I am giving you a breather from the old programmes - you deserve it. Instead we have these early 1970s treasures - gifted by eggchaserbull off a Hereford FC forum, he is an accomplished practitioner in recalling HUFC memories. Thanks must also go to the Southern League for their kind permission to put these up.
Hereford United: If you just want to skim this
for HUFC content, then we get a football league application mention on the
main front page article; this gets further coverage in the
"Clearer Thinking Needed" article on Page 3, which also pays
tribute to Leonard Weston, who had recently passed away.
There is a further article on Page 3 which
focuses on both HUFC and their perhaps most famous ever manager John Charles.
Hereford had averaged an impressive 5,224 during the 70-71 season, clearing
£7,000 in profit (north of £100k in today's money).
Comment also reveals that an extension of the football
league was also being considered, essentially making it five divisions, with
Division 4 being split into two regional leagues. This process would have
required a further 12 teams to make the step up from non-league football. HUFC
would have surely been in that 12 had the idea grown legs?
Page 4 reveals that the magazine was published by Gateway
Publications, who were based on Foley Trading Estate.
Page 5 focuses on player comings and goings across the
divisions, with Worcester City re-signing Alec Carson from Hereford. Meanwhile,
Hereford had brought a couple of familiar names in David Icke, Ron Radford,
Tony Gough, and Ken Mallender.
Page 6 reveals that new Kettering signing Tony Jacques had
previously been on the books of Hereford. Useful youngster John Layton also
gets a name check. Beyond that, there must be several other featured players
that had HUFC links somewhere along the line?
Finally, the back page publicises
an August bank holiday Mott the Hoople concert at Edgar Street that I am sure
would have delighted the groundsman. It also publicises the Hereford United
1970-71 yearbook, which is available for 12.5p plus postage of 3p (roughly £2
and 50p today; not bad). Finally, Bulmers weigh in with a
bit of advertising revenue.
The Southern League: Whilst this magazine is the wrong side of 50, the Southern League is still going strong and now boasts an expanded 4 divisions. The league was formed in 1894, with perhaps their most notable early feather in the cap being then members Tottenham Hotspur winning the FA Cup in 1901, which coincidentally was their last ever trophy. From a HUFC viewpoint, one thing that the Southern League has provided for at least the last 75 years is a continuous stream of rivals, something we can check out in more detail as this series of 8 magazines unfolds (or perhaps unravels being more accurate with me on the typewriter).
The Rivals: The 70/71 season had belonged to champions Yeovil Town, who had also boasted a profit of £16k. Meanwhile, Telford had achieved the Southern League Cup/FA Trophy double. Page 5 reveals that whilst they are possibly rivals with a little ‘r’, Nuneaton have a 26 year old chap called David Pleat taking over the reins as their manager. Meanwhile Barnet player Tommy Coleman's 28 day ban for remarks made to a referee stand out. What could he have said that would have merited that?
The Page 3 roll call reveals the following familiar names were doing their
thing in the Southern League during the 71-72 season: Yeovil, Barnet, Worcester, Wimbledon, Weymouth, Dover,
Bath, Telford, Merthyr, Nuneaton, Crawley, Salisbury, Banbury United, Burton
Albion, Cheltenham Town, Gloucester City, Kettering, Kings Lynn,
Lockheed-Leamington, and Stevenage Athletic.
In the News: If you want evidence that life was more innocent, joining Tommy Coleman in hot water was showjumper Harvey Smith, who was stripped of his British Show Jumping Derby title for flicking the V sign on 15th August.
In the Singles Charts: Top spot during August 1971 was equally shared between first Get it On by T-Rex and then I'm Still Waiting by Diana Ross.
In the Album Charts: Three different albums reached
the top during the same month, two of them more modern sounding compilation
mash ups: Hot Hits 6 - Various Artists; Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - The Moody Blues; Top of the Pops Volume 18 - Various Artists.
Away from the charts, The Concert for Bangladesh takes place
at Maddison Square Garden on 1st August 1971, with a stellar line up including
Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.
Meanwhile, the 14th sees The Who release their 5th Album ‘Who's
Next’.
On TV: ITV cameras are present as the Charity Shield is covered for the first time on 7th August 197; the traditional season curtain raiser played between the previous season's FA Cup Winners and League Champions. Arsenal won the double in 1971, so naturally it was played between Liverpool and second-division Leicester.
In the Maternity Ward: 2nd August 1971 - Northern Irish footballer Michael Hughes was born. Comedian/actor/author David Walliams arrived on the 20th, actress Gaynor Faye the 26th, with presenter Kirstie Allsopp just made the cut on the 31st.
