Feb 2nd:
THE Hereford United Supporters Site Player Of The Year Winner is Ian Wright. He polled 43% of the votes, and beat nearest rivals Mark Taylor (13%) and Gavin Williams (11%). Here are the results:
1.) Ian Wright - 20 - 43%
2.) Gavin Williams - 5 - 11%
3.) Robin Elmes 2 - 4%
4.) Paul Fewings 4 - 9%
5.) Tony James - 3 - 6%
6.) Mark Jones - 1 - 2%
7.) Andrew Quy - 0 - 0%
8.) Paul Parry - 4 - 9%
9.) Mark Taylor - 6 - 13%
10.) Other - 2 - 4%
Feb 3rd:
HEREFORD United will have Matt Clarke and club captain and Site Player Of The Year Ian Wright back for the away match at Northwich Victoria on Saturday. Northwich lost 6-0 in their last match to Rushden and lost 3-0 at Edgar Street in their last meeting with the Bulls but will be eager to pick up at least a point at the Drill Field on Saturday.
Feb 5th:
NORTHWICH Victoria 0 - 0 Hereford United
Hereford travelled to Northwich knowing that they had a hard task on their hands. Despite losing 6-0 to Rushden last week, Northwich had not lost at home in the league this season and United had to play well to stop that run. The first half was pretty uneventful, with Hereford being caught offside three times but having two shots on target to Northwich's three. Hereford made a substitution just into the second half as Elmes was replaced by Leroy May.
Two solid defensive performances could again be seen in the second period and neither goalkeeper had much work to do throughout the ninety minutes. With seventeen minutes left Hereford created the best chance of the game. Paul Sturgess spung the offside trap and passed a through b\all to Leroy May. Malcolm Rigby, the Northwich keeper, made a perfect tackle to clear the ball when one on one. Northwich striker Holt played well and Fewings had a good header late on, Rigby spilled the shot but it was cleared by the defenders. Referee M Atkinson made only one booking, on 78 minutes, for a foul by Leroy May. This was simply the most unentertaining and boring match Hereford United have participated in all season.
Attendance = 1,104
Man of the match - Malcolm Rigby (Northwich Victoria)
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, White, Rodgerson, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - May, Fewings
Feb 6th:
REPORTS close to Halesowen Town have said that Hereford United are negotiating terms with Halesowen Town goalkeeper Danny McDonnell. He is reported to have been offered £600 a week and will join former Halesowen players Robin Elmes, Steve Piearce and John Snape at Edgar Street. More details to be posted as they come available.
Feb 7th:
FURTHER information has been revealed about the link with Halesowen's Danny McDonnell. He is regarded as one of the top goalies in the Dr. Marthens Premier League. He is out of contract at the end of the season and will be available on a free transfer but Halesowen may look to cash in on him whilst they still can. The wage of £600 a week was hugely inflated, but a deal could be likely due to Hereford's goalkeeping crisis this season.
Feb 9th:
MIDFIELDER Gavin Williams and defender Tony James have signed new two year contracts with Hereford United after a meeting with Graham Turner. Both players are highly rated and subsequent transfers could land a good amount of money to the club. Paul Parry may also sign a new deal later today.
Feb 10th:
TONY James will be out with an ankle injury and will miss the weekend trip to Doncaster Rovers. Better news, however, has been announced. Wonder winger Paul Parry has signed a new two-year contract.
Feb 12th:
HEREFORD United have secured the services of starlets Paul Parry, Gavin Williams and Tony James until 2002.
But manager Graham Turner admitted: "We will be lucky to hold onto them that long!"
Their current contracts were all up in the summer, but Turner was delighted to nip any speculation in the bud by getting the trio - all 20 or under - to sign two year extended deals.
He revealed scouts from pro clubs have been tracking the fortunes of midfielders Parry and Williams and defender James, who all sprang to prominence in the Bulls' storming FA Cup exploits.
While Hereford would have been entitled to any move if they had left in the summer - all three are too young to come under the Bosman Ruling - it does avoid any need to go to a tribunal if a pro clubs does make a move for them.
"A number of clubs have asked to be kept informed of how the lads are doing but we have had no bids yet," said Turner.
"But I think they have got every chance of making a name for themselves at a higher level.
"I'm pleased we have settled the issue of contracts now. They have signed with the proviso that if a club comes in with the right offer we wouldn't stand in their way. I think that's only a matter of time."
Steve Piearce faced up to more injury frustration and confessed: It's been a nightmare season.
The Hereford United striker has been limited to just half a dozen games since his summer move from Halesowen Town.
And he fears the season will be all but over before he can start proving his worth to the Bulls.
Piearce saw a specialist this week over the painful back problem which has kept him sidelined. He is due to return to Oswestry again next week for a CT scan to check if there is any damage to his vertebrae.
"The specialist said there was obviously a problem there but he could explain what it was," said Piearce. "I've got to have another scan and hopefully that will find out what is wrong.
"I've never had a problem with my back before and I need to get to the bottom of it."
Piearce has tried to return to training a couple of weeks ago but the problem flared up again and now he is just trying to keep some level of fitness on an exercise bike and by swimming.
"I'm just so fed up with it all," he said. "It's just so frustrating.
