Hereford

Foundation

Following the winding up of Hereford United on 19 December 2014, the Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) vowed to start a new phoenix club. Three days later, local businessman Jon Hale, who had earlier been chairman of HUST, registered the name Hereford Football Club with the Herefordshire County Football Association, in conjunction with the trust and a group of local businessmen. A press release followed on 24 December, outlining plans to let HUST members decide on the club's kits and crest. It also addressed the issue of the ownership structure, with the Hereford United Supporters Trust being given the opportunity to become the largest single shareholder, with individuals and corporate benefactors being barred from owning more than 49% of the new club. The press release stated that HUST's stake would be 'much more' than this.

The club's official website went live on 29 December. Hale gave an interview with Trevor Owens on BBC Hereford and Worcester on 3 January 2015, citing Hereford United's untenable debts as the reason for the business group's reluctance to engage with the former club. The appointment of Hale as Hereford F.C. chairman was released in an FAQ on 13 January. An open meeting two days later confirmed several appointments, including HUST chairman Chris Williams as vice chairman, Hugh Brooks as finance director, George Webb as commercial director and Phil Eynon as governance director (the latter three being part of the Hale-led group of local businessmen).

On 20 and 21 January, HUST members voted in favour of the proposal from the Hale group, with 96.71% voting to accept the plans. The Hereford F.C. bid had been the only approach submitted to HUST. Two weeks later, Herefordshire Council confirmed that the club had secured a five-year lease for the city's Edgar Street stadium.

The club opened applications for the position of club manager on 27 February and, following 42 applications, Peter Beadle was announced as the successful candidate by the board on 17 April 2015. Beadle, the final caretaker manager of the predecessor club, was joined by assistant manager Matt Bishop, who had served as a national coach developer with The Football Association.

2015–16 season

On 14 May 2015, the FA confirmed that Hereford would compete in the Midland Football League Premier Division (9th tier) for the club's first season. As a consequence, this meant that the club were entered into the FA Vase and the Midland League Cup.

The first game, a pre-season friendly, took place away at Malvern Town on 7 July 2015, a 3–2 victory for Hereford in which the winning goal was scored by Dale Hodge, in front of a record crowd for the hosts. Four days later, Hereford hosted their first match, a friendly against FC United of Manchester at Edgar Street, with Nathan Hughes scoring the only goal in a victory watched by around 4,250 spectators. They won 4–1 against Dunkirk in their first league match on 8 August, in front of a crowd of 4,062; this broke the league record attendance of 1,280, and was higher than four attendances that day in Football League One.

On 10 December 2015, while in first place in the league, the club announced that they had applied for promotion to the Southern Football League for the 2016–17 season. The league campaign had started with a shaky start, but they managed to put together a long winning run, which eventually came to an end after 27 consecutive wins, in a 1–1 draw at home to Alvechurch on 23 January 2016, and the unbeaten run of 34 games came to an end on 23 February, following a 2–0 loss at home to Highgate United.

Hereford broke their attendance record again in the FA Vase semi-final first leg against Salisbury on 12 March. Hereford won 1–0 in front of a record crowd of 4,683. On 25 April, Hereford clinched the league title following a 4–0 away win at Coventry Sphinx and were subsequently promoted to the Southern League South and West Division. A week later, the club picked up their second trophy, the Herefordshire County Cup, following a 5–1 win over Westfields.

Hereford secured their third trophy of the season, the Midland Football League Cup, on 10 May, following a 3–1 win over Walsall Wood at Solihull Moors' Damson Park.

On 22 May, Hereford lost 4–1 in the FA Vase Final to Morpeth Town at Wembley Stadium.

2016–17 season

On 12 May 2016, it was confirmed that Hereford would compete in the Southern League Division One South & West, following their promotion from the Midland League Premier Division. The season saw the club make their first appearance in both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy. It was announced on 24 May, that assistant manager Matt Bishop would be leaving the club, and he was replaced by Steve Jenkins on 30 May. The club decided to withdraw from the Southern League Cup in an attempt to focus on the league. The club went out of the FA Cup at the third qualifying round at Tonbridge Angels and exited the FA Trophy in the preliminary round at Salisbury. On 12 October, the club announced that manager Peter Beadle had signed his first contract with the club, on a rolling 12-month deal. On 19 October, it was announced that Chairman John Hale had stepped down and was to be replaced in the interim by Chris Williams, who was replaced by Ken Kinnersley on 3 January 2017.

On 4 March 2017, their away match against Didcot Town was abandoned due to crowd disturbances after a few Hereford fans went on to the pitch in celebration of the team taking the lead in the dying minutes of the game. Two men from Hereford were later arrested. After reviewing reports and video footage of the incidents, the FA decided to take no further action against either club, rather highlighting how sensationalised and ill-informed some of the news reporting, at the time, had been. Disciplinary action, however, was taken against three Hereford supporters, one of the Didcot players and the Didcot team coach. The Southern League also ordered the game to be replayed—which was subsequently played behind closed doors on 11 April 2017, with Hereford winning 2–1.