FANS favourite Paul Parry hopes Hereford FC can rise through the leagues and get back to where it belongs.

Parry is regarded by many Bulls fans as one of United's greatest ever players after a successful six years at Edgar Street.

The Wales star left Hereford in 2004 to join Cardiff City before earning 12 caps for the Welsh national side.

Parry was in Hereford last Sunday to play in a charity football match organised by Steve Guinan, whom Parry played with.

"It's tough to see what has happened to them, but hopefully they can get their feet back on the ground and start to rise again," said Parry.

"You can't dwell on what has gone on in the past and it's now onwards and upwards.

"It has been a bad time for the football club.

"I don't really know the ins and outs of what went on to bring them to their demise, but it's very sad.

"Hopefully, with it in its the right hands, it can get back to where it belongs."

Parry, who still has family living in Hereford, said he loved his time at Edgar Street.

"I really enjoyed my time here," he said.

"As a youngster, when I moved at 23, it was tough, but it was time for me to move on and I wanted to try and better my career and test myself a little bit.

"But I really enjoyed it and had a great rapport with the fans."

Parry was one of a number of ex-Hereford players who starred in the match at Westfields' allpay.park ground.

Their team was managed by Graham Turner, whom many of the players played under.

"He retired about a year or so ago, so it's been a while since I have seen him," said Parry.

"I've got family still here, so I get back to Hereford quite a bit, but I haven't seen some of the players for a few years now.

"I'm living down in Cardiff at the moment after finishing football last year.

"It was the first time I had put on some football boots for eight or nine months."

A total of 715 people watched Turner's team face a Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST) side managed by Pete Beadle.

The HUST team, which featured Westfields manager Sean Edwards and player Scott Jackson, raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 26 minutes.

Tom Gameson grabbed the first goal after six minutes before Jack Tomlinson doubled the lead with a fantastic strike.

But the legends' team reduced the deficit within five minutes after Rob Purdie stroked the ball home before Kris expertly finished to level the tie after 39 minutes.

The second half was a quieter affair, with a number of substitutions made.

Peter Heritage, who has played in a number of the fans' games, had his side's best chance of the half nine minutes from time, but saw his strike draw a great save from Luke Brimfield.

Ryan Green, who famously scored the winning goal for Hereford against Halifax that earned the Bulls promotion to the Football League in 2006, was due to play in the game, but had to watch from the stands due to sustaining a groin injury.

He said the large crowd shows the support there is in Hereford.

"I was gutted with what happened to the club, but am really happy that the supporters are starting up their own club," said Green, who now plays for Merthyr Town.

"It's similar to what Merthyr has done because they went bust and ended up being taken over by the fans and I think Hereford will be doing the same thing."