"I'm a terrible spectator - I just want to get back playing again."
Feb 12th:
DONCASTER Rovers 2 - 2 Hereford United
After the epic encounter earlier in the season at Edgar Street, in which United emerged victorious 5-3, a game half as good would keep the crowd happy at Belle Vue. The first half, however, did not go as planned for Graham Turner's men. It wasn't long after the start that Doncaster Rovers took the lead, through McIntyre in just the fourth minute. He struck a curling shot into the roof of the net from just outside the box following a good free kick routine involving Atkins and Penney. Before that Hereford could, and should have taken the lead. Ian Rodgerson's shot was blocked by Barnyard after an awful mix-up in the Rover's defence. A few minutes after the goal, both May and Williams had chances to equalise in the half which Hereford battled well in. Hereford skipper Ian Wright had an excellent game in defence and he also went close to scoring with seven minutes of the half left, but his header was saved from a Paul Sturgess free-kick. Two Rovers players were booked in the first half by referee Mr M. Maynard, Penney on 40 minutes for a foul and Barnyard seconds later, again for a foul. United also received two cautions : Leroy May on fourty three minutes for a foul, and again John Snape (foul) on the stroke of half time. Despite the bookings, there were numerous chances, with both sides leaving the field at the break with goal attempts at 3-3. Hereford, however, were yet to be awarded a corner kick.
The second half brought a fresh look, but this was not to be seen until later in the period. McIntyre was book on the hour but the introduction of substitute Paul Fewings brought an extra dimension to Hereford United. They looked dynamic, and it took only four minutes for the Bulls to level the score, thanks to a goal from the substitute. His overhead kick after good work by White left goalkeeper Andy Warrington with no chance. Doncaster then pulled a goal back through striker Dino Maamria, but Hereford were not about to lie down and die. Young star Paul Parry was introduced to play and Leroy May came up with the winner with nine minutes left. It was Parry's cross which presented May with the header. A good performance by the Bulls resulted in a vital point after a poor run in recent weeks.
Attendance = 2,767
Man of the match - Ian Wright
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, White, Rodgerson, Taylor, May, Williams, James
Sub(s) who came on - Parry, Fewings
Feb 15th:
HEREFORD United are now just three points behind Morecambe in the National Fair Play League. Mark Wright's Southport are currently lying in 3rd.
Feb 16th:
HEREFORD United are now 50/1 to win this season's Conference League. The favourites are current runners-up Rushden & Diamonds, with Kidderminster Harriers second.
GRAHAM Turner is pleased with Hereford youngsters who have signed new two year contracts. "They (James, Parry and Williams) are good, quality players who have the chance of developing their careers to the highest level," declared Hereford United's director of football, "We're pleased to have signed the three on extended contracts, but we've also taken account of the fact that clubs are keeping a close eye on their progress."
Further talks - There are to be more meetings over the next few weeks in order to discuss the possible redevelopment of Hereford's city centre, the area around the cattle market and the football stadium.
Bulls in the Conference - Paul Fewings is =7th top scorer in the Conference with eleven goals, and Hereford are =2nd with Dover Athletic at scoring a home league goal (39 minutes, 1 minute behind Rushden & Diamonds). However, their away league goals tally is not as good. It takes Hereford 98 minutes to score away from home, the third worst in the league. Overall that places them =6th (56 minutes). Their defensive record is also pretty bad. At home they concede a goal every 58 minutes (5th worst), but away is 65 minutes (9th best). Overall, they are =11th (62 minutes), showing that they concede almost as often as they score!
Feb 17th:
EASTER Egg-stravaganza - Great stuff coming up at Easter for Hereford United fans. On Saturday April 1st, there's the Emlyn Hughes Celebrity Team v Hereford Select match, and a disco and buffet at the Green Dragon Hotel. That includes the Grand Draw & Auction from 8pm with stars from Eastenders, Emmerdale, Brookside and Grange Hill plus ex professional players including Emlyn Hughes. Also former Hereford United stars will attend. On Sunday 2nd April there is another Celebrity Match at Edgar Street (kick-off 11am). Tickets (Sat & Sun all inclusive) £20. Tickets for the match only - Adults £4 Child/OAP £2. Full information is available from the clubb office on 01432276666.
Don't forget the 24 hours sponsored Football Marathon on the 13th/14th May at Edgar Street. More information aslo available from the club office in a few weeks time.
Dover news - Hereford are hoping to gain three points when they take on high flying Dover Athletic this weekend. Dover lost 4-0 to Rushden last Saturday, but Paul Sturgess could be doubtful for the game as he felt unwell last week. Steve Piearce and James Wall are still out, but otherwise Turner has a full squad to pick from.
Funding found - Funding for the redevelopment scheme in the centre of Hereford, including a new stand at Edgar Street, has been found. £100 million has been pledged by Advantage West Midlands, a regional development company.
Council leader Terry James has welcomed the news and has also talked about his own view for the future of the area.
His plan is for both the football ground and the cattle market to stay where they are but 'completely revamped'.
According to the Hereford Times:
Hereford United would benefits from a refurbished or even rebuilt stadium, leading city sports clubs would have social/administration space and access to a specialist physiotherapy unit.
