ALAN RODGERSON – A TRIBUTE TO A GREAT FOOTBALLER AND A REAL GENTLEMAN
Club Historian Ron Parrott has compiled this tribute to Alan
Rodgerson, a Hereford United legend who sadly passed away this week:-
As a 14-year-old and fanatical Hereford United fan, I lived in awe
of our new manager Bob Dennison and although he arrived at Edgar Street
too late to save us from our first ever relegation in 1963/64, he wasted
no time in bringing in new players to strengthen his squad. One of
these was Alan Rodgerson, who had played under Bob at Middlesbrough and
although he was with Cambridge United at the time, Alan had no
hesitation in rejoining Bob at Edgar Street and it was the start of an
association with the club that lasted for the rest of his life.
Alan was indeed a gifted footballer, small in stature but a giant
in terms of his ball play and passing ability and never before had I
seen such skill at Edgar Street. I was star-struck and frequently queued
up at the players’ entrance after a game to ask for his autograph,
several of these I still proudly have with my programme collection to
this very day. Without a doubt, Alan was my schoolboy hero and I never
tired of seeing him play. As a player, his conduct was always exemplary,
his work-rate was phenomenal and he would get stuck in when the
occasion demanded. Alan was a member of the 1971/72 giantkillers’ squad
and only injury prevented him from taking his place in the team.
Over the years, I got to know Alan very well and it must be said
that he was always a perfect gentleman and always sought me out in the
club for a chat before and after a game. His knowledge of the game was
outstanding and he had that ability to identify strengths and weaknesses
that others failed to see and I’ve always reckoned that he would have
made a great coach!
During his two spells at Edgar Street, Alan made a total of 264
appearances and scored 48 goals and the full pen-pic I have for him is
as follows:-
Born Eastington 19th March 1939, died Hereford 17th May 2018
Alan started his career and came through the Middlesbrough junior ranks to earn schoolboy international honours before making 13 Football League appearances for Middlesbrough between 1958 and 1960. In his Division Two debut he scored twice in a 4-1 victory at Rotherham United, the scorer of the other two being the legendary Brian Clough. Alan joined Cambridge United in 1961 and helped them to gain runners-up spot in the Southern League in 1962/63. Alan was then snapped up for Hereford United by his former boss Bob Dennison in 1964, at the same time as his former Middlesbrough team-mate Eddie Holliday. A diminutive but clever, scheming mid-fielder, he had two successful spells with Hereford with two seasons at Gloucester City, 1968 to 1970, sandwiched in between, when he helped them secure promotion to the Premier Division of the Southern League. Alan returned to Edgar Street in 1970 but injury prevented him from becoming one of the "giantkillers XI" in 1971/72 and when he returned to fitness, boss Colin Addison loaned him out to Cheltenham Town and the move was made permanent after a month. Alan scored a total of 48 goals in 264 games for Hereford and returned to Edgar Street again in 1973 in a coaching capacity. An electrician by trade, Alan settled in Hereford after his retirement from the game and was a regular visitor to home matches for many years after.