1972–73 Hereford United F.C. season

May 2024 May 2024 Hereford United 1972–73 Colin Addison Frank Miles Edgar Street Division Four 2nd League Cup First round FA Cup First round Welsh Cup Semi-final Brian Owen (11) Brian Owen (13) 14,849 v Newport County, Division Four, 7 April 1973 4,100 v Pembroke Borough, Welsh Cup, 3 January 1973 8,917 6–1 v Pembroke Borough (H), Welsh Cup, 3 January 1973 1–4 v Aston Villa (A), League Cup, 16 August 19721–4 v Lincoln City (A), Division Four, 9 September 1972 1971–72 1973–74 The 1972–73 season was the 44th season of competitive football played by Hereford United Football Club and their first in the Football League following election from non-league at the end of the previous season. The club competed in Division Four, as well as the League Cup, FA Cup and Welsh Cup. Background Hereford ended the 1971–72 Southern League season as runners-up, two points behind champions Chelmsford City. They also reached the final of the Southern League Cup and enjoyed a run to the fourth round of the FA Cup which included a famous win over Newcastle United that put the club in the national spotlight. Hereford applied for election to the Football League and were duly voted in at the expense of Barrow.Parrott 1998 13–15 Summary Hereford made their league bow in a 1–0 defeat away to Colchester United. The following weekend, Kenny Wallace scored their first league goal in a 3–0 home win over Reading, although the honour of Hereford's first scorer in a competitive match as a league club went to George Johnston in a midweek League Cup defeat to Aston Villa. After 14 matches, Hereford had notched up only one further win and lay 21st in the division, but they doubled their tally in the next two matches by beating Northampton Town and leaders Mansfield Town. This started a 14 match unbeaten run that saw Hereford surge up the table to become promotion contenders. They maintained this good form, losing only three of their last 17 matches, but still needed at least a point from their final match against Crewe Alexandra to guarantee promotion. In the event, Hereford managed a 1–0 win courtesy of a goal by David Jenkins. Hereford's average home crowd of nearly 9,000 was the highest in the Fourth Division (Reading's 5,521 being the next highest) and higher than all bar six clubs from the Third Division. They lost only once at Edgar Street and dropped just a single point from their last 17 home matches. This was the only season at the club for goalkeeper David Icke. Despite suffering from rheumatoid arthritis which would force him to quit the game at the age of 21, Icke kept 18 clean sheets in 37 league appearances and did not once feature on the losing side at home.Parrott 1998 16–20 Squad Players who made one appearance or more for Hereford United F.C. during the 1972-73 season Pos.Nat.NameLeagueLeague CupFA CupWelsh CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENGDavid Icke370001040420GKENGFred Potter90100000100DFENGSteve Emery0000000(1)00(1)0DFENGRoger Griffiths7(2)00000108(2)0DFWALAlan Jones281101010311DFWALMick McLaughlin321100030361DFENGKen Mallender450101040510DFENGTommy Naylor35(2)010103040(2)0DFENGBilly Tucker428101041489MFENGColin Addison161000000161MFENGHarry Gregory393000020413MFENGRon