A multiplex is mooted for Lower Merton Meadow and a hotel/conference centre/offices for Blackfriars Street.
Garrick House would make way for a retail mall while units at the Cattle Market would make way for a purpose-built farmers/produce mart.
Feb 19th:
SIMON Wormull, the influential Dover Athletic midfielder,is likely to miss today's match at Edgar Street. He was stretchered off during Dover's 4-0 defeat to Rushden and Diamonds last weekend and has damaged his achilles tendon.
Feb 19th:
HEREFORD United expect to have further talks with council leaders over plans to redevelop the area around their Edgar Street home.
Manager and chairman Graham Turner has already met the council leader to consider the proposed revamp.
The major re-development aims to incorporate football, cinema, hotel, car park and other leisure facilities in the town.
"We had an amicable meeting," said Turner.
"We have an open mind on the proposals. It is definitely an exciting project if it comes to fruition.
"Council Leader Terry James's ideas are if nothing else very ambitious and on the face of it could be a tremendous boost to the city.
"However they are very much in their infancy without us having any knowledge at all of the outcome for the club."
HEREFORD United 2 - 0 Dover Athletic
High flying Dover Athletic were put to shame by a determined Hereford side who are now undefeated in the League since December 18th when they lost to Scarborough. The Whites were seeking revenge for their 2-0 away defeat in September and duly found it thanks to their fruitful strikeforce of Leroy May and Paul Fewings.
It became apparent early on that Hereford were to have the best of the play - as early as the first minute shots were being fired towards Paul Hyde's goal. It took a while for Hereford to enter their stride and they eventually scored with six minutes of the first half remaining. From a corner, the ball was scambled around the box and eventually turned in by Paul Fewings. However, the referee judged that there was a push by a Bulls player in the box meaning the goal was disallowed. This was confirmed by the female assistant on the Len Weston side of the ground.
Dover had very little of the play in the first half but it was deep into injury time until Hereford broke the deadlock. Leroy May turned provider as PauL fewings got onto the end of his pass to make it 1-0. Graham Turner must have been delighted with his sides first half performance, and on-loan goalkeeper Scott Cooksey hadn't had to make a save in a dire first half from a Dover point of view.
Whatever Bill Williams said at half time made no difference as Hereford continued to attack the Dover goal in numbers. The inevitable second goal came eight minutes into the half as Hyde dropped a shot from Leroy May only for Fewings to knock in. Dover came back and went close three times, but on each occasion Scott Cooksey was on hand to make superb saves. With five minutes to go he failed to catch a Dover chance but captain Ian Wright was on hand to clear off the line.
How it was only 2-0 I'll never know. Hereford had twenty goal-attempts, ten of which were on target, but they will take heart from another clean sheet, despite some desperate defending at times. Three Dover players, Morrison, Strouts and Shearer were booked for fouls and all Bulls fans will be upbeat about a great performance and a good win against on of the top sides in the Conference.
After the match, goalie Scott Cooksey told a local radio reporter that he is enjoying his time and Hereford and wouldn't mind making the move permanent. He still has 18 months left to run on his contract at Shrewsbury but if the managers can strike a deal he may well become a full-time fixture at Edgar Street.
Attendance = 2,003
Man of the match - Paul Fewings
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, James, Snape, Wright, White, Rodgerson, Taylor, May, Fewings, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - Williams
Feb 20th:
STEVE Piearce has baffled medical specialists with his mystery back problem. The injury has kept him out of the side for most of the season and it is looking likely that he will not play for the Bulls' again this campaign. Graham Turner wrote in the programme notes for the Dover Athletic match that he had attended various hospitals and had stayed at Lilleshal, the FA's rehabilitation headquarters. He is currently unable to train or play for the team.
WANTED - 20 people for 'Fun' Penalty Shoot Out
FIRST ROUND - 29th April (vs Welling)
FINAL - 6th May (vs Sutton)
To be held before the match and at half-time. Try your skills against the reserve goalkeeper.
Winner gets - a trophy, two seats on the team bus and tickets to an away match.
All you have to do is get £75 Sponsorship
To register call 01432 90205 or 01432 359389
Feb 22nd:
AFTER their 2-0 win over Dover on Saturday, Hereford became the only Conference team yet to lose a league match in the year 2000. The run is now six matches into the new millennium, and doesn't include Hereford's 1-1 draw with Kidderminster on December 27th. In fact, Hereford's last league defeat came when they were hammered 3-0 by Scarborough on December 18th, but they have since lost cup matches to both Leicester City and Billericay Town.
Feb 23rd:
AT the Fans Forum on 15th February HUISA announced that we are going to contest the Hereford Council elections in May 2000. This news was received as something of a sensation by all those present, whether supporters or the representatives of the media. We had deliberately waited until the Fans Forum to go public on this, to gain maximum impact. Our press release summarised the background:
We have taken this action in response to an apparent lack of interest in United's cause by the majority of current councillors. The future of Hereford United FC has been in the balance since relegation from The Football League in 1997. The previous board of directors negotiated a deal which will lead to the sale of Edgar Street for redevelopment and a move to a new ground. The search for and the building of a new ground is vital to the club's survival.
