645 and King Charles showed his gratitude to the city of Hereford by augmenting the city's coat of arms with the three lions of Richard 1. The ten Scottish Saltires on the coat of arms signifys the ten defeated Scottish regiments
Nell Gwynne, actress and mistress of King Charles 11 is said to have been born in Hereford in 1650 (although other towns and cities, notably Oxford claim her as their own), and Gwynn Street is named after her.
It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for the wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include; cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry and cattle, including the famous Hereford breed.
The city was the home of the British Special Air Service (SAS) for many years, although the Regiment relocated to nearby Credenhill in the late 1990s.
Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites', after their predominantly white kit, and the 'The Bulls' after the local breed of cattle.
Hereford United Football Club was founded in 1924 with the merger of two local clubs St Martins and RAOC (Rotherwas), with the intention of sustaining a higher class of football in the city of Hereford.
Hereford shot to national prominence in 1972 when, as a Southern League, they beat Newcastle United in the FA Cup. The games most spectacular goal strike (still shown on FA Cup weekends by the BBC) was scored by Ronnie Radford, who played for Cheltenham Town in two spells, during the 1960's.
In the same season they were elected to the Football League, and reached the old Second Division by 1976. But after a rapid decline they then spent the next nineteen seasons in the Fourth Division and were relegated to the Conference on the final day of the 1996/97.
Hereford originally played in an all-white strip, but their traditional colours are white shirts and black shorts. This dates back to the end of the Second World War when they used material from blackout curtains to make shorts when they ran out of white material.
