Hereford beat Bury 1-0 in front of the lowest crowd of the season (6566) courtesy of an early Alan Jones header. I wonder if Edgar Street will ever be capable of that sort of poor attendance again?
On the Pitch: Addison heaps praise on the players for the way they have taken Hereford out of the bottom four and into the more positive end of mid-table. Hereford started the day in 10th, four points outside the top four, thanks in part to their first away win of the season on Tuesday 28th November. It had been a long time coming, but if you are going to have a first ever away win of the season, it may as well be at Newport County in front of 8772 people complete with a dust up between the players (1-0 courtesy of a Redrobe pen).
The previous Saturday was a blank day for Hereford, but Bits and Pieces reveals that Edgar Street was used for an amateur international with just shy of 2000 in attendance.
Off the Pitch: In Bits and Pieces, 6 people are banned from Edgar Street until the New Year for causing trouble, which equates to 3 matches. Someone whose presence would always be felt at Edgar Street was Len Weston who had passed away in March 1971. A full page article reveals that the new grandstand on the Edgar Street side of the pitch will be named in his honour when completed. It also credits him with being central to the club's impressive progress; he was a member of the board between 1946 and 1964 before becoming club president.
The previous programme (Aldershot - published on Bulls News 21/6/24) had a short paragraph on another name that runs through much of Hereford United's history; Peter Isaac. He had been involved at Edgar Street almost continuously from 1960 to 1992, playing over 250 games before being among other things a coach, trainer, right hand man, physiotherapist and acting manager. He would no doubt feature more prominently in future programmes.
In the Opposition: Nailed on Pointless answer John Connelly was a member of the England '66 squad. Originally only the eleven that played in the final received World Cup Winners medals; he would have to wait until 2009 to receive his.
Liverpool-born Terry McDermott started his illustrious career as a schoolboy at Bury; he would help win 10 major trophies with Liverpool via the first of two spells at Newcastle United. This included the 1981 League Cup final against West Ham, where he pulled off a fine finger tip save with Liverpool 1-0 up in the 120th minute. West Ham scored the subsequent penalty, and he I believe only received a booking, although Clive Thomas was referee so anything could have happened. Liverpool would claim the trophy via a replay at Villa Park; that pre-"playing everything at Wembley" era seems like it never happened now. McDermott would play 25 times for England, scoring 3 goals.
In the Charts: Chuck Berry continues at No.1 with My Ding-a-Ling.
In the News: As 1972 draws to a close, not only did HUFC enjoy 12 months from heaven, but this was the year that marriage rates peaked. What a time to be alive.
On TV: 15th December - Record Breakers makes its debut on BBC1 hosted by Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle. It would run until 2001.
In the Maternity Ward: 14th December - Actress and comedian Miranda Hart is born.
Click on photos to enlarge.
