Fans left stunned as Hereford sign up impressive Aston Villa player

Fans have been left stunned after hearing Hereford sign up an impressive Aston Villa player who recently went viral during the FA Cup.

They’ve brought in 21 year old Callum Rowe from Premier League outfit Aston Villa on a season long loan after setting up Louie Barry’s goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup last week.

“We’ve been looking at Callum for a while now and watched the Liverpool Cup game with interest. He had a great performance and showed his quality up against the likes of Mo Salah”, manager Josh Gowling said.

The 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦. 🎯
The 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛. 🥶

Callum Rowe x Louie Barry! 🔥#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/Rr4SL7pn1r

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 9, 2021

“He’s a player who has an eye for a pass, he’s good at one-v-one’s and I am sure he’ll add a great deal of quality to the team.

“We’ve got a good relationship with Villa and we’re pleased that we’ve been able to bring him in.

“We’re going into a period of games that sees us playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, so we’re going to need a full-strength side.”

Rowe, who was born in Leicester, has featured regularly for Villa’s youth teams and made 38 appearances for the club’s under-23s as well as having an extensive experience in the Premier League 2.

He will be a welcome boost to Hereford who currently sit 14th in the National League North after 12 games with 17 points.

✍️ NEW SIGNING | Welcome to Edgar Street Callum Rowe!

Rowe joins on a season-long loan from @AVFCOfficial.https://t.co/WaGWBeMrfh pic.twitter.com/pkINfKRbQL

— HerefordFC (@HerefordFC) January 16, 2021

Fans left stunned as Hereford sign up impressive Aston Villa player took to social media to give their reaction…

@MikeyCorrigan_: If he’s as good as he was against Liverpool should be unreal at that level

@Grinnnnn_: What a loan

@RachelVillavox: They’re here, they’re there, they’re every blimmin where, Villa youth!

@CharllGFX: we signed the guy who assisted Louis Barry vs Liverpool on loan, mad that

@Mike_Crofts: Love it when Villa and Hereford come together!

@RazaJourno: This is a brilliant loan signing but at the same time feel like he needs to be playing at a higher level to develop… #AVFC

@avfc13_alex: Forced Salah into the center because he couldn’t get past him. Class player.

@foxyphill: What a week for the lad played against Liverpool now topped it by signing for the bulls…

@villaparkpod: Another promising young player going on loan which will be a great experience for him. Good luck Callum

@Broski_Andi: That is some signing for a team like Hereford. How did you manage to sign our 2nd best LB on loan? I’d have thought, that Neil Taylor is more your standard?

@mattlittleLUFC: Got an assist v Liverpool

@1scottyt: All the best Callum be nice to get to Edgar street to see you play im only 20 mins away when this Covid does one! Good place to start is Herefordshire isn’t that right @jarrodbowen_

@Son_Lyme: Quality loan signing.

@RyanDW22778989: Make sure you use him otherwise there’s zero point, Did really well and kept Salah quiet.

@ForeverAYellow as Hereford sign up impressive Aston Villa player: Woah what a quality signing that is! Fair play and good luck

@martyalmond: Good luck Callum. Get some experience. Then come back and get in the first team. @HerefordFC you have a great prospect there. UTV

@Carlos_1982: Fingers crossed he does well for you

@JackColRacing: Good luck Callum! You’re going to do great things at Hereford

@Samigul69: Pocketed Salah. You’ve got yourself cracking player

He will be getting experience from ex-Sheffield Wed, Ipswich, Northampton and Mansfield player Giles Coke, who played a few games since joining the club in September but recently had Covid symptoms, coming a day after Hereford played at Kidderminster leading to the Bulls being placed into isolation for around 10 days.

It was confirmed on the 16th of January 2021 that the 34-year-old has come back into training with the rest of the National League North side’s squad ahead of their FA Trophy game with Stamford which is to take place this upcoming Tuesday.

