2008–09 Hereford United F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was the 88th competitive season of Hereford United Football Club, fifth ever season in the third tier of English football and 28th season overall in the Football League. The club competed in League One following their promotion from League Two in the previous season. Hereford's previous season at this level was the 1977–78 season when they suffered a second consecutive relegation, finishing 23rd, despite having won the same division just two years previously. The club also competed in the FA Cup, FA Trophy and Football League Trophy.

Hereford United

2008–09 season
Chairman	Graham Turner
Manager	Graham Turner (until 24 April)[1] John Trewick (from 24 April)[1]
League One	24th (relegated)
FA Cup	First round (replay)
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	Second round (Southern)
Top goalscorer	League: Steve Guinan (15) All: Steve Guinan (15)
Highest home attendance	6,120 v Leeds United, League One, 17 February 2009
Lowest home attendance	1,458 v Swindon Town, Football League Trophy, 7 October 2008
Average home league attendance	3,270
Biggest win	5–0 v Oldham Athletic (H), League One, 17 January 2009
Biggest defeat	1–6 v Bristol Rovers (A), League One, 23 August 2008
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Hereford reached League One on the back of two promotions in three seasons, having won the Conference play-offs in 2005–06, and finished third in League Two in 2007–08. Graham Turner was voted League Two Manager of the Year by the League Managers Association for the latter achievement and entered his 14th season at the club.

Hereford struggled in League One, and after the first 15 matches they were bottom with 9 points. For the vast majority of the season the Bulls were in the relegation zone and were relegated on 18 April after a sixth consecutive defeat – their worst form of the season. Hereford did manage to achieve the double over both Cheltenham Town and Carlisle United. Their two other notable results were a 5–0 home win over Oldham Athletic, and a 2–0 home win over Leeds United.

The top goalscorer of the season is Steve Guinan with 15 goals, all scored in the league. Guinan is the club's longest serving player with 68 goals in 176 appearances. In a cumulative four and a half season spell, he has featured for the club in the Football League, Conference, Play-offs, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Football League Trophy and FA Trophy during his three spells with the club – having been signed twice and loaned once.

Graham Turner stepped down as manager following confirmation of relegation and appointed John Trewick, first team coach for the last 5 seasons, as the new manager for the remaining two matches of the season and beyond.

First-team squad

As of 2 May 2009

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ENG Richard Rose 4 MF  FRA Toumani Diagouraga 6 MF  ENG Kris Taylor 7 FW  ENG Febian Brandy (on loan from Manchester United) 8 MF  ENG Ben Smith 9 FW  ENG Steve Guinan (captain) 10 FW  GHA Bradley Hudson-Odoi 12 MF  ENG Marc Pugh (on loan from Shrewsbury Town) 15 MF  ENG Sam Gwynne 16 MF  ENG Jack Macleod 17 MF  IRL Stephen O'Leary

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  ENG Craig Jones 20 FW  ENG Andy Williams (on loan from Bristol Rovers) 21 DF  ENG Richard Jackson 22 MF  WAL Matt Done 24 MF  CAN Michael D'Agostino 25 GK  CPV José Veiga 28 DF  ENG Dean Beckwith 29 DF  ENG Josh Gowling (on loan from Carlisle United) 31 MF  ENG Jennison Myrie-Williams (on loan from Bristol City) 33 GK  HUN Péter Gulácsi (on loan from Liverpool)

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Ref.
17 June 2008	MF	22	Matt Done	Wrexham	Undisclosed	[2]
1 July 2008	DF	5	Garry Breen	Free agent	Free transfer	[3]
7 July 2008	GK	—	Nick Jordan			[4]
	MF	4	Toumani Diagouraga	Watford		[5]
16 July 2008	FW	10	Bradley Hudson-Odoi	Fulham		[6]
21 July 2008	GK	14	Craig Samson	Free agent		[7]
7 August 2008	DF	12	Sam Oji			[8]
28 August 2008	MF	17	Stephen O'Leary			[9]
4 September 2008	DF	21	Richard Jackson			[10]
10 September 2008	FW	24	Nick Chadwick			[11]
20 February 2009	MF	24	Michael D'Agostino

