Hereford FC manager Josh Gowling’s first monthly column for the Guardian (Available on The Guardian now):

When I am interviewing prospective signings for Hereford FC, one of the best questions is the shortest one: “Why?” I want to know why they are sitting in front of me, why their career has taken them down this path and why they think we would be a good match. We speak about their personality, their background and their ambitions. It is all designed to see whether they buy into what we are trying to do, and whether they have the right mentality for our environment.

But that is not where the process ends. We cannot afford to get too many decisions wrong as a sixth-tier club, playing in the National League North, on a tight budget and amid competition that gets tougher by the year. The financial margins are wafer-thin, particularly after the Covid-19 shutdown that denied us precious gate receipts and commercial revenue. We were hit harder than most and sustainability comes before anything. Every penny counts towards staying alive but, at the same time, this club has a historic name and a sizeable fanbase so our aims need to be bigger.

That is why I have spent the summer enhancing our recruitment process with a strategy based on data and analytics, which has become commonplace higher up the leagues but I believe is groundbreaking in our division. I have hired a team of a dozen undergraduates from one of the UK’s leading football analysis courses to work alongside me, my assistant and our analyst in profiling the players we need. We look for key markers in players to see whether they fit our approach: high pressing, quick transitions and intensity. Collating this information means I am armed with all the detail I need when I meet them.

I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character but you can’t guarantee, from an interview, whether somebody will perform. Consistency is a particular issue in the National League and the mental side of the game is a big reason why a lot of players are at this level. We are fortunate to welcome crowds of about 3,000 to Hereford, so I need players who are comfortable playing under that pressure. The idea is that, by adding analytics to old-fashioned intuition, I have a far better chance of getting these decisions right.

We will also use the system to analyse our opponents. Last season we played Aldershot in the FA Trophy and knew that a team that scores first against them has an 80% chance of winning. That informed my gameplan: we had to have a go at them. We scored after six minutes; we were pegged back at the end and eventually won on penalties, but it gave us a platform to succeed against a team in the division above us.

During my playing career at clubs such as Bournemouth and Kidderminster, we never had access to this kind of detail. Sean O’Driscoll, my manager at Bournemouth, did a lot of his own video analysis and in many ways was ahead of his time. We want to implement something that helps our players and management to a unique degree; a system that we can adapt, improve and, as we hopefully move up the levels, shape to become different from anyone else’s. Models like this have worked spectacularly at places such as Brentford and Brighton; Notts County are on that path too, although at an earlier stage. When I eventually have to move on from Hereford, this is the legacy and structure I want to leave.

With or without data, pre-season has been a challenge. We have kept about half of our 22-strong squad – when I arrived last year we retained only three or four – but the level of flux still poses problems. Bringing in quality players who fit the budget and are happy to be part‑time is a juggling act. Getting deals over the line means constant phone calls and, in practice, little sleep. I have two young children and live in Grimsby, so it is perfectly normal for me to rack up 1,000 miles a week. We train in the Midlands, at Aston University, as it gives us access to a wider talent pool and most of our players are based in the area, but it is a four-hour drive from my home to Hereford.

Last season the theme we presented to the squad was: “This year only.” The circumstances everyone faced were extraordinary and I just asked them to squeeze everything they could out of it. We reached the FA Trophy final and had a day at Wembley, even if we were deeply frustrated to lose against Hornchurch. But we were pushing for the play-offs when the league was declared null and void in February, so this time it is about “Elevation”. We want to take last season’s work to another level, starting when we host Farsley Celtic on Saturday.

Hereford is a massive club and its natural resting place should be in the Football League, but we have big outgoings and that means we have to be smarter in everything we do. It can be hard to think long term at National League level because so many factors can lie beyond your control, but the clubs that put in the right infrastructure and commit to their targets, such as Stockport and Chesterfield in the division above us, will be rewarded. Recruitment is a fundamental part of that and it is my job, through the new approach, to ensure we can steal a march on the rest.

Josh Gowling will be writing for the Guardian through the 2021-22 season.

Be. is delighted to announce our first official football client is Hereford FC’s and Afghanistan international Maziar Kouhyar. We had been working unofficially with Maz to help him find a new club during the Covid-19 pandemic, and he has now officially signed as part of Be.

Maz (pictured here with Be. founder Razi Hassan) is an attacking midfielder for National League North side Hereford FC. Having spent a year out of the sport, the former Walsall youth player impressed Hereford coach Josh Gowling during a short spell at the club at the back end of last season which included making his Wembley debut. Be. is delighted to have helped Maz, as one of only a handful of British Asians playing professionally, make his return to the game and are excited to watch his first steps back into the Football League.

Be. client Maziar Kouhyar has signed a one-year contract with Hereford FC – cementing his return to football and significantly boosting the number of British Asians playing professional football.

Having come through the youth ranks at EFL club Walsall, Maziar was released in April 2020 following a couple of knee injuries at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

After struggling to find a club, he took jobs at KFC and then as a car salesman, fearing his dream of playing pro football was over.

However, last autumn he began working with athlete life management company Be. who secured him a trial with Hereford.

There he impressed manager Josh Gowling, and in just his second appearance Maziar made his Wembley debut in May’s FA Trophy Final, before he was recalled to the Afghanistan squad for their June World Cup Qualifiers.

Hereford head coach has claimed “Maz is a fantastic character with bags of talent, when you first meet him you find it hard not to like him straight away. His talent on the football pitch speaks for itself and understanding his previous experiences in the game I felt it was my responsibility to give him a second chance. The Asian community is drastically unrepresented in football and my hopes is that maz is one of the players that young Asian men and women aspire to be like.”

