HEREFORD FC claim that full-back Levi Andoh was the subject of an ‘illegal approach’ from a club high up the football pyramid.

The pacey wing back Andoh was previously at Edgar Street on loan from Ipswich last season. After being released in the summer Andoh initially joined Buxton before then signing for Hereford in January.

Andoh released a statement stating that he was ‘in the shop window’ when signing for Hereford and would be allowed to leave if approached by a full-time club high up the football pyramid.

Hereford have released their own statement stating that Andoh was the subject of an ‘illegal approach’.

The club said: “Hereford FC is disappointed to confirm that Levi Andoh has decided to leave Hereford FC with immediate effect and while we would not normally comment publicly on the circumstances, we would like to provide our supporters with some background.

“At 8pm on Wednesday evening we became aware that an illegal approach had been made to Levi by another club. Our understanding was that despite being a registered non-contracted player of Hereford FC, Levi had agreed a contract with this club. Under FA rule C90, any club interested in signing a non-contract player should first approach his current club to put in a seven-day notice of approach. This had not happened.

“On Thursday morning, Levi failed to attend training, without authorisation from Hereford FC, and instead trained at the club that had approached him.

“Although we were very disappointed with how this situation came to light, we have no desire to stand in the way of players who have an opportunity at a higher level and therefore attempts were made to resolve this situation yesterday.

“This included offering Levi the option of returning to the Bulls squad so he could continue to play for the rest of this season.”