Local councillors have been approached to support this cause. Only some have shown any interest in the revived county's senior football club. Over the past three months HUISA has been assessing the positions of Herefordshire councillors. We have identified the wards where councillors will support our aims. We intend to contest other wards on a platform of Hereford United and a series of local issues.
This is a decision which has not been taken lightly. The committee has done its homework concerning the rules and regulations governing the election and the prospects for HUISA candidates in each of the county's 30 wards.
We have not publicly revealed our full plans because what would give away too much to the opposition parties. Bear in mind that the regular political parties are experienced electioneers and shrewd with it. However, the opposition reckoned with HUISA's own political 'mastermind' Kevin Wargen, a former Hereford councillor himself!
The main political parties are drawing up their plans and have begun looking for their candidates. HUISA already has a number of candidates lined up. Nonetheless, the more candidates who want to get involved the better.
If any HUISA member wishes to stand, or to assist during the run up to the election, please contact Kevin Wargen, Richard Tomkins or any other committee member.
STOP PRESS...HUISA HAS BEEN INUNDATED WITH PHONE CALLS AND LETTER OF SUPPORT FOLLOWING OUR PRESS RELEASE...HUISA WILL FIGHT FOR OUR CLUB...STOP PRESS
Feb 24th:
THE club have announced that two new directors have joined the boardroom at Edgar Street. The first is Grenville Smith, a retired policeman, and the other is Steve Bayliss as the supporters representitive. There are now eight people on the board. Smith worked in the police for thirty years and retired last year. He is a lifelong fan of the club, and also takes up safety duties at Edgar Street. Bayliss is a committee member of HUISA and was elected by a liason committee. He will represent supporters. Graham Turner was pleased with both new members and hopes they will play an important role in the future.
Matches are vital to promotion hopes - This weekend, Hereford United must play two matches which could make-or-break their season. On Saturday they travel to Church Road to take on Hayes, who beat United 2-0 at Edgar Street last October. On Monday Evening, the Bulls' take on Stevenage Borough and will seek revenge for a 2-1 defeat in September. Interestingly, these are the only two teams to have left Edgar Street with three points this season. Quy, James and Wall are all fit, leaving a full squad with only Steve Piearce out through a long-term back injury.
Turner must decide - Graham Turner has until after the game against Hayes on Saturday to decide whether to extend the loan periods of Tom White and Scott Cooksey. Hereford are unbeaten since they have joined but with regular defender Tony James and 'keeper Andrew Quy back it is unclear whether they will stay for another month. Scott Cooksey has conceded two goals and kept three clean sheets in his four games since his move from Shrewsbury Town. Bristol Rovers' Tom White has also played in those four matches.
New player-coach? - Stoke City's Phil Robinson could join Hereford United as player-coach in the near future. He has played for nine league clubs including Wolves and Notts County, but any move is only at the tentative stage at present.
Dixie to return on April 2nd - In the Celebrity XI vs United Select XI, Dixie McNeil has agreed to return to Edgar Street. Also on the Hereford side will be Dudley Tyler, Steve Emery, Tommy Hughes, Stewart Phillips and Tony Byrne.
Feb 26th:
GRAHAM Turner has extended the loans of Scott Cooksey and Tom White for another month.
Feb 26th:
CAPTAIN Ian Wright will urge his Hereford United team-mates to end the season in style - and set down a marker as the team to beat for next season reports the Birmingham Post.
Realistically, the Bulls have dropped too many points to catch top two Rushden & Diamonds and Kidderminster Harriers.
But no-nonsense defender Wright insists Hereford have the quality to match the best. What they need in consistency.
Last week's win over title hopefuls Dover proved the former, but, more significantly, it extended their unbeaten run to seven matches - the best in the Conference.
"I think we are one of the better teams in the Conference and we have proved that against the top teams," said Wright.
"We drew twice with Kidderminster over Christmas and New Year and could have won both games, and we beat Rushden 4-0 at our place.
"In the early part of the season, we didn't have the consistency but we seem to be getting that now.
"Hopefully, next year if we can keep the squad together we will have a good team to challenge."
Wright still recalls the highs of the FA Cup exploits with Leicester City in December, but he is equally pleased that Hereford have been able to keep their season ticking over.
Now he suggests they should be targeting a top three finish to really prove the Bulls are on the way back.
He feels the on-loan arrivals of Scott Cooksey and Tom White - a former team-mate of Wright's at Bristol Rovers -have made a difference. They were due to play their last games of the initial month spell from Shrewsbury and Bristol respectively in today's match at Hayes.
Feb 26th:
HAYES 0 - 0 Hereford United
Hereford United will be disappointed that they didn't come back from Hednesford with three points, but will also be glad that their unbeaten run is now stretched to eight league games. Hayes hadn't drawn at home all season and this match proved to be a hard-fought affair. The Bulls were without hardman John Snape in midfield but Hayes recalled Mark Boyce to the team.
In the opening period, the defences played well and it took ten minutes until the crowd of 849 saw a shot on goal. It came thanks to Gavin Williams as he crossed in a good ball from the left, and goalkeeper Paul Gothard managed to tip it over for a corner. The first Hayes chance came ten minutes later as Terry Brown's men built-up a good move but midfielder Ryan Spencer hit wide from the edge of the box, and Lee Charles hit a shot over the bar from around twenty metres.