Following a strong 2021/22 pre-season campaign, Maziar has signed with both Hereford and Be., which aims to improve the under-representation of British Asian footballers.

As one of a handful of British Asians playing professionally, Maz’s return to the game has boosted that number by around 10%, and he has set his sights on a return to the Football League.

After signing his 1-year deal Kouhyar went on to say “I’m happy to sign for such a big club and I am raring to go and make up for lost time, I have great ambitions for this club and a big thanks to BE for making it all possible”

BRAVE Kay Prosper slipped to a points defeat over the weekend in his EBU European Super-Lightweight title fight against Sandor Martin.

The English champion, who was stepping up in class and fighting abroad for the first time, was expected to be out of his depth.

But 36-year-old showed that was not the case as he settled in to a relatively even and cagey first couple rounds, albeit landing scoring shots rather than hurting his Spanish opponent in his hometown of Barcelona.

Prosper – who came into the fight with a 14-1-1 record – tried to match the tricky southpaw’s stance, but it quickly became apparent that this was not working against a man known for his technical ability.

Martin, 27, quickly moved ahead on the scorecards and never let that lead slip as he’s successfully done in so many of his previous fights.

With Prosper knowing he had to be more aggressive, he switched back to his orthodox stance and had some joy up close.

But his hopes of getting back into the bout were not helped by some questionable officiating by the hometown referee, who drew criticism from the commentators for deducting two points from the Luton man.

A comfortable victory for Sandor Martin – who moved 38-2-0 – sees him remain in the mix at world level, while Prosper’s performance and experience leaves him well positioned to challenge for the British title.

BE has been working with Hereford manager Josh Gowling ahead of his side’s big FA Trophy semi-final game against Woking tomorrow, and here the psychology graduate tells The Guardian all about how he’s been using computer games such as Call Of Duty to bond with his players during lockdown, plus his fascination with the analytical side of the game which he initially developed partly through a love of Football Manager, and how he’s using analytics to build a sustainable future for Hereford FC. Good luck tomorrow Josh – let’s get to Wembley!

The article can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/26/hereford-josh-gowling-fa-trophy-semi-final-woking

Today it was announced that Beyond Entertainment’s Faisal Malik has signed a contract with Cage Warriors. The 5-0 Mixed Martial Artist has made the biggest step in his career to date signing for a promotion that has seen global MMA stars such as Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Michael Bisping and even Conor McGregor. This is a massive step up in quality in Malik’s quest to find himself at the pinnacle of the sport as a UFC Champion.

Beyond Entertainment’s Kay Prospere will fight for the European
super-lightweight title live on DAZN on April 23rd.

The English champion, nicknamed Special K, will headline the Matchroom
Boxing event as he challenges Spaniard Sandor Martin in the champion’s
home country.

Martin, 28, is ranked 7 by both the WBC and WBO. He won the vacant EBU belt in convincing fashion against Andrea Scarpa in July 2019, and has a 37-2 record.

Prospere, 36, has been English champion since beating Sam O’maison in September 2019 following a controversial draw in their first bout six
months earlier. He then successfully defended it with a unanimous points decision against Bilal Rehman last March and is 14-1.

Prospere has given Martin his credit and said “he’s good, but he’s beatable” as his sets his aspirations to win the EBU title and move towards a world title opportunity.

The fight is an opportunity for both men to prove their credentials to
step up in class, and the winner will move a step closer to a world
title shot.

Kay Prospere against Sandor Martin is live on DAZN from the Badalona’s
Palau Olímpic arena on April 23rd.

Saturday night saw Faisal Malik secure his fifth professional victory in as many fights with a 1st round stoppage victory over Andrei Bogus at UFL 4. Coming into the fight Faisal was yet to go longer than 1 minute and 4 seconds in the cage and his fifth bout was not dissimilar.

Within seconds of the start Malik countered a side kick with a near perfect entry on a single leg takedown, and instantly began to swarm Bogus with some lethal ground and pound. After some sustained punishment and some unanswered blows the bout was stopped in the very first round.

This victory moves Malik to 5-0 beckoning the question of if anybody in the national bracket can come close to him or if he is already ready for a step up in quality on his rise to the top.

Linus Udofia defended his English middleweight title for the first time with a stoppage victory over John Harding jr in the 9th round. Both men were given an opportunity to showcase their talent on a wider platform on Saturday night on sky sports, and the early exchanges gave the impression we were in for a thrilling contest.

The early rounds saw Udofia as the busier man, however it seemed Harding jr was finding his range slightly better and the first round seemed an intriguing match up, Udofia ended the first with a flurry which saw Harding on the receiving end of some solid shots.

As the battle continued both men had their moments and Harding was making it very awkward for Udofia to show off some of his superior boxing finesse. Despite this awkward approach Udofia continued to land combinations and show moments of class. As it got into the later stages of the fight Udofia found his range better and improved some shot selection as he slowly but surely took control of the fight.

The fight progressed and it became visible that Harding was suffering from fatigue, and it just felt like his shot at the national title was slipping out of reach yet again. Udofia still growing into the fight and picking up momentum both on the scorecards and in the fight landed a solid right hand to drop Harding jr to the canvas.

Harding rose to his feet but the contest was waved off, seeing Udofia secure his 16th professional victory and complete his maiden defence of the English title in style.