# 2007–08 Hereford United F.C. season

The 2007–08 season was Hereford United's 27th season in the Football League and ended in the club winning promotion to League One, the third tier of English football, for the first time in 30 years.
It was Hereford's second season back in the Football League after nine seasons spent in the Conference. The previous season had seen Hereford finish 16th after a poor run of form in the final stages of the season. On the strength of this they were predicted to battle against relegation this season by most media sources. Only one member of the 2007-08 squad was purchased for a transfer fee, Ben Smith who was signed from Weymouth for £20,000 in January 2007.
On 26 April 2008 they secured 3rd place and promotion to League One.

## First-team squad

    As of 3 May 2008
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 |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Wayne Brown |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Trent McClenahan |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Richard Rose |
| 5 | DF | ENG | John McCombe |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Karl Broadhurst (captain) |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Jack Macleod |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ben Smith |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Steve Guinan |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Kris Taylor |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Clint Easton |
| 12 | FW | JAM | Trevor Benjamin |
| 14 | GK | NIR | Michael Ingham |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Sam Gwynne |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Robbie Threlfall (on loan from Liverpool) |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Jordan Fitzpatrick |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Lee Collins (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers) |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Marcus Palmer |
| 20 | MF | FRA | Toumani Diagouraga (on loan from Watford) |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Luke Webb |
| 22 | FW | JAM | Theo Robinson (on loan from Watford) |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Simon Johnson |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Craig Jones |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Dean Beckwith |
| 33 | GK | SCO | Ryan Esson |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | No. | Player | Transferred from | Fee |
| 12 June 2007 | FW | 9 | Steve Guinan | Cheltenham Town | Free transfer |
| 4 July 2007 | DF | 6 | Karl Broadhurst | Bournemouth | Free transfer |
| 4 July 2007 | DF | 5 | John McCombe | Huddersfield Town | Free transfer |
| 4 July 2007 | MF | 10 | Kris Taylor | Walsall | Free transfer |
| 19 July 2007 | MF | 11 | Clint Easton | Gillingham | Free transfer |
| 2 August 2007 | FW | 12 | Trevor Benjamin | Peterborough United | Free transfer |
| 2 August 2007 | MF | 7 | Lionel Ainsworth | Derby County | Free transfer |
| 8 August 2007 | FW | 23 | Simon Johnson | Darlington | Free transfer |
| 17 August 2007 | GK | 14 | Michael Ingham | Wrexham | Free transfer |
| 31 August 2007 | MF | 27 | Craig Jones | Academy | Free transfer |
| 31 August 2007 | DF | — | Marvin McCoy | Watford | Free transfer |
| 18 January 2008 | MF | 7 | Jack Macleod | Carshalton Athletic | Free transfer |
| 17 March 2008 | GK | 33 | Ryan Esson | Shrewsbury Town | Free transfer |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | No. | Player | To club | Fee |
| 14 May 2007 | MF | 8 | Andy Ferrell | Kidderminster Harriers | Released |
| 14 May 2007 | FW | 10 | Stuart Fleetwood | Forest Green Rovers | Released |
| 14 May 2007 | DF | 17 | Martyn Giles | Newport County | Released |
| 14 May 2007 | MF | 3 | Danny Thomas | Macclesfield Town | Released |
| 14 May 2007 | GK | 14 | Glyn Thompson | Newport County | Released |
| 29 May 2007 | MF | 23 | Phil Gulliver | Rushden & Diamonds | Undisclosed |
| 6 June 2007 | MF | 5 | Tamika Mkandawire | Leyton Orient | Free transfer |
| 25 June 2007 | MF | 6 | Rob Purdie | Darlington | Free transfer |
| 27 June 2007 | FW | 9 | Tim Sills | Torquay United | Undisclosed |
| 2 July 2007 | FW | 12 | Alan Connell | Brentford | Free transfer |
| 4 July 2007 | DF | 2 | Simon Travis | Nuneaton Borough | Free transfer |
| 5 July 2007 | FW | 16 | Andy Williams | Bristol Rovers | Undisclosed |
| 5 January 2008 | MF | 7 | Lionel Ainsworth | Watford | Undisclosed |

### Loans in

| Start date | End date | Pos. | No. | Player | From club |
| 8 August 2007 | 13 August 2007 | GK | 14 | Chris Weale | Bristol City |
| 10 August 2007 | End of season | MF | 20 | Toumani Diagouraga | Watford |
| 10 August 2007 | End of season | FW | 22 | Theo Robinson | Watford |
| 30 October 2007 | End of season | DF | 16 | Robbie Threlfall | Liverpool |
| 16 November 2007 | End of season | DF | 18 | Lee Collins | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 28 January 2008 | 30 April 2008 | FW | 29 | Gary Hooper | Southend United |
| 8 February 2008 | 10 February 2008 | FW | 24 | Sherjill MacDonald | West Bromwich Albion |
| 21 February 2008 | 24 March 2008 | MF | 26 | Stephen Gleeson | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 27 March 2008 | 27 April 2008 | MF | 25 | Sammy Igoe | Bristol Rovers |

