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Ronnie Radford will be guest of honour at Edgar Street on Saturday when Hereford United take on Hythe Town in the first round of the FA Cup. He will be joined by Colin Addison, Fred Potter, Mick McLaughlin and Peter Issac.
All five took part in that famous FA Cup victory over Newcastle United back in 1972.
After Newcastle had taken the lead through their £180,000 striker Malcolm Macdonald in the 82 minutes, Radford struck a dramatic thirty yard equaliser and in extra time Ricky George scored the winner. It was the first time a non-league side had beaten a First Division side in an FA Cup replay.
The much-postponed replay at Edgar Street was played on a quagmire of a pitch in front of a capacity crowd.
Newcastle went 1-0 ahead in the last ten minutes, and with the tie seemingly settled, Ronnie won a tackle in the Newcastle half and played a one-two with Brian Owen (who had scored the first goal at Newcastle). The return pass bobbled on the muddy surface but sat up nicely for Ronnie, and he unleased a 30-yard strike into the top corner that beat Willie McFaul to equalise.
The goal sparked a pitch invasion, and the images of the muddy pitch, Radford celebrating with arms aloft and the crowd invading the pitch, have since become immortalised in FA Cup history.
Ronnie's goal is sometimes incorrectly attributed as the winning goal; indeed the match actually went to extra time. It was substitute Ricky George who got the winner and wrote his name in the history books alongside Radford, as Hereford held out for an incredible 2-1 victory which is generally considered the greatest FA Cup shock of all time. The BBC quickly switched the match to the feature slot on Match of the Day, and Radford's goal was replayed countless times and was eventually voted Goal of the Season. For many years the footage of Ronnie's wonder goal, coupled with the commentary of John Motson, was part of the Match of the Day opening titles and it arguably launched Motson's career.
On the day before the match, Ronnie had been putting a roof on a house, a job to which he returned at 9am on the following Monday morning.
Radford will be introduced to the crowd before kick-off and will do some interviews as well.
Hereford United are hoping that other players from that 1972 era will return to Edgar Street over next few months.
