In their first game in charge of the Bulls Yan Klukowski and Jared Hodgkiss got Hereford back to winning ways with a confident looking 2-0 victory over Southport at Edgar Street on Tuesday night. Can they inspire Hereford again at the weekend with a back-to-back win over visiting Alfreton?
Let me shock everybody by focussing on the positives for this game.
Firstly, you need to be at the Street that day because there is a new Talking Bull on sale. The interest just keeps increasing, and not just from Hereford supporters. So much so, that the last 6 TB’s have sold out of print copies. Issue 137 is another full colour 44 page edition for just £3. On sale for one day only as print, although of course there is the increasingly popular downloadable pdf alternative. The fanzine is signed up to sponsor two games this season, so all profits will be spent in that direction. Do listen out for Brian and myself as the volunteer sales team. We do like to be heard!
Our visitors Alfreton are financially astute. Over the last 3 years, their net assets (what they own plus income minus expenditure) have risen by £25,000. Spending only what you have is a bit old-fashioned at our level. It does actually take guts in these social media days to say “no,. we can’t afford it” and stick to that principle. Majority shareholder Wayne Bradley recently tweeted “Honoured to have been the chairman of @AlfretonTownFC for the past 25yrs. The club is debt free, it has no aged creditors. It controls its own destiny.”
It’s sad that clubs with small attendances like Alfreton, Leamington and Buxton feel compelled to segregate. Firstly, its unnecessary and secondly there is no chance to socialise and meet the locals. One of the best bits of helping out Radio Hereford and literally seeing the home side of the ground, is meeting volunteers of the host club. The Alfreton people were proper down to earth folk, genuinely in awe of our media set-up. Their media limit was persuading a volunteer to tweet during matches, which is a League requirement. They are Just decent normal folk just trying to do the best for their club. They even made coffee and tea for us which doesn’t happen often.
The town of Alfreton doesn’t have much going for it and yes, I’ve been guilty of poking fun at it in years gone by. Flip that around and ponder how important the Reds are to their run-down hard-up town. Alfreton Town are major town ambassadors and I suppose a ‘tourist attraction’ for their home base. There aren’t too many other reasons to visit.
Billy Heath has managed Alfreton since 2018 and we all have opinions on how he sets up his team. Away from the job, Heath is a dad of 4 and if that wasn’t enough, he also, with his wife Toni, foster several children at once. That’s a full-on and very worthy full-time job. All credit to the bloke and I’m sure the rumours he only fosters children who are least six foot tall aren’t true.
Not an easy gig to keep a low budget club competitive at our level. The Reds gaffer has kept his club comfortable for years. Heath’s defence may not be well paid but they are organised. They are currently on a run of only one goal conceded in 8 games.
I’ve strained every sinew to be positive and upbeat about our opposition so in return please be at the Street if you possibly can. We are overdue a win against the Reds. It’s Saturday, the weather might be warmer, and don’t forget to grab your Talking Bull while they are hot.
Simon Wright
