Russon says the deal puts Hereford United's future in their own hands

Hereford United say they have bought back the leases to the club's Edgar Street ground and cleared their debt.

Vice-chairman Tim Russon told BBC Hereford and Worcester the deal was a landmark in the club's recent history.

"To get a really clear future for the club we had to get the leases back so we can now do what we want with the Blackfriars End," he said.

"The old plan was subject to previous deals with landlords but this is an opportunity to do something different."

He added: "After many years the club has now come out of debt and we have agreed to buy back the leases from Carillion Richardsons, who have been holding them for some years now.

"It means the club now has a clear run to the future. The leases are now back in our name and the long-term debt of just over a million pounds has been cleared and settled.

"As the chairman David Keyte has said, it is a landmark for Hereford United."

During the 1990s, the then board secured the future of United by taking out two large loans totalling over a million pounds against the leases for the club.

We have our future in our hands and we can go out and do something special for this ground and in years to come that will benefit what is on the pitch Hereford vice-chairman Tim Russon

The leases then went through the hands of two development companies but those companies have since disappeared and the leases and the loan ended up in the hands of Richardsons Capital, who are joint-venture partners with Carillion.

Russon appreciates that many fans looking at the League Two table might feel this is not the main priority but insists that if United are to flourish in the longer term then this was a vital step.

"We have already had initial talks with the local council and the next step is for us to negotiate new long-term leases," he said.

"We are looking at 100 years-plus because we need both the security for the football club to play here and then the next step after that is to start looking at ways to redevelop the Blackfriars End.

"We need that long-term lease in order to attract commercial partners who will need that future to be able to invest in the club," he added.

"We care desperately about the plight we are in at the moment and will be doing everything we can to make sure we lift ourselves up the table.

"But we have our future in our hands and we can go out and do something special for this ground and in years to come that will benefit what is on the pitch."

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