For the next few days BN will look back 40 years when Hereford United had their most famous FA Cup run which included the 2-1 win over Newcastle United at Edgar Street. For today's article a reminder of the Cup campaign from the 1971/72 season.
Fourth Qualifying Round November 6th - Hereford United 3 Cheltenham Town 0 (6441)
Round One November 20th - Kings Lynn 0 Hereford United 0 (2474)
Round One Replay November 24th - Hereford United 1 Kings Lynn 0 (7758)
Round Two December 11th - Hereford United 0 Northampton Town 0 (9510)
Round Two Replay December 14th - Northampton Town 2 Hereford United 2 (9099)
Round Two 2nd Replay December 20th - Hereford United 2 Northampton Town 1 (Played at the Hawthorns, West Bromwich Albion FC - 8331)
Round Three January 24th - Newcastle United 2 Hereford United 2 (39381)
Round Three Replay February 5th - Hereford United 2 Newcastle United 1 (14313)
Round Four February 9th - Hereford United 0 West Ham United 0 (15000)
Round Four Replay February 14th - West Ham United 3 Hereford United 1 (42271)
As a Southern League team, Hereford were required to enter the FA Cup at the Fourth Qualifying Round stage. In that round they defeated local rivals Cheltenham Town 3–0 with two goals from tony gough and an own-goal.
The first round the Bulls were drawn away against Kings Lynn. The game, played in thick snow, was drawn and a replay at Edgar Street took place which the Bulls 1-0. Tony Gough scored the Hereford goal.
The first game at Edgar Street was a goal-less draw. The replay ended 2-2 with goals from Dudley Tyler and Brian Owen.
There were no penalty shoot-outs in those days so a second replay took place at the Hawthorns. Northampton took the lead early in the game but in injury time full back Ken Mallender leveled from the edge of the penalty box. Extra-time was played and Dudley Tyler put the Bulls ahead. Hereford were in the third round of the FA Cup for the first time in six years, and only the third time in their history.
Hereford United travelled to St James' Park on 24 January 1972 for the scheduled Third Round match, the match having been postponed twice because of heavy rain. 5,000 Hereford supporters made the journey to the North-East with Newcastle clear favourites, fielding six internationals in their side.
With St James' Park open on only three sides, due to the ongoing construction of the East Stand, the match kicked off and Hereford took a shock lead after 17 seconds. They had won a free kick straight from the kickoff, which was quickly lofted into the Newcastle box. Brian Owen ran around the Newcastle defence onto the end of the free kick, and put the ball past Willie McFaul to give Hereford a dream start. Newcastle quickly went 2–1 after 13 minutes of play thanks to goals from Newcastle's £180,000 striker Malcolm Macdonald and John Tudor. But then Hereford player-manager Colin Addison equalised with a 25 yard shot and the match finished 2–2, in front of 39,301 spectators.
And so to February 5th 1972 and the replay at a very muddy Edgar Street. History was made that afternoon when the Bulls won 2-1 with goals from Ronnie Radford and Ricky George. (BN will feature that game later this week)
The Bulls had just a few days to prepare for their next game in the Cup, a fourth round home tie against West Ham United on February 9th.
14,819 watched the game which ended goal-less. In the West Ham side was current Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.
Manager Colin Addison had to make one change from the Newcastle game. Roger Griffiths was replaced by Ricky George and Billy Tucker was the substitute.
'Hereford blew a rich, ripe, agricultural raspberry at West Ham and all the football they represent. Colin Addison's part-timers reduced West Ham to a rabble, scrambling to prevent Hereford's historic FA Cup run escalating into the sensation of our time,' wrote Jeff Powell in the Daily Mail.
Kick-off was scheduled for 2.15pm, Monday February 14th. The nation had been hit by a power strike, so like the old days before floodlights, an FA Cup replay was being played on a weekday afternoon.
The traffic was so bad that we had to abandon the coach somewhere near East Ham station and pile into a police van to ensure we actually got to the game. We realised, as if it wasn't obvious before, that the reason for the roads being jammed in and around Upton Park was that the world and his brother were trying to see this match.
The generous reception were received was a combination of thirty-odd thousand East Enders and nearly 10,000 wonderful Hereford supporters. Special trains were put on and a film crew recorded forever happy fans in black and white singing a song especially written by Russ Lowe, a local disc jockey. The film, Cup Glory, was released later that year to celebrate 100 years of the FA Cup.
After less than ten minutes I had a chance easier than any goal Hereford had so far scored against first division opposition. Dudley Tyler crossed from the right and Tommy Taylor mis-kicked on the slippery pitch.
The ball spun up into the air and dropped on the volley onto my right foot. I was inside the penalty area and stabbed at the ball instead of striking it with confidence. It beat Ferguson but whistled inches past the post.
Just before half-time Geoff Hurst put the Hammers one up.
We gave another good account of ourselves, losing Ken Mallender with an injury in the second half when Hurst scored twice to end our gloroious run.
Fittingly, our great goal-scorer, Billy Meadows, was the player to score the last ever for the Giantkillers.
We were defeated 1-3 but left the field to magnificent and prolonged applause.
Text at top (next game etc)
Next Game: Scarborough In The League At Edgar Street On Tuesday 19th November At 7.45pm