Hereford FC: Peter Beadle's Bulls building for next step up the English league pyramid
Last updated on .From the section Football
Promoted Hereford have strengthened for their step-up to the Southern League.
In winning the Midland League in 2015-16, their first season since reforming as Hereford FC, the Bulls scored over 200 goals in all competitions.
Having won promotion to Southern League Division One South & West, boss Peter Beadle has now signed 11 of last term's squad on season-long part-time deals.
Beadle has also made a second close-season signing, bringing in striker Jamie Cuss from neighbours Westfields.
Cuss was Westfields' top scorer last season with 31 goals in 50 appearances, his acquisition follows the re-signing of John Mills and Pablo Haysham, who netted 81 goals between them for the Bulls.
Midfielder Jamie Edge, who played for the Bulls in their former Hereford United days, has returned to the club from Weston-Super-Mare. He is reunited with captain Joel Edwards, the only other current player with the club to have also appeared for the old Bulls.
New Bulls' scoring feats
Hereford FC picked up 108 points out of a possible 126 from their 42 Midland League games last season
They scored 138 goals, averaging more than three a game, conceding 33 times, less than one a match.
Top scorer John Mills finished with 52 goals from 53 appearances, in all competitions, while Pablo Haysham scored 29 times.
In a season in which they not only won the Midland League, but also two other trophies, Hereford's hopes of a clean sweep were denied by Morpeth Town in the FA Vase final at Wembley.
In all competitions, they played 62 games, winning 54 of them and scoring 203 goals.
They are comfortably the best supported side at this level, having regularly attracted gates of over 4,000 to their revitalised Edgar Street home.
The Bulls' average home league attendance for the 2015-16 season was 2,836, as they topped 4,000 at Edgar Street five times - the envy of most National League sides and even some in League Two.
Their highest home attendance was 4,683 for the FA Vase semi-final first leg against Salisbury, while a season's league best 4,381 attended the local derby with Westfields on Boxing Day.
Southern League away days
| Next season's away trips in Division One South & West | |
|---|---|
| Under 50 miles | Slimbridge (40), Bishops Cleeve (43), Shortwood United, Stroud (45), Evesham United 48 |
| 50-100 miles | Mangotsfield United, Bristol (64), Swindon Supermarine (65), Yate Town (66), North Leigh, Witney (70), Larkhall Athletic, Bath (76), Wantage Town (77), Paulton Rovers (81), Bridgwater Town (90) |
| 100 miles and over | Didcot Town (100), Taunton Town (100), Salisbury (103), Winchester City (114), Tiverton Town (120), Wimborne Town (128), AFC Totton, Southampton (131), Barnstaple Town (149), Bideford Town (157) |