Paul Fewings should have put United 1-0 soon after, but he knocked the ball the wrong side of the post from a corner. Leroy May had a good chance, but a hint of offside meant the goalie smothered the ball to keep the game goalless. The second half continued to bring Hereford the best of the possession, but their inability to score cost them the vital goal. Hayes couldn't get a good string of passes together and neither side looked capable of scoring.
Club captain Ian Wright was stretchered off after thirteen minutes of the second half, and will probably be out for a while. His injury is unknown at the moment. Three minutes later, Charles had a shot from ten yards, but hit over, and Dave Stevens had another good chance but Cooksey, impressive in the away goal, pushed the shot away to his right.
The illusive goal looked to have come with eight minute left. Matt Clarke was judged offside by the referee and the goal was disallowed, and then he was promptly booked for removing his shirt during the short-lived celebrations. The referee and his assistants were awful, and spoiled what could have been an entertaining afternoon of football. They were inconsistent and penalised both sides for meaningless offences when there were times when play should have been stopped but wasn't.
Scott Cooksey earned his day's pay with a stunning save three minutes into injury time. Neil Trebble's header from 10 yards appeared to be destined for the top right hand corner but Cooksey somehow clawed the ball over the bar. This rounded up a great day for the on-loan Shrewsbury 'keeper who was given the man-of-the-match award by this website. Hereford remain in 9th place, but now must win at Stevenage on Monday to have any chance of challenging for the title this season.
Attendance = 849
Man of the match - Scott Cooksey
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, James, Clarke, Wright, White, Rodgerson, Taylor, May, Fewings, Williams
Sub(s) who came on - Sturgess, Elmes, Parry
Feb 28th:
STEVENAGE Borough 0 - 3 Hereford United
Hereford United travelled to Broadhall Way knowing any return from this match would be a good return for their travelling fans. Two changes were apparent to the side that drew with Hayes on Saturday, John Snape replaced Ian Wright and Paul Parry came into the team for Mark Taylor.
In the early periods, both sides played well but it took thirty-five minutes for either side to score. The goal came thanks to Paul Parry, who showed Graham Turner what he missed when Parry was on the bench on Saturday against Hayes. Then, two minutes later, United struck again. Ian Rodgerson got the goal to put the Bulls 2-0 up giving his side a healthy margin against a disorganised Stevenage Borough side who certainly have the talent but not enough leadership to become a great side. Despite this, they did hit the woodwork once in the first half, but went in at the break 2-0 down.
The referee, Mr K A Woolmer, made only one booking in the first half. Ian Rodgerson was booked on the half-hour mark, but it took Mr Woolmer only two minutes of the second half to use his card again. He showed the yellow card to Stevenage Borough midfielder Martin for a foul. However, the game became very boring with few chances and the frustration started to get to the players. Paul Sturgess was booked for dissent on 55 minutes, and with eleven minutes left goalscorer Parry was replaced for Williams by Graham Turner. With three minutes to go, Fewings was replaced by Elmes but Hereford had the three points wrapped up. Elmes, however, did get a late goal to add to the lead and wrapped up a good result for Hereford United. A pleasing result against a top side in the Conference, this will give extra confidence to the team for next weekends visit to Nuneaton Borough.
Attendance = 1,940
Man of the match - Paul Parry
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, James, Clarke, White, Rodgerson, Parry, Snape, May, Fewings, Sturgess
Sub(s) who came on - Elmes, Williams
Feb 28th:
NUNEATON manager Brendan Phillips watched next opponents Hereford United turn on the style to beat Stevenage 3-0 last night in Hertfordshire but is convinced his Boro boys can end the Bulls eight-match unbeaten Conference run at Manor Park on Saturday.
Graham Turner's men showed plenty of self belief and skill in the easy success at Broadhall Way and they're sure to come Nuneaton in a confident frame of mind, however, Phillips believes his side have now turned the corner following a poor run of results and ready to consolidate their top six position.
The Boro chief said: "Hereford impressed me a lot last night. They are well balanced, solid and have plenty of poise about them."
Feb 29th:
SHOULD Hereford United reach the top five of the Conference, home ticket prices will be raised by £1, the club has said.
Burton defence wall-ed up - Hereford defender James Wall has gone out on loan to Nigel Clough's side Burton Albion to stop a leaky defence.
HARTLEPOOL United fans who blame the Hereford mascot for their Cup defeat earlier this season will have mixed feelings at the news that the mascot in question - a rather large pedigree Hereford bull called Napoleon - has died after engaging in what bulls like doing best. Napoleon slipped amid all the excitement, broke a leg and had to be put down.
A Hereford supporters' association spokesman finds comfort in the manner of the unlucky mascot's demise. "It was" he says, "a hell of a way to go."
Sunday, 26 July 2009
January 2000
Jan 3rd:
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers 1 - 1 Hereford United (report by Terry Goodwin)
Just when Harriers think they could win this match comfortably, an old face appeared and gave them one hell of a fright. It was Leroy May who secured United the point at Aggborough in the second league encounter between the old rivals in a week. This was a true derby, with great action and heated encounters.