### Loans out

| Start date | End date | Pos. | No. | Player | To club |
| 22 November 2007 | 5 January 2008 | MF | 7 | Lionel Ainsworth | Watford |
| 25 February 2008 | 25 March 2008 | FW | 19 | Marcus Palmer | Gloucester City |
| 27 March 2008 | 27 April 2008 | MF | 17 | Jordan Fitzpatrick | Bromsgrove Rovers |
| 27 March 2008 | 27 April 2008 | MF | 27 | Craig Jones | Bromsgrove Rovers |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| League Two | 11 August 2007 | 3 May 2008 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 72 | 41 | +31 | 056.52 |
| FA Cup | 9 November 2007 | 27 January 2008 | First round | Fourth round | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 050.00 |
| League Cup | 14 August 2007 | 28 August 2007 | First round | Second round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 050.00 |
| Football League Trophy | 9 October 2007 | 9 October 2007 | Second round | Second round | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 55 | 30 | 13 | 12 | 84 | 48 | +36 | 054.55 |
Source: Football Club History Database

### League Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Milton Keynes Dons (C, P) | 46 | 29 | 10 | 7 | 82 | 37 | +45 | 97 | Promotion to 2008–09 League One |
| 2 | Peterborough United (P) | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 84 | 43 | +41 | 92 | Promotion to 2008–09 League One |
| 3 | Hereford United (P) | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 72 | 41 | +31 | 88 | Promotion to 2008–09 League One |
| 4 | Stockport County (O, P) | 46 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 72 | 54 | +18 | 82 | Qualification for League Two playoffs |
| 5 | Rochdale | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 77 | 54 | +23 | 80 | Qualification for League Two playoffs |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | D | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | L | W | W | W |
| Position | 14 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Points | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 25 | 28 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 42 | 45 | 46 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 52 | 55 | 58 | 61 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 67 | 70 | 73 | 74 | 74 | 75 | 78 | 79 | 79 | 82 | 85 | 88 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### FA Cup

The draw for the first round was made on 31 October 2007, with Hereford being drawn at home to League One club Leeds United, playing at that level for the first time in their history. The match was moved to Friday night in order to be broadcast on terrestrial television, with Hereford earning a replay after a 0–0 draw. In the replay, a third minute goal from Lionel Ainsworth was enough to send Hereford through 1–0 and knock Leeds out. In the second round, Hereford were again drawn at home against a League One club, Hartlepool United. No replay was needed this time to defeat their higher graded opponents with Hereford winning 2–0. A third consecutive League One club was drawn in the third round, and a third consecutive scalp obtained by Hereford as they knocked Tranmere Rovers out, beating them 1–0 in a replay after a 2–2 draw at Prenton Park. In the fourth round, Hereford were drawn at home against Championship club, and eventual runners-up, Cardiff City. Hereford's cup run came to an end as they were beaten 2–1.
Win  Draw  Loss

### League Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

### Football League Trophy

Win  Draw  Loss

### Herefordshire Senior Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 5 February 2008 | Quarter Final | Ledbury Town | H | 8 – 0 | Palmer 40', 53', 71', 73', 87', Taylor 42', Burge 56', 60' | 221 |
| 4 March 2008 | Semi Final | Bromyard Town | H | 5 – 0 | Broadhurst 5', Robinson 17', 56', MacLeod 52', Thomas 90' | 109 |
| 1 April 2008 | Final | Westfields | N | 3 – 0 | Guinan 14', 46', Taylor 35' | 281 |

## Squad statistics

    As of match played 3 May 2008

### 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 | Total | League Two | League Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FL Trophy | FL Trophy |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Wayne Brown | 52 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Trent McClenahan | 45 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Richard Rose | 39 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | John McCombe | 32 | 1 | 23+4 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Karl Broadhurst | 26 | 0 | 22+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ben Smith | 53 | 6 | 42+2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Steve Guinan | 32 | 3 | 20+8 | 3 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Kris Taylor | 40 | 1 | 22+9 | 1 | 4+2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Clint Easton | 45 | 4 | 36+3 | 3 | 2+1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | JAM | Trevor Benjamin | 43 | 11 | 15+19 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | GK | NIR | Michael Ingham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Sam Gwynne | 19 | 0 | 9+6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Robbie Threlfall | 12 | 0 | 6+3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Lee Collins | 20 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Marcus Palmer | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | FRA | Toumani Diagouraga | 50 | 2 | 41 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | ENG | Luke Webb | 15 | 3 | 3+11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | JAM | Theo Robinson | 52 | 16 | 32+11 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Simon Johnson | 39 | 6 | 22+11 | 5 | 3+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Dean Beckwith | 46 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | SCO | Ryan Esson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left during the season but made an appearance ||||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | ENG | Lionel Ainsworth | 19 | 8 | 13+2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | GK | ENG | Chris Weale | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | NED | Sherjill MacDonald | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Sammy Igoe | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | IRL | Stephen Gleeson | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Gary Hooper | 19 | 11 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |