Result: 2-3 Loss (HT 0-2) Naylor 50 (pen), Jones 85; Jones 3 (og), Flanagan 28, Horsfield 56.
Attendance: 7,752
Hereford United: Ba'lac, Mallender, Naylor, McLaughlin, Jones, Tavener, Redrobe, Tyler, Hinch, Radford, Evans (Owen).
Charlton: Dunn, Curtis, Tumbridge, Smart (Hales), Goldthorpe, Reeves, Powell, Flanagan, Horsfield, Dunphy, Peacock.
League Position: 15th (23 games in), Charlton finish the year 8th. Hereford end 1973 with form of DLDLWDLLL.
On the Pitch: Pinched from Ron Parrott's bible (most out of character)...New keeper Pete Ba'lac looks nervous but cannot be blamed for defensive errors which a livid Addison describes as "diabolical". The corner count of 18 to 3 does not prevent United conceding their first ever league double. Despite an own goal, Alan Jones is the man of the match.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Third Division Round Up: Ted takes a look back 5 years to a Herefordshire Senior Cup game against Charlton in '68, which was the last time that the trophy had been relinquished by HUFC. They had their excuses though, John Charles using the game to blood some triallists. One of the rested players was a certain Albert Derrick, one of an exclusive band of players who's name survives the mists of time despite pre-dating the famous Giantkilling era. Born in 1939, described as an inside forward, Albert's passing in 2022 was marked by this tribute from Ron Parrott:
https://bullsnews.blogspot.com/2022/06/a-tribute-to-albert-derrick.html
In the Opposition: My memories of Charlton Athletic as a kid were that they had a massive ground and that as a second tier club in 1982 they made the bonkers signing of 30 year old Danish star Allan Simonsen from Barcelona for £300,000 (beating Real Mardrid and Spurs to his signature). It was bonkers as they couldn't afford his £1,300 a week wages, meaning he was free to leave for nothing after playing just 16 league games (9 goals).
Back in 1973, the Valley was licenced to hold approx 67,000 (which was slashed to 20,000 as football ground safety was tightened up over the next 10 years). So Hereford's away defeat earlier in the season in front of 5,640 must have had a proper desolate Wrexham, Cardiff, Leigh RMI, Darlington 'deserted big ground' feel that we have all tasted at some point?
Delving into their squad, Keith Peacock played over 500 league games for Charlton in midfield before moving into management; he has one of those football surnames that sounds familiar, rightly so in this instance, as his son Gavin also had a decent career in the '90s at Newcastle, Chelsea and QPR. Gavin is worth a Google and published his autobiography Greater Glory: From Pitch to Pulpit in 2021.
Arthur Horsfield was a decent striker, ditto youngster Mike Flanagan, but it is Flanagan's long-term strike partner Derek Hales that steals the show. He became Charlton's highest ever goal scorer, but more importantly put together this half arsed set of answers for a 1979 programme piece (courtesy of Charlie Connelly on X). Excellent work.
Edgar Street Chatter: The page gets given over to the Daily Mail's Ronald Crowther and Hereford United Secretary Reg Tidball, who each explain the negative impact VAT is having on football. Definitely worth a read; the numbers even look big now. In short, you get the distinct impression that the good folk of the UK were getting shafted. Thankfully, shrewd running of the country by competent government after competent government mean that sensation is a dim and distant part of history.
Supporters' Corner: In light of the above, Phil puts out one of his periodic shouts out for one of the big fundraisers: the bingo. A target of 25,000 members is staggering. As previously stated, anything along the lines of raising money back in the early '70s automatically makes anything since seem measly. When you consider that the current three amigos that are 50/50, Golden Goal, 500 Club feel like the most buoyant the off-the-field activity has been in a long time (certainly since the excellent Wyvern Pools), it goes to show how big the club were getting during that golden period.
The fact that most of the 25,000 potential bingo punters are in the fan of the week photo may go some way to explaining it.
I am not 100% on what a Wire Blazer Badge is, but at £2.75 in 1973 it better be good? That would be approx. £40 today.
In the News: 31st December sees the introduction of the three-day week, which restricted the productive hours of companies that weren't deemed as essential (so excluded were the likes of hospitals, data centres, supermarkets, and interestingly newspaper printing presses), to help manage the impact of strikes by coal and railway workers.
In the Singles Charts: Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade remained at No.1
In the Album Charts: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John finished 1973 as the No.1 album.
1973 Stuff: As 1973 draws to a close, here are a couple of highlights. Slade's Christmas smash was the biggest selling single of the year. Surprisingly, Snoopy v The Red Baron by the Hotshots only made it to the 48th best selling spot. Elton John bagged the No.1 selling album, but not with the above, instead with Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player.
The most watched TV programme was Princess Anne's wedding with Captain Mark Phillips.
Inflation was 8.4%, although we were having less kids; apparently less than were needed to maintain the population. Possibly in an attempt to reverse the trend and stoke up a bit of romance, the first Pizza Hut opens. Not the one at the end of Edgar Street though; somewhere in a place called London.