But unexpectedly, it was United who took an early lead - Leroy May, released by Harriers at the end of 1998/99 season, popped up to score in just the fourth minute. He took his chance well, and reminded the opposite fans what made him top-scorer last season. Fewings intercepted a poor clearance, but his shot went all wrong. Luckily Leroy was on hand to place the ball past Clarke for a narrow angle.
Fewings almost made up for that miss thirteen minutes later. Taylor swung in a free-kick onto Fewings' head who flicked it uder the bar. Clarke was on hand to fist it away for a corner to United.
Kidderminster's former United striker Ian Foster almost equalised in the first half when Skovbjerg knocked in a low cross, but Hadley missed it and Foster was destined to score. Matt Clarke, however, managed to turn the ball away for a corner and save United. Clarke was sent off on 57 minutes after recieving his second yellow card. H was cautioned in the first for a foul, and brought down Foster in the second who was destined for goal. The resulting free-kick was taken by Scott Stamps, it bounced off the United wall, and rattled the post.
United were living dangerously, and the inevitable equaliser came on 65 minutes. Mark Jones caught a long-range effort from Dean Bennett, but fumbled with the ball and Ian Foster was on hand to slot it home. 1-1. The man advantage had obviously paid off, but it wasn't to last long. Two minutes after the goal, former West Ham midfielder Mike Marsh was sent off. He had been booked in the first half, and for bringing down John Snape in the centre circle. Referee Andrew Penn sent off the Kidderminster captain.
Kidderminster continued to have the best of the play, and almost secured all three points with five minutes to go. Bennett's run split the United defence but his shot was rushed and went wide of the goal. A relieved Hereford side must be happy with a point from Aggborough, after losing a defender on 57 minutes.
Attendance = 4,606
Man of the match - Dean Bennett (Kidderminster)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, Clarke, Rodgerson, Taylor, May, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - Shirley, Elmes, Wall
Jan 4th:
ACCORDING to Teletext reports, top clubs are watching United winger Paul Parry. This was after outstanding performances in the two FA Cup Third Round matches against Leicester City.
Jan 5th:
A number of league clubs are keeping tabs on Paul Parry. Interested outfits are rumoured to include Premiership Coventry City and Division One high-flyers Huddersfield Town. Two Premier League clubs have asked Graham Turner to keep them posted on his progress. Matt Clarke and Craig Hanson have attracted informal attention, but no offer has been made by the unnamed side as yet.
Jan 6th:
MATT Clarke has been suspended for one match from the 17th January. This is after the Billericay Town Trophy match.
GRAHAM Turner has said that his side will be ready for a potential FA Umbro Trophy upset from Essex Ryman League side Billericay Town. Paul Parry and Tony James are expected to recover from injuries, but Paul Sturgess has damaged knee ligaments, and could be out for weeks. United will play Billericay on the 15th, and only have two Nationwide Conference home matches throughout the whole of January and February (22/1 Altrincham, 19/2 Dover Athletic).
The United boss was thankful for the FA Cup run: "Without the revenue we recieved from our FA Cup ties, financially it would have been a very worrying two months. We must now aim to be successful in the Trophy, while the chase for the Conference title is still wide open with only fifteen points seperating the top nineteen teams." United are currently ten points behind leaders Rushden and Diamonds.
Jan 8th:
FA Cup hero Rob Elmes can enjoy another dream come true after being called up for the FA XI for their latest England semi-pro trial game on Monday.
The Sutton teacher, whose goal earned Hereford United a Cup giant-killing over Hartlepool in November, has caught the eye of national team boss John Owens and gets his first FA call-up for the game with Combined Services at Worcester City (7.30).
The striker is one of three Bulls players in the squad. Skipper Ian Wright and left-back Paul Sturgess have also been included.
Jan 8th:
LEROY May hushed the Kidderminster crowd with the first Conference goal of the 21st century - and then promised Hereford United will still be big noises in the title race reports the Sports Argus.
The striker, Harriers' top scorer last term before being freed, took just four minutes to net Hereford's opener in Monday's New Year derby.
It silenced the Aggborough boo-boys and though Ian Foster earned Harriers a point, May is convinced Hereford remain firmly in the championship picture.
Hereford have proved their quality in their memorable FA Cup run but now they need to show consistency in the league to close the gap - currently ten points - on leaders Rushden & Diamonds.
"I believe we are still in there," vowed May. "Anyone can win this league. It's a matter of getting the run together.
"Kidderminster had high hopes of being top over Christmas. They probably thought they could have had six points against us. But we are still in the title race and we will have something to say.
"I hope we go on now and put in same good performance and get right up there with the pacesetters. It's really tight. There's only a couple of games here or there.
"You have got to be solid and consolidate."
May, having been a regular sub, was starting his first game since November and he was delighted to justify boss Graham Turner's decision to include him.
"It's good to get a start and get a goal," he said. "I'm sure the gaffer knew I would be up for it coming back to my old team.
"Some of the fans gave me a bit of stick and it was great to shut them up.
"Now I want to get back into the side regularly and keep my place."
Jan 10th:
ROBIN Elmes, Ian Wright and Mark Taylor have been selected for the England trial squad against the Combined Services tomorrow. All three will be available for the FA Trophy tie on Saturday, as will Paul Parry who will return after recovering from a groin injury.
