Hereford United FC - The English Torino : An Appeal

The origins of a how a football team got their nickname can be a strange story. However, often it can be a simple tale, and is perhaps associated with the colour of the kit, or sometimes it is associated with a symbol of the city or town.

For Torino, their two most common nicknames, the Granata and il Toro fulfil both of the above criteria. Granata is the Italian word for Maroon, the famous shirt colour that the team wears, whilst il Toro, the Bull is a nickname garnered from the symbol of the city of Turin.

In England, nicknames follow the same type of pattern, and what I am writing about in this article is the only professional football team in England to share a nickname with Torino - Hereford United FC, who are also known as the Bulls.

Like Torino, an image of a Bull is present on the Hereford United badge - and whilst I am not certain, I believe their nickname derives from their history as being an agricultural town.

Hereford are a famous name of the English game, and arguably caused the biggest upset in the history of the FA Cup when (as a Non-League team) they beat top flight Newcastle United 2-1 in February 1972 thanks to goals from Ronnie Radford and Ricky George.

Another famous name in Hereford United's history is John Charles, who played for and managed the club towards the end of the 1960s. Despite being a former Juventus player, Charles became something of a hero for Torino fans during his time at their rivals because of his sportsmanship, and he famously decided not to score a goal in a derby because a Torino player was injured on the floor,. Instead, he kicked the ball out of play so that the player in question could receive treatment.

As recently as 2009 Hereford were playing their football in the third tier of English football, however they have struggled recently and are currently plying their trade in the Conference - the fifth division of English football.

The reason I am writing this article is because unfortunately Hereford are having a number of financial difficulties at the moment (something Torino also know something about) and still need to raise a significant amount of money to avoid going out of business.

Because of the connections between Torino and Hereford that have already been mentioned, I have taken an interest in their quest to raise funds, and wondered whether it would be possible for Torino fans (or any football fans for that matter) to help the club stay in business.

Social media and the internet is an extremely powerful tool, and a similar campaign was launched to save Spanish side Real Oviedo from going bust, so wouldn't it be fantastic if the same could happen for Hereford?

I know it is unlikely that we will be able to raise the thousands of pounds that the club needs, but it would be an excellent gesture to at least try and help a club who are going through a difficult time. And who knows, if everything goes well, we could even look at creating an official friendship between the fans of Torino and Hereford.

If anyone who has read this article and feels that they would like to donate, then you can make a donation to the club here or alternatively, you can purchase shares for the club on this link - something that I have already done myself.
 
Forza Hereford!

If you would like to keep track of how the campaign to save Hereford United progresses then I can recommend the excellent local newspaper the Hereford Times.