Result: 0-0
Attendance: 12,501 (not bad for a midweeker!)
Hereford United: Hughes, Mallender, Naylor, McLaughlin, Jones, Tavener, Evans, Owen, Lee, Gregory, Rudge (Jenkins).
Opposition: Eadie, Jacobs, Parsons, Green, Taylor, Prince, Stephens (Fearnley), Stanton, Warboys, Bannister, Dobson.
League Position: 10th (13 games in), the away point ensures Bristol Rovers finish the evening top of the league.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Colin's Comments: His comments give the usual decent insight - however, this match it was his actions that stood out, making 5 changes from the previous away defeat to lowly Southend.
Third Division Round Up: One player that catches the eye in the round up is a 19 year Paul Mariner, who it is predicted to be one of the hottest properties in the Third Division, he has already scored 8 goals, putting him right in amongst the division's top scorers.
Promising young manager John Bond at Bournemouth is also discussed, a piece that illustrates how fast a river HUFC are swimming in. Bournemouth had recently sold goal machine Ted MacDougal to Manchester United for the eye-watering sum of £200k, and had in their ranks highly-rated defender Mel Machin who the manager valued at £70k. If you chuck the likes of Mariner in the mix, it gives a feel for the level of football Hereford were at.
In the Opposition: Trevor Jacobs is worth a mention, having made the move from across town from Bristol City. Bristol-born Lindsey Parsons was Rovers all the way though, playing 400 games for them, ditto fellow defender Stewart Taylor who played 546 league games for the Gas (a record), including an impressive 207 on the spin. Welsh-born Frankie Prince was another 400 game merchant. They also had Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys up top who developed something known as the "smash and grab" method of football - sounds brutal. Winger Ken Stephens would go onto play 60 league games for Hereford in his early thirties between 77-80. John Rudge would go on to be a successful manager at Port Vale, managing a remarkable 16 years in the hotseat.
What stands out about the Rovers squad is that even allowing for the old school loyal footballer that ended up entitled to a testimonial (Google it kids), this lot stuck around. Seemingly getting in several million appearances for Rovers between them.
Fan of the Week: They look a robust bunch this week.
Edgar Street Chatter: A trip to Cambridge in 2024 is a bit of a journey, the 1974 equivalent would have been a bit lumpy to say the least; not that it would have been an issue for four lucky VP Club members, courtesy of their Chairman laying on his executive plane to thank Hereford for the hospitality he received at the last home game.
There is a "matchball" off between the respective Aldershot/Hereford branches of Freezerfare. I remember the Hereford branch of Freezerfare off Three Elms Road, I think solely on the strength of it selling Piglet crisps, a crisp that made Disco's seem like health food.
There is also news of a testimonial for 350+ game White Alan Jones, a Terry Paine containing Southampton team are due at Edgar Street on 3/12/73. Interestingly it is a game that doesn't appear in "the book", so I am not sure if it went ahead?
Supporters' Corner: To give you a feel for this league, Phil Godsall flags that the club has had to dish out £38k in transfer fees during a rallying cry (£20k of which had just secured the services of Jim Hinch from Plymouth). If Bournemouth manager John Bond's valuations are to be trusted that would buy you half of his right back. News also that the construction of the Block D section of the main stand is finally underway. He closes his page by giving a well deserved big up the St.John Ambulance Brigade.
Going by Car: With the completion of the M42 still over 10 years away, the favoured way of getting top the North East (in this case York City) appeared to be via the A49 before cutting across on the M62.
In the News: October 20th - The Dalai Lama visits the UK for the first time.
In the Charts: Eye Level by the Simon Park Orchestra remains at No.1.
On TV: 17th October - ITV show a live home England international for the first time from Wembley, the famous match where Poland went away with a 1-1 draw securing their place at the 1974 World Cup finals (in Germany) at the expense of England. The game is best remembered for the outspoken pundit Brian Clough calling their hero of the night goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski a clown before the match.
In the Maternity Ward: TV/Radio Presenter Bev Turner was born on October 21st 1973.