Jan 12th:
HEREFORD's delayed Conference matches have been rescheduled : Stevenage Borough vs Hereford United for 21st February, and Kingstonian vs Hereford United for 22nd March.
Jan 13th:
ROBIN Elmes scored for the FA X1 as they beat the Combined Services 4-0 in their friendly match. Fellow teammates Ian Wright and Mark Taylor also participated in the match.
Billericay team news - United could have Tony James, Paul Sturgess and Gavin Williams back for the tie at Billericay Town on Saturday. Also to return is Paul Parry. Billericay are currently mid-table in the Rymans Premier League, but lost 4-0 to leaders Dagenham and Redbridge last weekend.
Jan 14th:
Billericay Town have announced that they expect a full house tomorrow as United play them at New Lodge in Essex. Manager Gary Calder is hoping for a 1,500 attendance as Billericay play for the first ever time against the Bulls. There are expected to be around 500 Hereford United fans at the FA Umbro Trophy match. Billericay's recent form is poor. They have lost seven of their last nine games but Calder is upbeat about the match.
"This is a great game for the club, but we're certainly not entering it thinking we're without a chance. We've had Hereford watched three times, had three training sessions ourselves this week, and hopefully have got our preparations spot on. If we go out there with the right attitude and defend properly – and that's something we've not been doing recently – we're in with a chance."
The Essex side may be without Steve Blaney who pulled a hamstring in training this week, and the chairman has asked all fans to arrive early if possible to avoid congestion. The clubhouse is open from 1pm, but everyone should be thinking about entering the ground at around 2.30pm.
THERE have been further suggestions from unofficial sources that an unnamed top club are to swoop for United midfielder Paul Parry.
Jan 15th:
IT'S has been a fairy tale season for Hereford United's Rob Elmes - but he still hopes there's another chapter of success still to be written.
A move to a Conference club, a place among the top scorers, an FA Cup giant-killing and a match-winning goal to boot, and now a chance to represent his country, the Sutton teacher of German has crammed more into half of one season than in the rest of his career.
But, pardon the pun, nothing would would cap the achievements of the 29-year-old than an England call-up.
The striker, plus Bulls' team-mates Ian Wright and Mark Taylor, figured in last Monday's FA XI trial game against the Combined Services, one of five matches designed for national semi-pro boss John Owens to select his squad for three internationals in the spring.
Elmes' continued the script for success with one of the goals in a 4-0 romp at Worcester City - Andy Thackeray (Nuneaton), Marc McGregor (Forest Green) and Christian Moore (Ilkeston) also netted - and now he will wait to hear whether he will be involved in the first international in Padova to face Italy on March 1.
"It was flattering to be selected for the FA XI," said Elmes. "It was an honour putting on an England strip. It's every footballer's dream to play in a shirt with three lions on the chest.
"It was a real privilege to play alongside so many talented players and to be lucky enough to score a goal after ten minutes made it even more memorable.
"It's nice for a striker to get any goal but in a trial game was even better. If I could get the chance to play for England in an international it would really cap a very successful season for me and for Hereford. Hopefully there's more success to come for all of us."
Meanwhile the Bulls - who have not written themselves out of the championship equation - will be given a double boost with both Steve Piearce and Andy Quy eying a comeback.
The unlucky Piearce - Elmes' partner in goals at Halesowen Town last term before their summer move to Edgar Street - has been started just eight games all season, while goalkeeper Quy has been missing since September 4.
"They are making good progress and I expect Steve and Andy to play in the reserves a week next Wednesday," said Bulls chief Graham Turner.
"It will be like having a couple of new signings on board."
Jan 15th:
Billericay Town 3 - 1 Hereford United
FA Umbro Trophy Third Round Match
Hereford United travelled to Essex knowing that anything but their best performance could see them eliminated from the competition. Billericay were a tough side to contend again, and their ground New Lodge was sure to present Hereford with a hostile reception. Billericay, lying ninth in the Dr. Martens Premier League before the start of play, had lost 4-1 to league leaders Dagenham and Redbridge in their match last weekend.
At half time, the Ryman Leaguers had a 1-0 lead. Billericay had played well and Stafford Browne banged in the first goal. The second half brought more bad luck as United conceded again - and again. Justin gentle side-footed the second past the helpless Jones and then Colin Simpson, on his return from injury, made it Hereford United 0 Billericay 3.. Only a good cross from Leroy May presented Hereford United with any kind of a chance, and Robin Elmes' header was enough to salvage a goal - but no win. The embarrasing scoreline of 3-1 means United are out of the Trophy, and leaves the league. United's league form is less than great this season, and thoughts of last seasons late struggle come flooding back. Perhaps a good run could see United flung to the higher reaches of the Conference, but a bad run could see them fighting relegation. Hereford have not won since the fourth of December, and Altrincham next week must be the match to end the run.
Attendance = 757
Man of the match - Stafford Browne (Billericay Town)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, Clarke, Rodgerson, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - May, Parry
Jan 16th:
United in the Conference update - Leading goalscorers : =6th Fewings (Hereford) 10, Strike rates Average time taken to score a League goal - home: 3rd Hereford 39 mins away: 20th Hereford 100 mins, overall: 6th Hereford 54 mins. Concede rates - home: 5th Hereford 60 mins, away: 10th Hereford 56 mins, overall: =7th Hereford 58 mins.