Radford283101020323MFENGDavid Rudge31(2)3000(1)03134(3)4MFWALClive Slattery3(5)010102(1)17(6)1MFENGColin Tavener28(1)100104133(1)2FWENGColin Hall (on loan from Bristol City)5000000050FWENGIvan Hollett112100000122FWENGDavid Jenkins (on loan from Brentford)8(2)30000008(2)3FWSCOGeorge Johnston15(3)50(1)1002217(4)8FWENGDavid Layne (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)4000000040FWENGBrian Owen31(5)1110104237(5)13FWENGEric Redrobe269001020299FWENGKenny Wallace26(6)410103131(6)5 Parrott 1998 172-173Rothmans 1973-74 235–236 League table Fourth Division y HER Results Fourth Division 1972–73 Football League 1 12 August 1972 Colchester United 1–0 L Hereford United Foley 47 Layer Road Colchester 6,083 2 19 August 1972 Hereford United 3–0 W Reading Wallace 27Addison 61Hollett 86 Edgar Street Hereford 8,839 3 26 August 1972 Bradford City 1–1 D Hereford United Gilliver 35 Johnston 60 Valley Parade Bradford 3,969 4 30 August 1972 Crewe Alexandra 2–1 L Hereford United Humphreys 48 58 pen. Hollett 8 Gresty Road Crewe 3,820 5 2 September 1972 Hereford United 0–0 D Workington Edgar Street Hereford 7,581 6 9 September 1972 Lincoln City 4–1 L Hereford United Bradley 26 46McNeil 50 65 Johnston 47 Sincil Bank Lincoln 4,971 7 16 September 1972 Hereford United 0–0 D Gillingham Edgar Street Hereford 6,796 8 19 September 1972 Hereford United 1–2 L Barnsley Johnston 15 pen. Lea 2 56 Edgar Street Hereford 6,857 9 22 September 1972 Southport 2–0 L Hereford United Lee 13McPhee 32 Haig Avenue Southport 3,311 10 26 September 1972 Doncaster Rovers 0–0 D Hereford United Belle Vue Doncaster 3,111 11 30 September 1972 Hereford United 2–1 W Torquay United Johnston 57 90 Arnold 55 Edgar Street Hereford 7,009 12 7 October 1972 Hereford United 0–0 D Hartlepool Edgar Street Hereford 7,521 13 11 October 1972 Cambridge United 1–0 L Hereford United Phillips 4 Abbey Stadium Cambridge 4,312 14 14 October 1972 Exeter City 1–0 L Hereford United Banks 8 St James Park Exeter 4,516 15 21 October 1972 Hereford United 2–0 W Northampton Town Radford 12Wallace 70 Edgar Street Hereford 7,202 16 25 October 1972 Hereford United 3–1 W Mansfield Town Wallace 11Redrobe 75Owen 85 Wignall 34 Edgar Street Hereford 10,095 17 28 October 1972 Peterborough United 1–1 D Hereford United Smith 20 Owen 77 London Road Peterborough 6,196 18 4 November 1972 Hereford United 3–2 W Doncaster Rovers Redrobe 35Owen 37Haselden 64 o.g. Haselden 51 89 Edgar Street Hereford 8,223 19 11 November 1972 Barnsley 0–0 D Hereford United Oakwell Barnsley 2,823 20 25 November 1972 Hereford United 1–0 W Aldershot Rudge 34 Edgar Street Hereford 6,667 21 28 November 1972 Newport County 0–1 W Hereford United Redrobe 52 pen. Somerton Park Newport 8,772 22 9 December 1972 Hereford United 1–0 W Bury Jones 8 Edgar Street Hereford 6,566 23 22 December 1972 Stockport County 1–1 D Hereford United Griffiths 69 Rudge 66 Edgeley Park Stockport 8,772 24 26 December 1972 Hereford United 2–2 D Southport Owen 16Tucker 90 Fryatt 52Lloyd 62 Edgar Street Hereford 10,491 25 30 December 1972 Reading 0–1 W Hereford United Owen 44 Elm Park Reading 5,207 26 6 January 1973 Hereford United 1–0 W Bradford City Wallace 82 Edgar Street Hereford 8,193 27 13 January 1973 Mansfield Town 1–1 D Hereford United Ellis 48 Gregory 67 Field