| home | bolsa | hufc | exploits | match reports | resources |
Memories are made of this ...This page is dedicated to your memories of "The Good Old Days" at Hereford United. If you wish to submit something click here. We reserve the right to edit any contribution as we see fit. AN EXTRACT FROM MY LIFE STORY"It would have been in the late 1950s when a mate of mine told me that there was a vacancy for a ball boy at Hereford United. He was already there, a ginger headed lad whose name now escapes me but I think his surname was Edwards. My mate Barry Hayden (who was to become my best man many years later) and I dashed down to Edgar Street and luckily they took us both on. These were cherished voluntary positions and we were the envy of many of our mates. Here was our chance to mingle with the players who were our iconic heroes at that time. This was when the ex-Arsenal player, Joe Wade was the manager and he was there for the period 1956 to 1962. I'm guessing that I would have been about fourteen or fifteen at the time (1958 or 59) and even though we were very young, (Barry was almost two years older than me) we were included in the training sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday evening when we played in practice matches following their training. We were in the Southern League then and the reserve team was in the West Midlands Combination. We didn’t show ourselves up though we were obviously used just to make up the numbers. I recall that Yeovil Town was always a good match as was our neighbours, Worcester City. Barry was a good goalkeeper and I played at left half. What a thrill that period was in our lives. Our main duty was to clean the player's boots after games and training. Oh yes, we did retrieve the balls on match days too but all that seemed secondary to the very fact that we were there among our heroes. The biggest thrill of course was getting time off from Whitecross School when Hereford had to play a midweek FA Cup replay match on a Wednesday afternoon. I witnessed their famous victories over West Ham United and Newcastle United. The latter match was played on 5th February 1972, many years after my ball boy days. I had left school, married and joined the Police Force by then. I mention this historic match because it will not only be remembered for ever, but it happened to be played on the same day as our ex neighbour's son's wedding. This was Howard Johnson, son of Derek (Scottie) and Betty Johnson who we had lived next door to in the late 1960's in Brockington Drive, Hereford. They had remained very good friends and it was imperative that we went to the wedding but it was also very necessary for me to go to the match. It appears that no one missed me during the reception which I later rejoined after the match." FGR AWAY"Arranged to meet my mate Mark from work in Cheltenham before heading on to Nailsworth. THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES"Having browsed the memories I was surprised there were so few from 40 or 50 years ago. HUFC had good cup runs then too! I didn't go - I was away at boarding school - but I remember a third round FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday in the mid-fifties. The game I remember best is a second round tie against Millwall in - I think - the 66-67 season. Hereford won 1-0 if my memory serves me correctly, in front of a crowd of about 15,000. Everyone said that both teams looked like Second Division sides (equivalent to today's Championship). Millwall went on to win the 3rd Division title. Hereford were drawn away against fellow Southern Leaguers Bedford in the 3rd round. A bitterly cold day with a light covering of snow on the pitch and Hereford were defeated in a bitterly disappointing performance. And, of course, there was the horrendous season in the sixties when the team was managerless for the second half of the season and dropped like a stone to the foot of SL1. John Charles took over the following season and the team bounced back to become SL2 champions with a record points score. By the glory years and the famous victory against Newcastle and draw against West Ham which finally saw the team in the Football League I had moved away but I came back for the first league match - against Reading. There was another 14,000 odd attendance and a brilliant game ended with Hereford the winners. I haven't watched them since but regularly check the results and am pleased to have found this website for news of the current team. Back in the sixties a few work colleagues and I were regulars at every home game - including reserve games - and treated the HUFC social club as our "local" for a weekly "lads night out". I was responsible for perforating the shade over the lamp near the dart board on more than one occasion. Good luck to the Bulls!"
