Hereford FC historian Ron Parrott has been looking through the archives since the news that the abandoned match at Didcot is to be played behind closed doors.
So have Hereford ever played behind closed doors before?
"The short answer to the question is no, apart from a few obscure
friendlies, it has never happened competitively," Ron told BN.
"We did come close once
though, back in 1929/30 when we had crowd trouble at home to Oakengates
in the semi-final of the Birmingham Senior Cup. The referee incurred the
wrath of the crowd when he sent off our left-back and former Oakengates
player Gordon Biddulph for punching an opponent who had kicked him and
this provoked a crowd invasion at the end of the game.
"It was alleged
that the referee was kicked and the Birmingham FA took a very dim view
of this and closed Edgar Street for 14 days, meaning that United had to
find an alternative ground for the next Birmingham league match against
Willenhall. It was transferred to Ledbury Town’s Biddulph Arms ground
and the Great Western Railway Company ran a special train from Hereford
to the match, picking up at Withington and Stoke Edith, and the return
fare was 1s 3d (6-1/2p) and the result was a 1-0 win for the “home”
side. Now what wouldn’t I give for a programme from that game......... "