Newcastle remember Hereford
With an FA Cup game against Yeading on Saturday, Newcastle still remember the day Hereford United defeated them. Macolm Macdonald has spoken about the game in an article by Peter Gilder of the Newcastle Journal. Below is an edited version.
For millions, FA Cup third-round weekend is the highlight of the English domestic season. Yet Malcolm Macdonald will resist the temptation to tune in as the television cameras chronicle the latest encounter between the princes and the paupers.
Whether it is Newcastle's forthcoming match against Yeading, Chelsea's meeting with Scunthorpe or Manchester United's game with Exeter, it is the prospect of a footballing giant suffering a humiliating defeat which will make for essential viewing.
With the exception, that is, of the Macdonald household.
It is now 22 years since the Magpies were beaten by Hereford and Ronnie Radford's spectacular strike remains synonymous with the magic of the competition. But reminders are never far away.
"This weekend is the one time of year when I refuse to turn on the television," said Macdonald, a member of the United side humbled in the mud at Edgar Street in 1972.
The former Newcastle striker is so irked by the exposure that particular occasion still receives he is, at first, a reluctant talker.
"Every year I know they will continue to trot out the Hereford match and the Radford goal," he said.
"It's something that has been overused over the years. It is only ever used as a stick to beat Newcastle over the head with, but no one ever talks about how well Hereford played. It was a great achievement, but that's overlooked."
The images - which have long featured on the opening sequence of Match of the Day - are familiar. Radford's 35-yard strike, the invasion of the pitch by parka-clad teenagers, the euphoria of the players, the quagmire upon which Joe Harvey's side were beaten. So distraught was United's manager that on the journey back to the North-East, the team coach was forced to pull over so he could be sick on the roadside.
That Macdonald is less than keen to dredge up such memories is understandable, but he warms to the theme. He said: "What is forgotten so often is that Hereford had got a 2-2 draw at St James's Park. Colin Addison was the player-manager and he scored two fabulous goals.
"Hereford did exceptionally well to get a replay and, of course, it is that game that has become an historic occasion.
"We went there time and again - only for the match to be continually postponed - and, in the end, we found ourselves camped out at a hotel in Worcester.
"We had each gone there with an overnight bag but we finished up being at the hotel for around 10 days, trying to get this replay on.
"In the meantime, we were going off and playing First Division matches and then returning to the hotel in the hope that this game could be played."
It wasn't until February 5 - as their rivals embarked on their fourth-round ties - that Hereford were given the green light to stage the game. West Ham awaited, United fell.
"The pitch was awful, it had taken a severe battering over that January," recalled Macdonald, who scored in both games.
"We were all desperate to dispose of the replay, to put it behind us and move on in the competition. It didn't happen.
"We went 1-0 up but Ronnie Radford's goal will go down in history. I was running behind him and the ball sat up on a divot for him - he had never struck a ball like that before and he never did again." The contribution of Radford - a carpenter by trade - sent the replay into extra-time and, in front of a 15,000 full-house, Ricky George's deflected effort in the 103rd minute beat Willie McFaul to seal a result which remains in football folklore.
Yeading will hope history repeats itself on Sunday and Graeme Souness has already warned his team of the danger of treating the Ryman League hopefuls lightly.
The scale of Hereford's achievement is best put into context by the events of the following week.
Radford returned to his day job and the scorer of one of English football's most famous goals was busy putting a new roof on a house on Monday morning.
The humiliated Magpies travelled to the North-West to meet Manchester United.
"This is the stupidity of football," said Macdonald. "Having lost at Hereford on the Saturday, we went to Old Trafford next and gave Manchester United a real thrashing.
"For an hour before the game - and for the first 20 minutes of the game - the chants were `Hereford, Hereford, Hereford'.
"But where does that leave Manchester United in the general scheme of things, if Hereford can beat Newcastle and Newcastle can beat them?
"Life in football is strange, anything can happen. That's why I have never gambled on the sport in my life."