Hereford's shock

How Hereford got there

The 1971/72 run started well before the glamour ties. As a Southern League side, Hereford had to enter at the fourth qualifying round, while Newcastle, as a top-flight club, came in at the third round. Colin Addison's side beat local rivals Cheltenham Town 3–0, needed a replay to get past King's Lynn in the first round, then needed two replays to see off Northampton Town, finally winning 2–1 at the Hawthorns.

Even that game had a twist. One young fan, David Keyte, who later became the club's chairman, remembered his coach breaking down. He was heading out of the ground with Hereford a goal down when a corner brought a roar. He turned back in time to see Ken Mallender equalise, and Hereford went on to win in extra time.

Addison was only a few months into the job. He had arrived from Sheffield United that October, aged just 31, and took over from the great John Charles. He was full-time; almost everyone else in the squad had a day job.

The first game at St James' Park

Newcastle were huge favourites, fielding six internationals, while around 5,000 Hereford supporters travelled to the North East. Before setting off, the players asked chairman Frank Miles about a bonus. He first offered £50 a man for a result, but midfielder Tony Gough talked him up to £100.

It was money well spent. Hereford won a free kick straight from kick-off, lofted it into the box, and Brian Owen got round the Newcastle defence to beat Willie McFaul. The goal came after just 17 seconds. Newcastle were 2–1 up after 13 minutes through Malcolm Macdonald and John Tudor, but Addison equalised with a 25-yard shot and it finished 2–2 in front of 39,301.

The long wait for the replay

That winter was wretched. The replay was postponed three times, and Newcastle kept travelling south, ending up staying far longer than planned at a hotel in Worcester. Macdonald later laughed about it. With only overnight bags, the Newcastle players went shopping in Worcester for fresh socks, pants and shirts, and passed the hours playing cribbage in an old pub nicknamed the Dirty Duck. Hereford's part-timers just carried on with normal life. Radford, a carpenter, said the delays didn't trouble them at all.

The press added some needle. Papers claimed Macdonald had boasted he would beat Ted MacDougall's FA Cup scoring record. Macdonald later insisted the story was made up, but Addison pinned the clipping to the Hereford dressing room wall anyway.

Matchday

The game finally went ahead on 5 February, the date set aside for fourth-round ties. Edgar Street was packed to its 14,313 capacity, with fans up trees and on the floodlight pylons. Extra tickets had been printed, so the real crowd was reckoned to be over 16,000. Keyte later said his father, the local police chief, had quietly told the club to go ahead and print a few more.

The BBC sent a 26-year-old John Motson, on trial as a commentator. Coleman and Davies were at the big fourth-round games, so Motson was sent to Hereford as an afterthought, for what his bosses assumed would be a routine away win. He had travelled down with an old friend from his Barnet newspaper days: Ricky George, Hereford's substitute. The night before, in the hotel bar, Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn told George he should be in bed. When George replied that he was only the sub, Milburn told him he might have to come on and score the winner.

The pitch was in a dreadful state. It was very muddy before kick-off and quickly turned into a quagmire.

First half: Potter stands tall

Newcastle, in their red away kit, came out flying. Macdonald pounced on a misdirected Radford header and burst into the box, but Fred Potter saved bravely at his feet. Hereford answered. Dudley Tyler had a couple of early efforts that McFaul dealt with, and Addison was booked for a late challenge on Irving Nattrass. From the free kick, Potter made another brave save with Pat Howard ready to pounce.

Then came the first big scare. Macdonald's looping header dropped into the net, but referee Dennis Turner disallowed it for Tudor's clear foul on Potter. The free kick produced one of the strangest moments of the match. Mick McLaughlin's clearance struck Tudor and flew back against the Hereford bar. Terry Hibbitt followed up and hit the crossbar again before Hereford scrambled it clear.

Hereford went in level at the break, and Addison's message was simple: keep working, keep believing, keep battling.

Second half: so close, then a sucker punch

Hereford began the second half brightly. Tyler had a shot saved at the near post from the edge of the area. Then a corner found Mallender at the back post; his header hit the post, and Alan Jones fired the rebound just wide.

Newcastle cranked up the pressure. Macdonald's bullet header from a corner looked bound for the corner of the net until Potter flew across to stop it. Supermac later said the Hereford keeper seemed to stop everything, like a hero from an old schoolboy comic. Then came the miss of the afternoon. Macdonald took Hibbitt's pass, rounded Potter, and somehow missed an open goal, to the delight of the home crowd.

He made amends in the 82nd minute. Viv Busby crossed deep from the right and Macdonald headed in at the far post. With eight minutes left, it looked like the end of a gallant effort.

85 minutes: Radford's rocket

Addison made his move straight away. Ricky George came on for Roger Griffiths, the Hereford-born full-back who had broken his leg earlier in the game and kept playing through the pain. George remembered Griffiths limping off and still shouting encouragement to him as he ran on.

The fresh legs made the difference almost immediately. George won the ball on the left, turned and found Mallender. His long ball was flicked on by Billy Meadows and only half cleared. In midfield, Radford beat Tudor to the loose ball and played a one-two with Brian Owen. The return bobbled on the mud but sat up nicely, and Radford let fly from 30 yards. In Motson's words, it “flew into the top corner of McFaul's net”.

Edgar Street exploded. Parka-clad kids swarmed onto the mud, and Radford disappeared under them with his arms raised. There are some lovely stories from that moment. A policeman on the touchline, Grenville Smith, admitted he was such a big fan that he joined the pitch invasion before remembering he was supposed to be stopping it. Radford's wife missed the goal entirely because she had turned round to talk to their son at the exact moment he struck it.

Extra time: the sub delivers

Newcastle were rattled, and Hereford could sense it. Addison later said he looked at the opposition and felt certain it was going to be Hereford's day.

The winner came in the 103rd minute. Radford found Tyler on the right, and Tyler drove a firm pass into George. George took a couple of touches, turned and shot. The ball got past a last-ditch challenge from Bobby Moncur and beat McFaul into the far corner, sparking another pitch invasion. The policeman was back on the pitch again too, this time throwing his helmet in the air.

Hereford defended heroically for the remaining minutes and held on. Joe Harvey shook Addison's hand at the end, and Addison admitted he had a little cry in the dressing room afterwards.

The aftermath

The result turned the BBC's plans on their head. They had meant to show only a short clip, with Liverpool v Leeds and Preston v Manchester United as the main games, but Hereford became the lead match on Match of the Day. Motson later said the BBC handed him a three-year contract on the back of it. George, Meadows and Motson drove back to north London, picked up fish and chips, and sat on Meadows' carpet watching the highlights together.

Radford's strike was voted Goal of the Season, and for years it featured in the Match of the Day opening titles. Hereford's reward was a home tie with West Ham. They drew 0–0 at Edgar Street, then lost the replay 3–1 at Upton Park in front of 42,271, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick. That summer, after finishing Southern League runners-up, Hereford were elected to the Football League.

The win was also historic: it was the first time a non-league club had beaten top-flight opposition in a competitive game since Yeovil beat Sunderland in 1949. Years later, the FA's Giant-Killing Award was first named after Radford, and he presented it at half-time of the FA Cup Final.

The heroes: Fred Potter in goal; Roger Griffiths, who played on with a broken leg; Ken Mallender; Mick McLaughlin; Alan Jones; player-manager Colin Addison; Tony Gough; Dudley Tyler; Brian Owen; Billy Meadows; Ronnie Radford; and substitute Ricky George.