Turner's prize for Hereford promotion

As chairman, director of football, and manager of Hereford United, Graham Turner is wholly responsible for the performance of the club, which is why his admirers – Hereford fans or not – have voted him the Blackthorn Western Daily Press Sports Personality 2008.

Turner endured a nine-year exile from the Football League with the Bulls, but last May he celebrated the club's remarkable return to the renamed third tier of English football (League One), just two seasons after escaping the Conference.

And if football chairmen ever need instruction on whether to stand by their man, they should use him as a case study, or call him, for he is a man on a self-confessed "crusade for stability".

"I sometimes think I am almost flying the flag for continuity in football clubs," said the man whose longevity in management with Hereford is only currently surpassed by Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure at Manchester United.

"It is very easy to sack managers," he added. "There is no doubt that at some time a manager deserves to be replaced, but I do think clubs chop and change managers too readily. I sometimes think we lose very good talent that way. Don't sack the manager too readily."

The former Shrewsbury and Aston Villa boss twice handed in his resignation at Edgar Street – once when Hereford were relegated to the Conference and again five seasons later after having bought the majority share-holding.

The board refused on both occasions, kept faith and now enjoy a community club which is financially stable and fit to fight for survival in League One.

"I'm sure the long-suffering supporters who've spent a lot of time going round the Conference clubs and their grounds are now finding it a lot better going to the likes of Leeds, Leicester and MK Dons," said Turner.

"Thank you very much for the award, it's very much appreciated. It's recognition for the club's and the players' achievements over the past 12 months. We've had a terrific time, not only last season, but the promotion from the Conference. I think it was a tremendous achievement for the club."

After twice experiencing play-off defeats in the Conference, Turner only let this year's celebrations begin once automatic qualification to League One was a mathematical certainty – "at quarter to five at Brentford when we finally achieved it".

He said: "I think you are always concerned. What we didn't particularly want was for it all to go to the end of the season. It was nice to get it over and done with as early as possible.

"Second half of the season we began to think we had a chance. We'd looked at every other side in the league and there was nothing to fear in there. We'd done quite well against most of the sides around us at the top of the table and you start having the vision that maybe this is our season."

And so it was. Away defeats at Lincoln and Peterborough kept fans sweating, but a 2-0 win over Wrexham at Edgar Street and an inspired 3-0 victory at Brentford ensured promotion with a game to spare, a victory at home against Grimsby.

"The open top bus tour and things like that for players and supporters who have not seen those sort of things very often was a terrific occasion," said Turner.

"We need to survive now in first division football. We'd like to make sure we are playing the sort of clubs next season that we're playing this season, so we are prepared to push the boat out a little bit but within the confines of sensible financial restrictions on the club and good football governance. We have to be realistic."

Realism of the brutal kind is what has tied Turner to the club. In what he refers to as "the dark days", and only three seasons into his management tenure, he bought into the club, became chairman, and literally put his money where his mouth was.

It has taken years, but he and the club's board are finally seeing the fruits of their labours. "We said at the time when we bought the shares it would take a little bit of time, that we needed to sort the finances out, get the club on a firm footing," said Turner.

"And we've done that. Financially we're fairly stable. I know there are a lot of clubs who are finding the going difficult in the credit crunch but we're okay.

"I think it probably does help (being chairman, director of football and manager). It's easy to get in trouble. It's easy to pay more money than you can afford. I know exactly what the scene is financially.

"When we had a period where money was that tight we signed cheques, but didn't know where the money was coming from.

"If there was no money left at the end of the month, the people who didn't get paid were the company secretary and myself."

Next on Turner's agenda is the Edgar Street stadium, a rapidly ageing ground in need of an overhaul. With Hereford the town in line for a 100-acre redevelopment, Hereford the football club is working closely with the council with a view to a new stadium.

Until then Turner will continue to work the loan system which helped him achieve promotion last season and on which the club's budget relies.

This season he has brought the likes of UEFA Cup winner and former France international Bruno N'Gotty and England Under-21 goalkeeper Matt Murray to Edgar Street. Both loans have ended in injury but their arrivals give an indication of movement in the right direction, and the right man being at the helm.

"Last season the loan system worked very well for us," said Turner. "We had some outstanding players who contributed a lot. This season that hasn't happened quite so much because players have got injured. Although we're in a little bit of a precarious position at the moment, I still think and I'm very confident we will get ourselves out of trouble.

"It was great to have someone of that standard (N'Gotty) come to the club. He was very quiet but he made defending look easy. He was absolutely immense.

"When you get players of that calibre come to the club the other players sit up and take notice."

And for the future? "For a well-run club that's got a firm base there's no reason not to be optimistic about playing in the Championship. I take encouragement from Colchester, they had a spell in the Championship, Southend had a spell in the Championship. You take that encouragement and set your sights as high as you can.

"I'm not stupid, I'm not naive. That is a tall order to be in contention for promotion. First of all we've got to find our feet in this league and to do that we've got to survive this season."

But will he be the man to take them there? He has had a taste of the top-flight with Aston Villa and has more than served his time in the lower leagues since then, leaving an inevitable desire to raise the bar one more time.

"I don't know," he said. "I've said before I would like to have a go at a higher level. I'm not going to get a big club, I realise that. But maybe something I can take on.

"But at the moment I am totally committed to this club, totally committed to the cause of ensuring that we stay in the first division, ensuring that we progress as a club and ensuring the facilities in the ground are in keeping with modern-day supporter demands and making it far more comfortable for them to come and watch their football."

By his own admission, it could take five, six or seven years before parts of the stadium are improved. And if that means Turner remains in charge in the meantime, the Hereford fans might just be prepared to wait for their heated seats and gourmet pasties.