Out

Date	Pos.	No.	Player	To club	Fee	Ref.
16 May 2008	GK	14	Michael Ingham	Free agent	Released	[12]
	DF	5	John McCombe
19 May 2008	FW	12	Trevor Benjamin			[13]
	GK	33	Ryan Esson
	MF	17	Jordan Fitzpatrick
	FW	19	Marcus Palmer
5 June 2008	GK	1	Wayne Brown	Bury	Free transfer	[14]
30 June 2008	DF	2	Trent McClenahan	Free agent	Released	[15]
29 August 2008	MF	21	Luke Webb
8 January 2009	FW	24	Nick Chadwick			[16]
3 February 2009	DF	5	Garry Breen
5 February 2009	DF	12	Sam Oji			[17]
3 April 2009	MF	11	Clint Easton			[18]
14 April 2009	GK	14	Craig Samson			[19]
21 April 2009	MF	23	Simon Johnson			[20]

Loans in

Date from	Date to	Pos.	No.	Name	From club	Ref.
11 July 2008	11 January 2008	GK	1	Darren Randolph	Charlton Athletic	[21]
16 July 2008	5 January 2009	DF	3	Robbie Threlfall	Liverpool	[22]
5 August 2008	3 January 2009	FW	7	Moses Ashikodi	Watford	[23]
1 September 2008	End of season	FW	20	Andy Williams	Bristol Rovers	[24]
25 September 2008	25 November 2008	DF	27	Bruno Ngotty	Leicester City	[25][26]
12 November 2008	12 December 2008	GK	25	Matt Murray	Wolverhampton Wanderers	[27][28]
20 November 2008	22 January 2009	MF	26	Lionel Ainsworth	Watford	[29][30]
27 November 2008	21 January 2009	GK	33	Chris Weale	Bristol City	[31]
	End of season	DF	29	Josh Gowling	Carlisle United	[31][24]
5 January 2009	5 April 2009	MF	30	Sam Hewson	Manchester United	[24]
23 January 2009	23 February 2009	MF	31	Jennison Myrie-Williams	Bristol City	[32]
2 February 2009	End of season	GK	33	Péter Gulácsi	Liverpool	[33]
3 February 2009		FW	7	Febian Brandy	Manchester United	[34][35]
17 February 2009	17 March 2009	DF	27	Godwin Antwi	Liverpool	[36]
13 March 2009	13 April 2009	DF	32	Darren Dennehy	Cardiff City	[37][38]
26 March 2009	End of season	MF	12	Marc Pugh	Shrewsbury Town	[39]
		MF	31	Jennison Myrie-Williams	Bristol City

Loans out

Date from	Date to	Pos.	No.	Name	To club	Ref.
12 December 2008	10 January 2009	MF	19	Craig Jones	Redditch United
6 March 2009	6 April 2009	FW	10	Bradley Hudson-Odoi	Grays Athletic	[40]

Pre-season

  Win   Draw   Loss

Ledbury Town v Hereford United

8 July 2008	Ledbury Town	0–10	Hereford United	Ledbury
		Report	Guinan 2', 17' Taylor 16' Smith 27', 32' Hudson-Odoi 29' Done 39' Moses 50' Johnson 81' Gwynne 88'	Stadium: New Street Attendance: c. 400

Birmingham City v Hereford United

10 July 2008	Birmingham City	2–2	Hereford United	Kings Norton, Birmingham
	O'Connor Sheldon	Report	Rose Jones	Stadium: Wast Hills Training Ground Attendance: 0
Note: Match played behind closed doors with 40-minute halves