THAT CUP RUN"Nobody who followed United in the days of the great cup run would forget any of it, but the big story's been told often enough already. So, instead of going through all that yet again, here's a memory that illustrates how fantastically well our lads did in that run, and how much the game has changed in the 30 years since it all happened. I moved to Hereford for work in 1968 and began to follow United from the start - well, it was pretty much compulsory, my employer and partner to be, Peter Hill, went on to be Chairman of the club for very nearly 300 years, the mad bugger. The one thing I didn't get to see particularly quickly, however, was evidence of Hereford's much vaunted cup spirit, and apart from a minor excitement against Torquay ('69, possibly?) nothing much happened until the big cup run, which of course moved from pleasant sailing to distinctly troublesome waters when we were drawn against Northampton Town. The first game against Northampton, as you know, was a draw at Edgar Street, with the result that several of us were soon making the journey for the replay at Northampton, the occupants of our car (apart from me) being, I think, Peter Hill, David Matthews (local solicitor), Ken Robinson (manager of the Anglia Building Society) and possibly David Taylor, another local lawyer. On the road, the conversation of course turned to our expectations for the match - our brave lads away to a football league side, how would it go? In this conversation I felt very much the junior; I had never seen United take on such senior opposition away from home, but several of my fellow travellers had, and - make no mistake - the expectation from these loyal, experienced fans, good judges to a man, was that the dreaming was going to stop and that we would be very happy to return home not on the end of an 8-0 thrashing. Well, that was not the way of it. Our exploits away to Northampton would have been enough for that year to have passed into United's cup legend even if we had achieved nothing more. What happened at the second replay, at the Hawthorns, was utterly spellbinding and just as wonderful as the two ties against Newcastle. But the real point is this - after United away to Northampton little teams stopped losing 8-0 to the big boys. After that, little team after little team snarled and scrapped and even occasionally humbled the mighty as once Hereford had done, and the mantra "there are no easy games in football any more" passed into football parlance. And it was true. After us, there were no easy games; we made self belief our own and then we shared it with the multitude."
HEREFORD UNITED v NEWCASTLE UNITED 5/2/72"At the age of 12, I went to every FA Cup match both home and away. I was at the time a ball boy and for the Newcastle match sat on top of the Newcastle dug-out (until Ricky George scored) and then leapt off the dug-out and almost knocked the Newcastle manager's head off." HEREFORD UNITED v MORECAMBE 2001"Coming over from Sweden with The Friends of Sven and sponsoring the Bulls V Morecambe match, meeting the boss and seeing a Swede kick a swede into the goal down at the Meadow End, will always live with me." HEARTBREAKERS"I've never been to the twin towers, so in our playoff season I honestly thought that we were going to get there, so I will always remember Darlington who broke my heart. Others are; Arsenal (1-1 we should have won and lost 7-2 in the replay); Man United 0-1 (Blackmore in the 97th minute, when we deserved a replay); winning 1-0 on aggregate at the Baggies and holding on for ages until the final whistle; Tottenham 1-1 and 1-5 (unfair score line as we played very well in both games); and Leicester City, (holding them to 0-0 at home but should have won the replay). I tried to leave this one out but it remains a scar on my heart; Brighton at home 1-1, Foster's miss in the last few minutes sent us down." LEIGH RMI v HEREFORD UNITED 19/2/01"A game that sticks in my mind is the Umbro Trophy replay at Leigh. There were about 50 HUFC fans in the 441 attendance and although it was a bitterly cold night we did not stop singing. I remember this game because at half time everyone wanted chips. The steam from these covered the pitch and we could not see the other end of the ground for about 35 minutes. We won 2-1." YEOVIL v HEREFORD UNITED 1985"I'd just moved to Bath, and HUFC were drawn at Yeovil in the FA Cup. After travelling on my own for the first time to an away game and getting off the train at the wrong station in Yeovil I finally found my way to the old Huish. The Bulls did us all proud and we came away as 4-2 victors. The one thing that sticks in my mind though, is the wall collapsing at the front of the away end as HUFC fans celebrated one of the goals. Remember this was less than 12 months after Heysel. Luckily the wall was only a few feet tall and only a couple of people actually fell amongst the brickwork. Still, a bit scary to watch from the back." READING v HEREFORD UNITED 1983"My first Hereford match was away to Reading in the FA Cup 1st Round in 1983. Being a student in the town I went down to Elm Park with a crowd of friends so ended in the home end. The game itself went through some fairly quiet spells where the entertainment was provided by the pitched battles between the Hereford fans and the police dogs. Leaving the ground we passed the very vocal and aggressive Hereford support and the only thought going through my head is how do I persuade them I'm a Hereford fan if they start kicking the crap out of me." CARLISLE v HEREFORD UNITED 1997"I'll always remember Carlisle away the season we got relegated. I was at Uni in Liverpool and didn't get in till about quarter to five on the Saturday morning. Two hours later and with the most horrendous hangover I was up and onto a train to Wigan to get a lift. The journey seemed to take weeks and I could barely speak, breathe or move I was so rough. Got to Carlisle just after one o'clock and refused to be any colour but green till kick off.
