Edgar Street

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Edgar Street
The Blackfriars End with the cathedral and church in the background
Full name	Edgar Street Athletic Ground
Location	Hereford, England
Built	late 19th century
Opened	late 19th century
Owner	Hereford City Council
Surface	Grass
Tenants	Hereford United
Capacity	7,100 (2,761 seated)
Field dimensions	114 x 76 yds

Edgar Street is a football stadium in Hereford, England and is the home of Hereford United who currently play in League Two. It is located close to the city centre of Hereford on the road of the same name (A49).

1 History
2 Stands
3 Planned Redevelopment
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

The site has been used as a stadium since the late 19th century, although the year in which it was opened has not been widely recorded. The stadium was originally owned by the Hereford Athletic Ground Company and was also used by amateur football side Hereford City. In those days the ground's official name was Edgar Street Athletic Stadium, there was a running track around the pitch which explains the curious curved "dead" areas behind each goal in front of the terraces. Even in the early days Hereford United struggled financially and the landlord obligingly reduced the rent to help the club.^{[citation needed]} In 1931 the stadium was purchased by Hereford City Council for £3,000, and in 1952 United secured a lease on the stadium for the first time.

Although now showing its age, the ground's history does have some notable landmarks, such as the installation of floodlights in March 1953, before such clubs as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.^{[citation needed]} In 1974, following the most recent major development seen at Edgar Street, it was the only one outside the First Division with two cantilever-roof stands.^{[citation needed]} At 76 yards the ground had, until the advent of new stadia, one of the widest pitches in the Football League. The extreme width of the pitch was created when the old running track was turfed over.

Due to the club's financial crisis in 1997, the lease was handed over to developers, who are expected to take an active role in the redevelopment of the stadium. In 2000 an electronic scoreboard was put up at the Blackfriars Street End, using funds bequeathed to the club by a supporter.

The capacity of the ground is now reportedly 7,100 having been officially confirmed as 7,700 earlier in the 2007-08 season.^[1] Over the years it has gradually been reduced from 8,843 due to the Blackfriars End falling into a state of disrepair in recent years. The record attendance, however, is 18,114 against Sheffield Wednesday in the 1958-59 season FA Cup Third Round.

[edit] Stands

[edit] Merton Stand

The Merton Stand from the perspective of the Len Weston Stand.

The Merton Stand, on the eastern side of the ground is the only all-seater stand in the ground and was built in 1968. Initially it was flanked on either side by standing areas known as the Cowsheds, but when the club progressed into the Football League the stand was extended to cover the entire length of the pitch. The Merton Stand is the nominated family stand and includes the director's and press boxes, with matchday sponsors also seated in this stand. In front of the stand lie the dugouts next to the players' tunnel. All of the club facilities, such as offices, changing rooms, boardroom and corporate hospitality are located underneath the stand. The result of this is a number of windows at pitch level. The Vice Presidents' Club and Legend's, the supporter's bar are also located in this stand.

[edit] Meadow End

The Meadow End, November 2007

The Meadow End is located at the northern end of the ground and is traditionally populated with the club's most vocal supporters. It is a fully covered terrace and has a distinctive curve to its shape. The flat area in front of the terracing enables supporters to stand directly behind the perimeter wall of the pitch, very close to the action. It has a capacity of approximately 3,500. Located behind this end is the substantial Merton Meadow car park.

The pitch's distinctive downhill slope is in the direction of the Meadow End, which has seen some memorable goals over the years, most notably the goals scored by Ronnie Radford and Ricky George in the 1972 FA Cup victory over Newcastle United.

One of the FA Cup traditions of the club was for a group of supporters to dribble a swede before kick-off to the Meadow End and score a goal for good luck.

[edit] Len Weston Stand

The Len Weston Stand and Meadow End

The Len Weston Stand (referred to as the Floors-2-Go Stand for sponsorship reasons), on the western side of the ground, is a narrow two-tiered stamd and was built in 1974, replacing the previous wooden grandstand. It extends the entire length of the pitch and was named after the former president and benefactor of the club, Len Weston, of the Weston's cider and perry making family business. It was renamed the "Floors-2-Go Stand" at the start of 2006-07 season, with the stand being painted with an orange colour scheme to reflect this.

The stand is unusual in that the lower tier is terraced and the upper tier seated. The upper tier contains just five steep rows of seating but offers perhaps the best view in the ground as it is higher than the Merton Stand, and also closer to the pitch. The view from the terracing on the lower tier can be obscured by a number of supporting pillars, but also has the benefit of being very close to the touchline. The proximity of the A49 road immediately behind the stand limited the amount of room to build the stand, hence the relatively small number of rows of seating. Ticket allocation is split between home and away supporters with the Meadow End side allocated to home supporters.

[edit] Blackfriars Street End

The Blackfriars Street End, on the southern side of the ground, is a fully covered terrace similar to the Meadow End, but is positioned further away from the pitch. The stand has fallen into a state of some disrepair in recent years, with the number of supporters it can accommodate under Health & Safety regulations reducing significantly in recent years. This in turn has reduced the capacity of the ground by at least 1,000 in the last 10 years.

The half of the end nearest to Len Weston Stand side is designated for away supporters who are separated from the home support by fencing, which is known as "the cage". Like at the Meadow End, there is a large flat area in front of the terracing, allowing supporters to stand directly behind the perimeter wall.

The Blackfriars End is likely to be the first to be redeveloped in the ground due to its state of disrepair. Improvements to increase the capacity of the stand in the short term have been considered, but the club is reluctant to spend too much money with the stand likely to be demolished in the coming years.

[edit] Planned Redevelopment

The ground was central to the club's financial problems in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In order to cover debts the club secured two loans from property developers - the Bristol Stadium Group and Chelverton. As part of the arrangement, the previous regime of the club handed control of the ground leases to the developers.

With the ground in a prime location in Hereford it was originally believed that the best course of action would be for the club to relocate, and the ground be sold off for commercial development to enable the £1.3 million debt to be repaid. The landowners Herefordshire Council were against demolishing the ground and turning it into a retail development. Subsequently focus switched to keeping the club in its present location and redeveloping the ground to include some form of commercial development, a multiplex cinema being one of the proposals.

By this stage interest on the debt had already been frozen but there remained a repayment deadline of May 2003, which threatened the long-term future of the club who were still struggling financially into 2003. The BS Group had already sold their stake to Chelverton who in turn ran into difficulties meaning that control of the leases was passed to Carillion-Richardson. The pressure on the club to repay the debt has since eased with the developers working with the club to redevelop the ground to include facilities that can generate revenue, which will enable the club to repay the debt.^[2]

Herefordshire Council and Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency formed a company called ESG Herefordshire, and released plans in 2003 detailing redevelopment of 100 acres of Hereford city, including the area where the ground is located. In October 2006, ESG Herefordshire appointed Urban Initiatives to revise and develop the masterplan ^[3].

The redevelopment of the ground itself is not constrained by the Edgar Street Grid directly, but it remains in limbo until appropriate retailers and businesses can be attracted to the proposed facilities at the ground. As the ESG includes a retail quarter, the club are effectively competing for prospective retailers and businesses - with several choosing to move into the ESG.