Their upcoming opponents recently signed ex-Man Utd and Leicester goalkeepers. You can read more on that HERE.

“He trained today, he’s fine,” said Hereford manager Josh Gowling.

“Speaking to him about it, he didn’t feel great for two days and after that he felt perfectly fine.

“He’s a fit, healthy and trained really well today and looked good.

“Everyone else is fine. It was really a precaution.

“Giles had symptoms on the Sunday, we didn’t train on the Monday just because the lads had a pretty hectic festive period so we thought a day off would be good.

“So the lads weren’t around Giles anyway. I know it’s a 48-hour period and they were around him on the Saturday.

“He got symptoms on the Sunday so we just thought as a football club to do the right thing, precautionary measures were to self-isolate everyone, let the league know and completely shut everything down.

“It was the right decision as everyone seems to be fine and Giles is back now.

“It’s about making sure all our lads are fine.”

Hereford have managed to use the break in order to get players back fit after what has been an eventful and busy festive schedule.

“Ben (Pollock) is back in training which is good to see,” added Gowling.

“Kennedy (Digie) and Dan (Jones) are not far away and apart from that we have got no other injury concerns.

“We’ve been in lockdown for a period but I’ve got some great staff with me and a great dressing room.

“We’ve adapted and have been doing some online and Zoom sessions.

“Which has seen some of the boys doing some very strange exercises in their front rooms.

“It is what it is, we’ve had to adapt to keep fit and monitor Giles (Coke) to make sure he’s okay.”

It was in 2003 that he began his career as a youth player for QPR, before going on to link up with his older brother Jon at non league outfit Kingstonian a year later.

His first professional contract came at Mansfield Town who snapped him up in 2005, scoring his first goal for them in a 1-0 League Cup Second Round win against Southampton, a memory he still holds close to his heart.

His performances with the Stags impressed many at the time, with Championship quartet Southampton, Reading, Norwich City and Wolves all wanting him.

In April 2006, he rejected a two year contract with Mansfield, but Peter Shirtliff turned his head to get him to sign a one year deal instead.

Unfortunately for him, he was sidelined for the majority of the 2006/07 season due to injury, despite this though, following the games he did play, it was enough to keep getting interest, Wycombe most notably.

He left Mansfield for Northampton in July 2007 on a two year deal, was out for the start of the season so he could have a further operation.

Following yet another injury and surgery, he finally made his debut in a 3-2 defeat against Leeds in January 2008.

He also managed to get goals for the Cobblers against the likes of Leyton Orient, Gillingham, Hartlepool, Cheltenham and Oldham for the 2007/08 season, and against Swindon and Scunthorpe before a calf injury ruled him out for the rest of the season.

In the summer of 2009, he joined Scottish club Motherwell (then managed by Jim Gammon) after being offered a new contract by Northampton.

Within his spell with the SPFL side, he made his European debut against Steaua București, set up an assist in a league opener (a 2-2 draw against St Johnstone), scored one of his two goals for the club in a 6-6 draw against Hibernian, was offered an extended contract, but then Sheffield Wednesday came calling.

He joined the Owls in July 2010, where he spent the most time with any club, a total of 84 appearances along with finding the net six times, won the club’s goal of 2014, and picked up player of the month award in League One before getting released in 2015.

He did go out on loan with Bury during his spell with the Hillsborough outfit, linking up with the Shakers in 2012, scoring 6 times in 30 games for the 2011/12 campaign.

Coke went on to become a fan favourite at Gigg Lane due to the performances in their fight to avoid the drop from League One. However, he was unable to return to Bury for a second time once his loan spell with the club ended.

The rest of his career saw him have spells with Swindon (loan), Bolton (loan), Ipswich, Chesterfield and Oldham, with the latter as recent as 2020.

Can you see Hereford climbing up the table with this guy along with the impressive Aston Villa player they’ve decided to sign up? Let us know your thoughts!