CARLISLE v HEREFORD UNITED 1997"I remember that game like it was yesterday. The group of friends I still go with now often reminisce about that match. It was one of the all time classic Hereford wins. Boston, a few months ago, I am sure will also follow me around for years to come as another classic that I was proud to attend. If only all Hereford games were like that. It may be worth adding that Carlisle were top of the league at the time." BOSTON UNITED v HEREFORD UNITED 18/02/02"It was live on Sky. Me and Billy the Bull (Hereford's mascot) were 10 minutes late. Hereford were 2-0 down already. As we got in Hereford pulled one back. We finished the game 4-3. I think Billy and I changed the game." GREASE, BLIND DATE, DEAD POLICEMEN, REVENGE & CIDERParticipation memory
PART OF MY CHILDHOOD"Hereford United will forever be an important part of my childhood. It took 3 or 4 games for me to get in to spirit of things but that first victory in my presence came at home to Torquay United and it was like I'd found a new love. I'd only gone to keep a friend company! I learned my football from Match of the Day and it just wasn't the done thing to go to Edgar Street. We all supported Premiership sides as kids and Hereford United were considered a laughing stock. Needless to say it was that very season we held Spurs to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup and things started to go well from then on. The next season was where I really came on as a fan. I was 17, discovered cider (and my first ever pint was in the Newmarket on the day Carl Beeston inspired Hereford to a 3-1 win over Wigan) and for about 6 months I could have been described as "cool". It didn't last. I hold the day Brighton put Hereford down as one of the worst in my life and only the numbers of us who sat in the park afterwards kept the spirit alive. The Conference years have been erratic to say the least, and the season ticket kept me there for three years until it was time to move on. Manchester Uni beckoned in 2000 and things at Edgar Street had become so bleak that I decided to pack it all in for a new start. 1995-2000 was to be my time. Or so I thought...
SWINDON TOWN v HEREFORD UNITED 08/12/01"This FA Cup 2nd round match was the best game and atmosphere all season! United had 2,000 - 3,000 supporters at the game. I thought it was over when Swindon scored but United got an equaliser. Then Gavin Williams scored a goal just like the one Ronnie Radford scored against Newcastle. In the end we lost 3-2. I was disappointed because I had not been to many United away matches before the 2001/02 season." CUP GAMES, CAMP SITES, BLOW-UP DOLLS & S CLUB 7"I have loads of memories, mostly in the FA Cup. Spurs, Leicester, Brighton, Swindon and lots more, but my best memories have been in league games. Yeovil away when we won 3-2 to stop them going up; the players effort was top notch and their reaction at the end of the game coming over to the hundred or so travelling fans was brilliant. Also Boston this season - at two nil down we were thinking of going to the pub and watching it on Sky but we stayed there and were treated to a game I will always remember.
Fond memories also involve Southport away in the league. Freezing cold, wind blowing a gale, raining like it's never rained before and I can't remember what the game was like, or the score! All I remember is turning up at a pitch black Southport camp site at 11 at night, trying to put up two tents with the weather the way it was and no light at all - ah bliss. That's what supporting Hereford's all about!
