Club Historian Ron Parrott was made aware by “Your Herefordshire” of the sad passing of former Hereford United midfielder Joe Laidlaw. Ron would like to share his memories of Joe as follows:-
Joe was first spotted playing junior football with Swalwell in Gateshead and was signed up for an apprenticeship by Middlesbrough. He was offered his first pro contract with Boro in August 1967 and over the next five seasons, he went on to make 109 appearances and score 20 goals. In July 1972, Carlisle United paid £20,000 to bring him to Brunton Park and during his four seasons with the club, Joe achieved cult status with fans. He was the star of the side that won promotion to the top flight for the one and only tome in the club's history, scoring one of the goals against Aston Villa that clinched their place in the old First Division in May 1974.As if that wasn't enough, Joe went on to be Carlisle's top scorer with 12 goals during that one campaign in the top tier of English football.
In the summer of 1976, Joe was released to join Doncaster Rovers and he remained at Belle Vue for three seasons, playing 142 games and scoring 28 goals. With the arrival of new manager Billy Bremner, Joe fell out of favour and in the summer of 1979, he was sold to Portsmouth for £15,000. He quickly became their club captain and once again became a firm favourite with Pompey fans. In his first season with the south-coast club, Joe lead them to promotion, which was clinched on the last day of the season.
He didn't feature much the following season and after 19 goals in 60 appearances, he was released in December 1980 and Hereford United manager Frank Lord, paid £15,000 to bring Joe to Edgar Street. Throughout his career, Joe had a rotund shape that made people think that he was overweight and I must admit that it was my first reaction upon his arrival. A combative midfielder, Joe looked overweight and unfit but he most definitely wasn't! Joe had a bustling style, had a powerful shot on him and was a powerhouse in the middle of the park. Off the field, he was a very likeable man and always had a smile on his face. Joe's goalscoring for United was never prolific but nevertheless, he scored 16 times in 82 outings. Through no fault of his own, Joe became embroiled in a financial row at Edgar Street. With Hereford struggling financially, they failed to make the transfer payment to Portsmouth, resulting in a ban on them signing further players for some time after.
Joe left Edgar Street and signed for Mansfield Town in the summer of 1982 and after just four games, he decided to end his professional career, at the age of 32. He then returned to the south coast to live and had a spell in non-league football with Waterlooville He worked as a roofer whilst turning out for Petersfield and becoming player-manager at Fareham Town. Joe had a further stab at management and took over for a while at Chichester City United before ending his managerial career with Selsey FC between 1987 and 1990. After retirement and in testimony to his fitness, Joe continued to play Sunday League football well into his sixties.
However, the family's connections with football didn't end there. His son Jamie also played football for Swindon Town, Yeovil Town and Farnborough Town .His grandson Harvey, is involved with Pompey's current Academy set-up and his granddaughter Grace, is part of Portsmouth's development squad.