Kidderminster Harriers v Hereford United

14 July 2008	Kidderminster Harriers	1–0	Hereford United	Kidderminster
	Knights 2'	Report		Stadium: Aggborough Stadium Attendance: 661 Referee: Anthony Hendley

Hereford United v Wolverhampton Wanderers

16 July 2008	Hereford United	1–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Hereford
	Guinan 15' (pen.)	Report	Kightly 31' Ward 47', 75'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 1,538 Referee: Oliver Langford

Hereford United v Birmingham City

19 July 2008	Hereford United	2–2	Birmingham City	Hereford
	Guinan 30' Johnson 85'	Report	Strevens 53' Sammons 57'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 553 Referee: Steve Bratt

Hereford United v Bristol City

22 July 2008	Hereford United	2–2	Bristol City	Hereford
	Johnson 52' Breen 72'	Report	Trundle 61' (pen.) Murray 78'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 830 Referee: Craig Sarginson

Hereford United v Southampton

29 July 2008	Hereford United	0–0	Southampton	Hereford
		Report		Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 1,209 Referee: Andrew Bennett

Hereford United v West Bromwich Albion

1 August 2008	Hereford United	1–2	West Bromwich Albion	Hereford
	Ani 51'	Report	Beattie 63', 75'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 1,692 Referee: Peter Gibbs

Wrexham v Hereford United

5 August 2008	Wrexham	2–1	Hereford United	Wrexham
	Williams		Barnes 22'	Attendance: 0
Note: Match played behind closed doors

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
League One	9 August 2008	2 May 2009	Matchday 1	24th	46	9	7	30	42	79	−37	019.57
FA Cup	8 November 2008	18 November 2008	First round	First round	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	000.00
League Cup	12 August 2008		First round	First round	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Football League Trophy	7 October 2008		Second round (Southern)	Second round (Southern)	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Herefordshire Senior Cup	4 November 2008	28 April 2009	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	050.00
Total					52	10	9	33	50	87	−37	019.23

Source: Football Club History Database - Hereford United

League One

Main article: 2008–09 Football League One

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
20	Carlisle United	46	12	14	20	56	69	−13	50
21	Northampton Town (R)	46	12	13	21	61	65	−4	49	Relegation to Football League Two
22	Crewe Alexandra (R)	46	12	10	24	59	82	−23	46
23	Cheltenham Town (R)	46	9	12	25	51	91	−40	39
24	Hereford United (R)	46	9	7	30	42	79	−37	34

Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2009. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	9	7	30	42	79	−37	34	6	4	13	23	28	−5	3	3	17	19	51	−32

Last updated: 2 May 2009.
Source: Football Web Pages

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H
Result	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	D	L	W	D	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L
Position	19	23	24	22	21	23	24	24	24	24	24	23	23	23	24	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	23	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	24
Points	0	0	0	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	6	9	9	9	9	12	12	12	15	16	16	17	17	20	21	21	21	24	27	27	30	30	30	30	30	30	33	33	33	33	33	33	33	34	34	34

