 | |
| Full name | Hereford Lads Club Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Blues |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Ground | County Ground,Hereford |
Hereford Lads Club Football Club is afootball club based inHereford,Herefordshire,England.
The club was established in 1925 as a sports club for under-privileged boys, initially focused on boxing and gymnastics. Cricket and football teams were added at a later date.[1] An adult team was later formed and became members of theHerefordshire League. They won the Division One title in 2002–03, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[2] In 2010–11 the club were Premier Division runners-up,[2] and were promoted to Division Two of theWest Midlands (Regional) League.[3] They were Division Two runners-up in theirfirst season in the league, and after finishing third in2012–13, the club were promoted to Division One.[3]
Hereford Lads Club were Division One runners-up in2015–16, but were denied promotion as they were unable to meet the ground grading criteria.[4] Thefollowing season the club reached the final of the Herefordshire County Challenge Cup, in which they lost 3–0 toHereford. The club were also Division One champions,[3] and were promoted to the Premier Division. They were finalists in the Herefordshire County Challenge Cup again in 2017–18, losing 6–0 to Hereford. At the end of the2018–19 season the club were transferred to Division One West of theHellenic League. In 2021 they were promoted to the Premier Division based on their results in the abandoned2019–20 and2020–21 seasons.
The club withdrew from the Hellenic League at the end of the2023–24 season due to financial issues.[5]
After the original Lads Club building was destroyed by a fire in January 1940, a new club was built next to Widemarsh Common, where the football club's County Ground was developed.[1] From July 2012 the club were forced to play home matches at Hereford Leisure Centre after the West Midlands (Regional) League ruled that the pitch at the county ground was too short.[6] However, they returned to the County Ground in January 2013.[7] A temporary stand was installed in 2016,[8] with a permanent new stand and floodlights erected in 2017; the stand opened byKevin Sheedy in July prior to a friendly match againstHereford.[9]
52°03′50″N2°43′13″W / 52.063904°N 2.7203701°W /52.063904; -2.7203701