Result: 0-2 Loss (HT 0-1) Sainty 11, Boyer 90
Attendance: 10,909
Hereford United: Hughes, Mallender, Naylor, McLaughlin, Jones, Tavener, Owen, Tyler, Hinch (Redrobe), Radford, Evans.
Bournemouth: Baker, Payne, Howe, Gabriel, D Jones, Powell, Redknapp, Cave (Groves), Sainty, Boyer, Buttle.
League Position: 12th (22 games in), on fire Bournemouth (6 wins on the spin) are 2nd.
On the Pitch: Hereford are unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice through Mallender and Hinch, before gifting Bournemouth the lead through a rogue back-pass*, then conceding a sucker punch at the end whilst seeking out an equaliser.
*the idea of back-passes in the depths of winter on a 1970's football pitch takes a bit of imagining.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Colin's Comments: Addison uses his notes to focus on the upcoming plum draw at West Ham in the third round of the FA Cup. The tie that will give Hereford the opportunity to make amends for a defeat in the 71-72 season that brought their greatest ever cup run to an end. In his notes he points out that the recent arrival from West Ham of Dudley Tyler has been perfectly timed for intel, allowing him to undertake whatever the 1970's equivalent of downloading information was.
Third Division Round Up: The usual comprehensive run through the matters of the day in Hereford's new(ish) home, but one thing that stands out is a remark that Cambridge striker Dave Simmons receives a £3.83 weekly pension for an injury he suffered that required an eye watering 104 stitches (£3.83 equates to roughly £60 a week today). My admittedly limited research skills couldn't conjure up anymore information on that sorry, but rather fittingly it did reveal that he was a bit of a giant killing machine himself, one worthy of sharing this review with his Hereford equivalents.
Cambridgeshire-born Simmons started his career at Arsenal where his only game time was on loan at Bournemouth (3 goals in 7 games). He moved to Second Division Aston Villa in 1969 at the age of 21 where he ticked off relegation nice and early in his career, followed by a move to Colchester. It was during a three year spell there that he scored in Colchester's famous giant killing of Leeds United (3-2 5th round - when Leeds were probably the top team in the country). That tie was almost exactly a year before Hereford's famous Newcastle win, making it a rich period for producing both cup upsets and Christmas songs. After his league career came to a close at Cambridge in 1976, he settled into local non league football (Cambridge City, Newmarket, Ely, Soham) before losing a battle to cancer in 2007 at the age of 58. His cup exploits earnt him the below warm tribute in the Colchester press.
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/1521363.tribute-to-simmons/
In the Opposition: Darling of the media Harry Redknapp is a bit of a tap in; he does bring a nice bit of symmetry as he revealed that his transfer from West Ham in 1972 was due in part to the arrival of Dudley Tyler. Seeing as West Ham links are compulsory, former team mate Bobby Howe had made the move from West Ham to Bournemouth the previous season. Speaking of compulsory, he would tick the late '70s North American "soccer" box towards the end of his career. Fellow defender Tony Powell would play over 600 times, the lion's share of which were split almost equally between Bournemouth and Norwich, before he too wound down his career counting dollars by switching sports to "soccer". Striker Phil Boyer would get a solitary England cap whilst also playing at Norwich; he would command combined transfer fees of roughly £500,000 as the decade unfolded. Big bucks, as they say in the US - somewhere he didn't end up, bucking the trend.
Fan of the Week: A very exclusive and youthful group on display in a photo that appears to contain about five different conversations following what must have surely been a gaffe by an opposition player?
Edgar Street Chatter: Hereford have announced that coaches are being run from Edgar Street for the 5th January game at Upton Park, leaving at 7:30am and priced at £1.60 (roughly £25). The column predicts going places AFC Bournemouth have been fortunate enough to bag "successful businessman" Harold Walker as chairman, who unveiled ambitious plans to go ahead what the programme described as a fantastic £1M ground development scheme. The 7,300 capacity stand would include impressive leisure facilities and 3,800 seats. Spoiler alert: it didn't happen. Well it did - they bought the land behind the north terrace and rapidly erected the steelwork for the superstructure, but unfortunately costs went up even quicker, leaving the stand unfinished, until in 1984 they admitted defeat, knocked it down, and built 27 houses to get themselves out of the sticky stuff. You have got to love football.
Supporters' Corner: You know things are getting bad when Phil Godsall, who has never had to stray far from the hive of activity that is boomtime Edgar Street, acknowledges that the country is screwed. Car sharing to get to matches is the topic of the day. He also uses his notes to advertise the 1974 HUFC Diaries, no doubt a handy way of recording all of the power cuts that the year will bring. I know life has moved on from diaries, but I would love a Hereford diary! In fairness, the current online club shop reveals a half decent wallet, plus posh pen if you want old skool, together with a pretty neat Christmas mug.
Going by Car: Just directions for a league trip to 52,000 capacity Ewood Park in this weeks programme - all in a days work for 1970s HUFC. Meanwhile, the action shot shows a rather naked-looking ad-free Len Weston Stand.
In the Singles Charts: Slade bagged the coveted Christmas No.1 slot with their little-known number Merry Xmas Everybody.
In the Album Charts: Elton John bagged the Christmas No.1 Album slot with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
On TV: With it being both Christmas and the decade of joy you were allowed to stay up late according to Wikipedia.....The government announces severe measures to reduce electricity consumption due to the ongoing overtime ban by the National Union of Mineworkers, strike action in the electricity supply industry and effects of the 1973 oil crisis. Part of these measures are that both BBC and ITV television are ordered to end their broadcasting day earlier than usual, at around 10:30pm in order to save energy. The early closedowns commence that day and continue until Sunday 23 December. They are then lifted so that Christmas and New Year programming can air as normal and provide some light relief to the public. The restrictions will be reimposed from Monday 7 January 1974 and remain for a further month.
In the Maternity Ward: A comedian called Paul Foot was born on 24th December 1973, I have never heard of him but he did perform in something called the Crap Comedy Festival in 2017, so he makes the cut. Actor Ewen MacIntosh who played the big lad in The Office was born on Christmas Day 1973. He sadly passed away in February this year.