Other games of note include Scarborough away with Rodders and I dancing like muppets to S Club 7! Kingstonian away on a Tuesday night - skiving off college, all day drinking with Lusty Linda (an inflatable doll!) and a conga round the ground, superb!" ROCHDALE v HEREFORD UNITED"One Football League game that for some reason always comes up in conversation is Rochdale away. I remember, along with the other 70 or 80, singing "Graham Turner's Barmy Army" for the whole game which ended 0-0. There were no more then 2 shots in the whole game but that probably had quite a bit to do with the weather. Hail, sleet, rain, just about everything you dot want for a football match. Then driving round looking for somewhere to stay because we couldt be bothered to drive back that night, only to find nowhere available, and deciding to drive back home, getting in about 3am." AWAY DAYS"Oh memories, where shall I start? Could it be the Welsh Cup tie at Bangor that got postponed so many times it was eventually rearranged on the Sunday after we played Wrexham on the Saturday? Took a minibus up with four YTS players on board to complement the squad on the Sunday morning. Arrived through floods, and narrowly missing stranded vehicles, to find the game called off ten minutes earlier and the bastards playing "Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor" on the Jukebox. Then they shut the bar ten minutes later! The team coach arrived, collected all the YTS players except for Marc Priday (who we got thoroughly pissed!) and went home. We trawled round Bangor on a damp Sunday afternoon looking for a curry, ended up in a cramped B&B and doubled their weeks takings.
THE GOOD OLD BAD OLD DAYS"Memories, where do you want me to start?
WALSALL v HEREFORD UNITED"I well remember the day I missed the train to Walsall v The Whites in the early to mid 80's. I took the next available train and arrived at the station in Walsall at about half-time. I then walked through a housing estate, on my own, that wouldn't look out of place in Beirut before finally arriving at the ground with ten minutes to go. Even then I couldn't get in! I banged and banged on a turnstile door until a bemused steward let me in with just one minute to go! As I quickly found out from a United fan we were drawing the match 3-3, I turned my head to watch the last minute or two of injury time and watched the ball fly into the top corner of the net, problem was it was a Walsall player that placed the ball there. 4-3 to Walsall. Gutted is not a descriptive enough word to describe my feelings!
STEWARDIN' AT HITCHIN"One HUFC memory that always sticks out in my mind is the day I became a steward at Hitchin Town in November.
KING FOR A DAY"My first game was when I was 7. It wasn't the most high profile game (against Flint Town in the Welsh Cup) but as a birthday treat my dad had arranged for me to be mascot for the day.
AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT"I saw most of my games in the seventies and early eighties due to my exile in 1982. I used to stand in the kids' enclosure at the Meadow End, and then gravitated to the right hand side at the back.
FLYING FALSE TEETH"Neil Grayson's and Snapper's enthusiasm. Tony James skill.
ON LOAN TO THE CONFERENCE"Best Moments.
BOBBY MOORE IS A FAIRY"First started watching the Bulls when I was about 10 years old. An old man working on the turnstile used to let us in for nothing at half-time. (I would just like to thank that man who ever he is!). I went to school with my old mate and former Bulls player Chris Price, and I'm proud to be able to say that as a goal keeper in school I kept out many of Chris's best shots. (Let in far more!) I was also friends with Stewart Phillip's older brother and can still remember seeing Stewart juggling a ball with his dad (Archy) standing behind him telling him he would never make a football player. My best moment at Edger Street has to be The Bulls v West Ham in the famous FA Cup run. (The Newcastle game was sold out so I missed that but watched it on MOTD.) With my new home made black anwhite scarf that my mum made. And running on the pitch when I thought Brian Owen had scored but the ball hit the post. Mind you Clive Best told me not very nicely that he was not going to give me his autograph. And singing "Bobby Moore is a fairy". Great times...." BOLSA STILL |
