HEREFORD fans have a chance to pay tribute to a popular clubman and see Premier League opposition at Edgar Street next Monday.

Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle has promised to bring his full first-team to Hereford for his United counterpart Jamie Pitman’s benefit match, which kicks off at 7.30pm.

The Bulls chief first arrived at Edgar Street more than 15 years ago and is now in his third spell with the club which he has served as a player, physio and now manager.

On the pitch, he played in four play-off seasons while, last term, after taking over as manager, he revived the club’s fortunes as they avoided relegation from what had appeared a hopeless position .

A club benefit match is a rarity – the last was awarded to Chris Price more than 10 years ago.

“The club has been, and continues to be, a massive part of my life and my family's lives, too,”

said Pitman. “The supporters have always shown me great respect during my time here and I would like to thank all of them for their continued support.

“Now I’m delighted that we have a Premier League club coming to Edgar Street and bringing a fullstrength side.

“It’s many years ago - probably not since the FA Cup tie with Leicester City – when a Premier League club last brought their full side to play at Hereford.

“Bolton have some quality players – they have just signed Chris Eagles from Burnley and Kevin Davies and Gary Cahill are England internationals.”

Ahead of the benefit match, some of Pitman’s old colleagues have been paying their own tributes.

“Jamie always had a special affiliation with the club,” said former United supremo Graham Turner.

“As a player, he was combative, competitive, tenacious in the tackle and very brave.

“And he had the ability, there was no doubt about that or he would not have reached the level he did.”

Ex-Bull Steve Guinan also backed his former team-mate to match the success he achieved on the field as he leads the Bulls into a new season.

“Jamie is very methodical and organised which is a big help,”

said Guinan. “He deals with people very well – you can be the best coach in the world but if you can’t deal with people then you will never succeed asamanager.”

And Ben Smith, Pitman’s midfield partner both at Yeovil and Hereford, also backed his friend to do well.

“He definitely has what it takes to be a success,” said the Crawley Town star.

“He is strong willed, well adjusted and intelligent. He realises that a manager will not be good at everything and has brought in good people to work alongside him – such as Russell Hoult who seems to complement him well.

“Former physios such as Neil Adkins, at Scunthorpe and now Southampton, and Les Parry, at Tranmere, have done well as managers and, while there are bigger clubs than Hereford in the division, small clubs like Stevenage, Torquay and Accrington showed last season what can be done.”

Hereford will need to bounce back from a disappointing performance and result at Telford United on Tuesday when they visit another Blue Square Bet Premier club, Forest Green Rovers, on Saturday.

“Stefan Stam will be back in training tomorrow (Thursday) and we hope he will play some part on Saturday and on Monday.

“But Nicky Featherstone is having a bone scan to see what the problem is with his foot and then we can see what treatment he needs. And Sean Canham has an ankle injury.”

Following the signing of 23-yearold French striker Yoann Arquin, decisions will also need to be made on triallists Danny Williams and Albert Jarrett who are likely to feature in the weekend’s games.