HEREFORD chairman Chris Ammonds says that the club having a lease of until at least 2070 at Edgar Street will give them the security when looking for funding for ground improvements.

Ground owners Herefordshire Council have granted the long-term lease and are working with the club to replace the derelict Blackfriars End to make it a four sided ground once again.

“It’s been a really big thing for the club to get some more security on Edgar Street,” said Ammonds.

“It gives us options in looking at future funding streams. More than anything this is our home now for as long as we can possibly want it, hopefully beyond 2070.

“It’s not now a timeline that you have to give any thought to because it’s so far in the future. I’m really pleased, the council have been fantastic to work with in the past few months.

“You need security of tenure, if people are going to invest money in your football club externally to help you with improvements then they want to know that it’s value.

“There’s no point spending x amount of thousands of pounds on something that might not be here In five years’ time. To have that we’ve now got 45-and-a-half years sat here is fantastic.

“It gives us all that security and comfort that we’re here for the long run, not that we weren’t anyway, but it gives you it in black and white now.”

The lease comes at the end of the first season of a new era at Edgar Street after Ammonds came in as chairman last year and the club appointed manager Paul Caddis.

Caddis appointed a whole new squad this season with his side eventually finishing in 11th position and six points outside the play-offs.

“It’s exceeded the expectations that we had any right to have,” added Ammonds.

“To say that we were a complete rebuild in an understatement in some ways, but it’s the truth. With a rookie manager, which he openly admits to, to have been in contention for a play-off place right until the last couple of weeks of the season has been absolutely brilliant.

“I said when I came in that I just wanted to put smiles on the faces of people back at the club if we could. I think we’re smiling again which is brilliant.

“I’m so proud of the squad of players that we’ve bought in and they’ve bought into what this club is about. I’m proud of the management team and I just feel really proud of everything about the club right now. That’s a great position to be in.”