Result: 3-1 Win (HT 2-0) Tyler 36, Hinch 43, Evans 71; Andrews 81
Attendance: 7,747
Hereford United: Hughes, Carver (Rudge),
Naylor, McLaughlin, Tucker, Addison, Owen, Tyler, Hinch, Gregory, Evans.
Opposition: Kearns, Harrison (Saunders), Fry, Birch, Robinson,
Bennett, Atthey, Taylor, Andrews, Wright, Buckley.
League Position: 9th (21 games in), defeated
Walsall are 19th.
Dudley is Back, Dudley is Back, Hello, Hello: Hereford signed a player called
Dudley Tyler from West Ham in time for this match. Unfortunately, Google has
drawn a complete blank on anything about him, sorry; although he scored 36 minutes into his
"football league" debut for Hereford United - not bad for a rookie.
Tricked you; although you probably don't need Google
anyway, as he is top table material when it comes to HUFC former players. So,
Walsall had to contend with a returning-from-injury Colin Addison, a returning-from-West Ham Dudley
Tyler, and an on-fire Brian Evans. Evans,
someone who Dudley Tyler describes as a “super
winger” before proudly giving the reminder
that he got a Welsh cap whilst playing for Hereford, back when that was a
rarity, despite the team being rammed with ability.
Dudley Tyler was, of
course, a member of the famous Giantkillers team; if you needed convincing that they were a special group of
players, with his return, 7 of the 12 that featured on that glorious day were regularly featuring
in this "League 1" division two seasons later. The others were Mallender, Jones, Addison, McLaughlin, Owen, &
Radford. You can make it eight by adding Fred Potter, whose HUFC career was
cruelly brought to an end by injury on the opening day of the season away to
Grimsby. You could also add Billy Tucker,
whose time at the club straddled both periods.
Dudley had caught the
eye of West Ham during the last two games of that remarkable run. During his 18
months at Upton Park, Dudley could list the likes of Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds,
Frank Lampard Snr and Trevor Brooking as team mates. Some of his highlights
were scoring a goal against Peter Shilton, plus playing against a Manchester
United team that had the Best/Charlton/Law Holy Trinity in their line up.
If you want to read up
properly about many of the players from this era, you could do a lot worse than saying "50 Greats Hereford United
Football Club by Denise Powell and David Edge" when asked the dreaded
"what do you want for Christmas" question. Ebay suggests there are copies out there.
Click on photos
to enlarge.
Colin's Comments: Colin takes the opportunity to celebrate getting DT back to the club, before his column highlights how clubs and fans used to interact prior to the upholder of calm and level headedness that is the internet was invented.
In the Opposition: Sorry Walsall, Dudley coming back has stolen your thunder this week - I am sure you will understand. Mick Kearns, between the sticks, was Hereford striker Ollie Kearns' older brother. Beyond that, Alan Buckley = Walsall. He played over 400 league games for them over two spells, bagging almost 200 league goals in the process, Walsall laid out a cool £175k to get him back to the club in 1979. He would also manage/player manage the club into the 80's before settling in the Humberside area via managerial spells at Grimsby Town. Seeing as these old programmes allow us to celebrate some exceptional old Hereford players, it is apt that Buckley played as he is seen as one of Walsall's best both on and off the pitch.
Fan of the Week: Top hattage.
Edgar Street Chatter: News that the Alan Jones testimonial that has been publicised in recent programmes has been called off due to the infamous 1970s power restrictions. It wasn't through lack of trying though, looking at the attempt to bring in generators to power the floodlights. The aforementioned Brian Evans celebrated his 31st birthday weekend by having Walsall on toast. It is revealed that the club were hoping to get the block D extension ready for use for the bumper Boxing Day fixture (its progress shown on the front cover).
Beyond that it is hard to see past how sought after Eric Redrobe's signature was.
Supporters' Corner: In his notes, Phil Godsall promotes a very modern-sounding car sharing initiative - unfortunately, this is down to the UK seemingly being in constant crisis; oil, in this instance. Speaking of transport, his call-to-arms for fans in Herefordshire's outlying towns reminded me that the sight of Hereford supporters coaches from said towns waiting behind the Len Weston stand at the end of games was something that survived into the 1980s.
In the News: 5th December - the speed limit on all roads, including motorways, is reduced to 50mph due to the oil crisis. Luckily, the Sweeney didn't hit our screens until 1975.
In the Singles Charts: I Love you Love
Me Love by Gary Glitter continued at No.1.
In the Album Charts: Pin Ups by David
Bowie started its last week at No.1.
In the Maternity Ward: Ryan Giggs was
born on 29th November 1973.
He's One of Our Own: Gareth Davies was born on 11th
December 1973. A product of the YTS scheme, he played 95 league games for
Hereford before bagging the club £120k when he was transferred to Crystal
Palace at the age of 22. Reading paid a further £175k for his services, before
an injury at Swindon in his late twenties brought his career to a premature
end. He has been involved in the club more recently behind the scenes and his
son Rhys was on the fringes of the Hereford first team set up.
https://yourherefordshire.co.uk/all/sports-news/my-hereford-united-story-gareth-davies/
