Hereford endured a season of extreme tribulations but eventually enjoyed a happy ending as they just about avoided a second relegation in three seasons. The Bulls looked to be in decent shape after a solid first season in the Conference under the shrews guidance of Martin Foyle. But there was trouble ahead given that the good players from last season were not properly replaced after moving for pastures new. Michael Rankine was the man expected to bring the goals while there was lack of cover and options in midfield from the start. It was a pretty mediocre but still acceptable start of the season as the team secured a few decent results here and there but also seemed to be lacking edge and urgency in attack. Injuries started to bite soon too and the starting 11 seemed to be too unsettled and unbalanced. Cloud started to really gather after a hefty 4:1 loss at Salisbury at the end of October and the team dropped just above the bottom four after winning only one game in 13 during the autumn. However, Foyle managed to rally the troops a bit and coaxed a good run of results from them towards the end of 2013. They defeated strong sides like Cambridge, Forest Green and Halifax and carried the momentum into the early weeks of 2014. They actually went on a great run of two league losses in 12 games leading to late January and seemed certain to enjoy a safe remainder of the season in mid-table. But there was also thin ice below them and the dire financial situation of the club started to cause real problems. Foyle had used the loan market well up to then but a transfer embargo imposed at the end of January, coupled with the loss of an influential player like Josh O’Keefe, massively impacted the strength of the squad. The defeat suddenly started to pile and Foyle began giving all the wrong signals about the morale in the team. The Bulls still seemed to have a decent cushion going into the business end of the season but things just fell off the cliff as the confidence sunk and the players voiced their concern at not being paid for a number of months. Foyle was eventually let go at the end of March after a run of four points in ten games and academy coach, Peter Beadle, was put in charge. He initially failed to stop the rot and the improved form of the teams below really heaped the pressure on the troubled club. But a massive couple of wins over Welling and Alfreton kept them within a fighting chance of staying up before the last day of the season. They still looked odd-on to go down but Salisbury did them a favour by drawing Chester. That meant that a win at Aldershot was going to keep Hereford up. They secured it in the most dramatic way imaginable, with a winner coming just two minutes before the end, and that was enough to keep them up. It was exhausting and traumatising but the players showed the guts and belief to keep on fighting and were rewarded at the end.