Mill Mansfield 5,530 28 17 January 1973 Hereford United 3–1 W Chester Rudge 10Redrobe 24 29 Clapham 80 Edgar Street Hereford 8,795 29 20 January 1973 Workington 2–1 L Hereford United Irving 39Helliwell 87 Owen 68 Borough Park Workington 2,065 30 27 January 1973 Hereford United 2–1 W Lincoln City Tavener 45Tucker 57 Tavener 69 o.g. Edgar Street Hereford 8,639 31 3 February 1973 Hereford United 2–1 W Cambridge United Redrobe 27Tucker 57 Greenhalgh 90 Edgar Street Hereford 8,907 32 10 February 1973 Gillingham 2–0 L Hereford United Richardson 18Peach 62 pen. Priestfield Gillingham 6,115 33 17 February 1973 Hereford United 4–1 W Colchester United Tucker 2 65Gregory 40Redrobe 80 Svarc 75 Edgar Street Hereford 7,624 34 24 February 1973 Chester 0–1 W Hereford United Gregory 36 Sealand Road Chester 4,264 35 3 March 1973 Hartlepool 0–1 W Hereford United McLaughlin 33 Victoria Ground Hartlepool 5,253 36 5 March 1973 Darlington 2–2 D Hereford United Sinclair 45 75 Owen 12 38 Feethams Darlington 2,074 37 10 March 1973 Hereford United 1–0 W Exeter City Redrobe 84 Edgar Street Hereford 11,302 38 12 March 1973 Hereford United 1–0 W Darlington Tucker 60 Edgar Street Hereford 10,150 39 17 March 1973 Northampton Town 0–4 W Hereford United Redrobe 22Tucker 44Radford 47Owen 83 County Ground Northampton 4,479 40 24 March 1973 Hereford United 3–0 W Peterborough United Jenkins 41Owen 60Radford 74 Edgar Street Hereford 9,515 41 31 March 1973 Aldershot 2–0 L Hereford United Melledew 29Howarth 32 Recreation Ground Aldershot 7,060 42 7 April 1973 Hereford United 2–0 W Newport County Owen 56Jenkins 61 Edgar Street Hereford 14,849 43 14 April 1973 Bury 3–0 L Hereford United Spence 12 18Tinsley 65 Gigg Lane Bury 4,319 44 18 April 1973 Hereford United 1–0 W Stockport County Tucker 90 Edgar Street Hereford 10,612 45 24 April 1973 Torquay United 0–0 D Hereford United Plainmoor Torquay 5,079 46 28 April 1973 Hereford United 1–0 W Crewe Alexandra Jenkins 47 Edgar Street Hereford 12,616 Parrott 1998 168–171Rothmans 1973-74 234 League Cup 1972–73 Football League Cup First round 16 August 1972 Aston Villa 4–1 L Hereford United B. Rioch 24Graydon 46Vowden 71Evans 87 Johnston 82 Villa Park Birmingham 32,314 Rothmans 1973-74 512 FA Cup 1972–73 FA Cup First round 18 November 1972 Torquay United 3–0 L Hereford United Stocks 12Harrison 62Twitchin 85 Plainmoor Torquay 4,851 Rothmans 1973-74 492 Welsh Cup 1972–73 Welsh Cup Fourth round 3 January 1973 Hereford United 6–1 W Pembroke Borough Owen 15 33Tavener 30Rudge 43Tucker 55Slattery 66 Todd 18 Edgar Street Hereford 4,100 Fifth round 7 February 1973 Hereford United 0–0 D Merthyr Tydfil Edgar Street Hereford 8,462 Fifth round replay 14 February 1973 Hereford United 3–0 W Merthyr Tydfil Johnston 43 62 pen.Wallace 82 Edgar Street Hereford 5,198 Played at Edgar Street after Merthyr chose to waive home rights Semi-final 27 February 1973 Bangor City 2–0 L Hereford United Marsden 1 73 Farrar Road Bangor 4,000 References Bibliography Parrott Ron Hereford United: The League Era - A Complete Record Desert Island Books 1998 1-874287-18-X Rothmans 1973-74 Rothmans Football Yearbook 1973-74 (Editors: Graeme Wright and Peter Dunk) 4 June 1973 Queen Anne Press 0-362-00142-1 Category:Hereford United F.C. seasons Hereford United F.C.