Hereford FC are delighted to announce that Aaron Downes has been appointed the club’s first team manager on a contract that initially runs until the end of the 2026 National League North season.
During a 15-year playing career, Downes made more than 350 senior appearances for Chesterfield, Bristol Rovers, Torquay United and Cheltenham Town, before moving into coaching and becoming Gary Johnson’s Assistant Manager at Torquay in 2018.
He was then appointed Interim Manager at Plainmoor in February 2024, overcoming administration, an 11-point deduction and a transfer embargo to guide the Gulls away from the National League South relegation zone.
More recently, Downes was Mike Flynn’s assistant at Cheltenham Town from June 2024 until September 2025, before leaving the club when Steve Cotterill was appointed the Robins’ new manager.
Downes will be bringing in former Hereford United midfielder, Harry Pell, as part of his staff, and he is hoping to retain Adam Rooney and Shaun Edwards on his coaching team as Player Coach and Goalkeeping Coach respectively.
Speaking about this appointment, Bulls Chairman, Chris Ammonds, said:
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Aaron for him to become our new manager.
“He brings considerable experience as an assistant manager to the MandM Edgar Street Stadium and, importantly, has previously shown his ability to galvanise a squad of players in challenging circumstances as Interim Manager when he was appointed manager at Torquay for the final 13 games of the 2024 season.
“Aaron was a stand-out candidate among the applicants and we were very impressed by his positivity, his personality, his belief in his own methods and how badly he wanted this job. He is also highly thought of by people he has worked alongside since moving into coaching.
“Before we spoke to him, Aaron put forward a detailed plan to navigate us through the rest of the season, and he has clearly already spent a lot of time watching our matches and assessing the options available to him.
“We will be offering Aaron support to freshen up the Bulls squad in the coming days and weeks and we are very much looking forward to working with him for the rest of this campaign, and hopefully beyond.”
Commenting on his appointment, Downes said:
“I am absolutely honoured to be given this opportunity and cannot wait to get started.
“After several years as an assistant manager, I have been waiting for the right opportunity to become a number one and as soon as the role at Hereford FC became available, I expressed a strong interest.
“While the league table shows that the season has not gone as everyone at the MandM Edgar Street Stadium hoped it would, I am confident that there is more than enough time to turn things round and that with tweaks to our set-up and a few new additions, we will be able to climb the table towards safety.
“Having played against Hereford on a number of occasions I know how passionate the supporters here are and have no doubt that, if we all pull together, we will be able to secure the points required from the final 21 games to ensure this great club remains in the National League North going into the 2026/27 season.”