35 years ago today since that famous goal

Today February 5th is the 35-year anniversary of Ronnie Radford's FA Cup strike for Hereford United in that game against Newcastle United at Edgar Street.

Below is a slightly edited article originally published in the Western Mail by Ian Carbis.

Football fans of a certain vintage will be celebrating one of the greatest FA Cup goals today.

For those of us brought up with mudbath pitches, The Big Match and Charles Buchan annuals, February 5, 1972, was perhaps the day we discovered football.

It was the day when non-league Hereford did the unthinkable and beat high and mighty Newcastle, when the minnows from up the road shut up motormouth Malcolm MacDonald and Ronnie Radford scored the goal that triggers a host of memories.

And Radford's 35-yard screamer (though I swear it gets further and further with each viewing) wasn't even the winner.

Despite the crowd invasion that followed it, the super strike only sent the clash into extra time and it took a close-range bundle home by substitute Ricky George to win the match 2-1.

But that doesn't tell the whole story.

In fact, that game at Edgar Street was a replay of a match that took place almost two weeks earlier, when Hereford amazingly forced a 2-2 draw at St James' Park.

It was the third attempt the sides had made to play the third round tie following two postponements in the wet winter.

One of Hereford's goalscorers that night was player-manager Colin Addison.

Addison became one of South Wales' favourite sons with spells in charge at Newport, Swansea, Merthyr and Barry, but at that time he was a Hereford hero.

The replay was postponed three times - with Newcastle staying in Worcester on the off chance it might go ahead.

They probably wished it didn't when they kicked off at the fourth time of asking.

MacDonald gave the Magpies the lead with eight minutes remaining, but there was enough time for Radford, then a joiner by trade, to have his magic moment.

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