Source: Football Web Pages
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
9 August 2008	Leyton Orient	A	1–2	Beckwith 14'	4,727	18th
16 August 2008	Yeovil Town	H	1–2	Hudson-Odoi 82'	3,476	22nd
23 August 2008	Bristol Rovers	A	1–6	Guinan 90'	6,735	24th
30 August 2008	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	O'Leary 48', Hudson-Odoi 56'	2,894	22nd
5 September 2008	Swindon Town	H	1–1	Hudson-Odoi 68'	4,061	20th
13 September 2008	Southend United	A	0–1		6,393	23rd
20 September 2008	Scunthorpe United	H	1–2	Chadwick 25' (pen)	3,004	24th
27 September 2008	Leeds United	A	0–1		25,676	24th
4 October 2008	Walsall	H	0–0		3,900	24th
12 October 2008	Oldham Athletic	A	0–4		5,468	24th
18 October 2008	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–0		5,608	24th
21 October 2008	Carlisle United	H	1–0	Williams 60'	2,300	23rd
25 October 2008	Stockport County	H	0–1		3,210	23rd
28 October 2008	Millwall	A	0–1		9,071	23rd
1 November 2008	Peterborough United	A	0–2		6,087	24th
15 November 2008	Cheltenham Town	H	3–0	Guinan 15', 26', Gwynne 55'	3,761	22nd
22 November 2008	Northampton Town	H	0–2		3,061	22nd
25 November 2008	Milton Keynes Dons	A	0–3		7,189	22nd
6 December 2008	Colchester United	A	2–1	Guinan 29', Ainsworth 39'	4,794	22nd
13 December 2008	Hartlepool United	H	1–1	Guinan 18'	2,490	23rd
20 December 2008	Huddersfield Town	A	0–2		13,070	23rd
26 December 2008	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–2	Diagouraga 45', Guinan 65'	3,495	23rd
28 December 2008	Leicester City	A	1–2	Broadhurst 79'	22,920	23rd
17 January 2009	Oldham Athletic	H	5–0	Guinan 3', 10', 41', Ainsworth 27', 62'	3,342	22nd
24 January 2009	Walsall	A	1–1	Guinan 58' (pen)	4,438	22nd
27 January 2009	Millwall	H	0–2		3,001	22nd
31 January 2009	Stockport County	A	1–4	Hewson 26'	5,586	23rd
14 February 2009	Cheltenham Town	A	3–2	Brandy 13', Hewson 67', 80'	4,660	22nd
17 February 2009	Leeds United	H	2–0	Myrie-Williams 39', Brandy 62'	6,120	22nd
21 February 2009	Peterborough United	H	0–1		3,217	23rd
28 February 2009	Leyton Orient	H	2–1	Brandy 6', Guinan 16' (pen)	3,286	23rd
7 March 2009	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–2	Diagouraga 79'	5,195	23rd
10 March 2009	Bristol Rovers	H	0–3		3,199	23rd
14 March 2009	Southend United	H	0–1		2,663	23rd
17 March 2009	Scunthorpe United	A	0–3		3,672	23rd
21 March 2009	Swindon Town	A	0–3		7,129	23rd
24 March 2009	Carlisle United	A	2–1	Guinan 7', Smith 24'	4,223	23rd
28 March 2009	Huddersfield Town	H	0–1		2,979	23rd
4 April 2009	Hartlepool United	A	2–4	Brandy 11', Pugh 28'	3,579	23rd
7 April 2009	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1–2	Taylor 90'	2,033	23rd
11 April 2009	Leicester City	H	1–3	Guinan 29' (pen)	4,389	23rd
13 April 2009	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–2	Guinan 90' (pen)	5,945	24th
18 April 2009	Colchester United	H	0–2		2,100	24th
21 April 2009	Yeovil Town	A	2–2	Myrie-Williams 27', Guinan 61'	3,780	24th
25 April 2009	Northampton Town	A	1–2	Williams 51'	5,518	24th
2 May 2009	Milton Keynes Dons	H	0–1		3,224	24th

FA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 FA Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss

Hereford United v Dagenham & Redbridge

8 November 2008 First round	Hereford United	0–0	Dagenham & Redbridge	Hereford
15:00 GMT	Broadhurst  71'	Report		Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 1,825 Referee: Karl Evans

Dagenham & Redbridge v Hereford United

18 November 2008 Replay	Dagenham & Redbridge	2–1	Hereford United	Dagenham
19:45 GMT	Benson 17' Taiwo 33' Ritchie  78'	Report	Taylor 34' Broadhurst  90+5'	Stadium: Victoria Road Attendance: 1,409 Referee: Darren Deadman

League Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss

Crystal Palace v Hereford United

12 August 2008 First round	Crystal Palace	2–1	Hereford United	Selhurst
20:00 BST	Carle 45' Oster 49'	Report	Ashikodi 41',  90'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 3,094 Referee: Trevor Kettle

Football League Trophy

Main article: 2008–09 Football League Trophy

  Win   Draw   Loss

Hereford United v Swindon Town

7 October 2008 Second round	Hereford United	1–2	Swindon Town	Hereford
19:45 GMT	Done 30'	Report	Cox 45'+2',  90+2' Peacock 84'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 1,458 Referee: Steve Bratt

Herefordshire Senior Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss

Pegasus Juniors v Hereford United

4 November 2008 Quarter-finals	Pegasus Juniors	1–4	Hereford United	Hereford
19:45 GMT	Gwynne 6'	Report	Chadwick 23' (pen.), 25', 90' Johnson 84'	Stadium: Old School Lane Attendance: 157

Westfields v Hereford United

28 April 2009 Semi-finals	Westfields	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Hereford United	Hereford
19:45 GMT	Upcott 71'	Report	McPike 35'	Stadium: allpay.park Referee: Steve Moggs
	Penalties
	Hibbard Jones Green Upcott Harrison Allam		McPike Jones Macleod Done Melbourne El-Abd

Squad statistics

As of match played 2 May 2009

Appearance and goals

• The plus (+) symbol denotes an appearance as a substitute, hence 2+1 indicates two appearances in the starting XI and one appearance as a substitute
• Players with zero appearances are not included
• Statistics from the HFA Senior Floodlit Cup are not included

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League One		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2	DF	ENG	Richard Rose	45	0	40+2	0	1+1	0	1	0	0	0
4	MF	FRA	Toumani Diagouraga	48	2	45	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
6	MF	ENG	Kris Taylor	43	2	38+1	1	2	1	1	0	1	0
7	FW	SKN	Febian Brandy	15	4	14+1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	ENG	Ben Smith	40	1	29+8	1	2	0	1	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	Steve Guinan	46	15	40+3	15	2	0	0+1	0	0	0
10	FW	GHA	Bradley Hudson-Odoi	20	3	10+6	3	1+1	0	0+1	0	0+1	0
12	MF	ENG	Marc Pugh	9	1	8+1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	ENG	Sam Gwynne	22	1	17+4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	ENG	Jack Macleod	6	0	2+4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	IRL	Stephen O'Leary	17	1	11+4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
18	DF	ENG	Karl Broadhurst	28	1	23+2	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
19	MF	ENG	Craig Jones	3	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW	ENG	Andy Williams	29	2	19+7	2	2	0	0	0	0+1	0
21	DF	ENG	Richard Jackson	26	0	23+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	1	0
22	MF	WAL	Matt Done	39	1	24+12	0	0+1	0	1	0	1	1
25	GK	CPV	José Veiga	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	ENG	Dean Beckwith	29	1	22+3	1	2	0	1	0	1	0
29	DF	ENG	Josh Gowling	13	0	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF	ENG	Jennison Myrie-Williams	15	2	15	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	HUN	Péter Gulácsi	18	0	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who left during the season but made an appearance
1	GK	IRL	Darren Randolph	14	0	13	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
3	DF	ENG	Robbie Threlfall	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
7	FW	ATG	Moses Ashikodi	8	1	4+2	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
11	MF	ENG	Clint Easton	16	0	9+3	0	2	0	0+1	0	1	0
12	DF	ENG	Sam Oji	5	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
14	GK	SCO	Craig Samson	14	0	10+1	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
23	MF	ENG	Simon Johnson	33	0	9+21	0	0+1	0	1	0	1	0
24	FW	ENG	Nick Chadwick	12	1	5+5	1	0+1	0	0	0	1	0
25	GK	ENG	Matt Murray	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	MF	ENG	Lionel Ainsworth	7	3	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	FRA	Bruno Ngotty	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	GHA	Godwin Antwi	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	MF	ENG	Sam Hewson	10	3	9+1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	DF	IRL	Darren Dennehy	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	ENG	Chris Weale	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0