Jan 17th:
ANYONE thinking of going to see the Bulls at home better get to Edgar Street on Saturday as they will be taking on Altrincham. Your support is vital as the next home match is on 19th February against Dover Athletic, a four week break.
Jan 20th:
UNITED director George Hyde has resigned as Chairman of Herefordshire council but will remain a director at the club
Altrincham Team News - Matt Clarke starts a two match suspension and is absent for Saturday's vital Conference League match against Altrincham. Ian Wright, Leroy May and James Wall have all been suffering from flu this week, and will have to fight to recover. Mark Jones will play, but it was thought Mark Jones may have been out after suffering a nasty shin injury against Billericay. Tony James and Paul Parry will return, but Paul Sturgess is still absent with a knee injury. Andy Quy and Steve Piearce will play their first match on their return from injury against Hednesford in the reserves next Wednesday. In the last encouter between the two sides, Altrincham beat Hereford 2-1 at Moss Road in November, but Altrincham are unbeaten in eleven. Hereford haven't won in six league games.
No new players - Graham Turner has said that no new players can be bought after United crashed out of the FA Trophy to Billericay Town. The income from the remaining ties would have been vital to increase the size of the squad.
Jan 20th:
HEREFORD City Centre is in great need of redevelopment, and local newspaper The Hereford Times has revealed plans set out be the city council to save the club, and refresh the surrounding area.
The major part of the plan is that Hereford United Football Club and the Hereford Livestock Market will not be moved from the city centre. Councillor Tony James will show the plans to the public next month, and the plan is for commercial and sporting events to come together. The big part for the sporting side of the city would include a new stand on the Merton Meadow side of the ground. The new section of stadia will include a corperate hospitality section with bar/administration/social space for the cities sports clubs (HUFC, Hereford Rugby Club etc.) and for the Herefordshire Football Association headquarters. Across the car park would be a sports physiotherapy and medicine centre, and the lower Merton Meadow end will house a multiplex cinema. Other new features include a hotel and the demolision of Garrick House.
Chelverton Properties development director Simon Morgan has said the plan had many "attractive elements" and was pleased of the councils involvment in the situation. Graham Turner is "delighted" with the plans if they come to life. Turner also said that if the loans are paid off, it will be brilliant for the club and provide an extra income from non-footballing events. Other clubs wanting use of the stadium include Pegasus, Westfields and Hereford Rugby Club. Both of the soccer clubs were upbeat about proposals, but the rugby club were more sceptical. They would rather improve their current facilities at Wyeside.
Jan 21st:
GRAHAM Turner has continued to lead the calls for increased promotion opportunities to the Football League.
The Edgar Street boss, whose side were relegated from the Third Division in 1997, spoke of his hopes of a fair promotion and relegation system.
He said: "It is up to the Conference to persuade the Nationwide League to open the door to more relegation and promotion places.
"It is the same league clubs who have insisted upon a continuation of three up and three down between the league and the Premiership, yet they continue to thwart the Conference in our quest for fairness."
Jan 22nd:
HEREFORD United have been reminded that their season is far from over, despite their shock FA Trophy exit last week.
Having been the giant-killers in the FA Cup, the Bulls were on the receiving end after crashing 3-1 at Ryman Leaguers Billericay Town in last week's third round tie.
They will have a mountain to climb to challenge for the summit of the Conference - but boss Graham Turner says there will be plenty of incentive, individual as well as collective, to make sure their campaign doesn't peter out.
Players - young and old - will be fighting for their futures.
"We've got to keep our season alive," said Turner.
"We've still got some big games coming up and we need to put a run together.
"There's a lot to play for individually. One of two of the youngsters are being watched by bigger clubs so they need to keep doing well if they want to move, while other players have got contracts coming up at the end of the season and their performances will decide whether they stay or go."
Youngsters Paul Parry, who had been interesting Coventry City, Gareth Williams, Tony James and Chris Lane have all been marked down as ones to watch.
Turner insists Hereford would not stand in their way of a dream move to a League side, but unlike previous seasons he is under no pressure to sell.
The income generated from their excellent Cup run has helped them cut their overdraft by half and though Turner has no money to splash out in the transfer market the financial future looks a lot firmer.
Jan 22nd:
HEREFORD United keeper Mark Jones is fit for today's home clash with Altrincham, despite injuring his shin in last week's shock FA Trophy defeat at Billericay.
But flu-hit striker Leroy May is out along with defender Matthew Clarke, who starts a two-match ban after being sent off in the New Year's holiday return match at Kidderminster.
Jan 22nd:
Hereford United 2 - 2 Altrincham (report by Terry Goodwin)
Hereford United surrendered the lead at the end of a vital match and gift Altrincham a point. It was substitute Richard Landon who scored the goal and extend Altrincham's unbeaten run to twelve league matches. Hereford United have now not lost a league match since December 8th, but have not won a match of any kind since December 4th. Landon scored three minutes into injury time, his fifth goal in six matches.
United included Wall, James and Parry into the side changed from their 3-1 defeat to Billericay in the FA Trophy last Saturday. Hereford had the best of the early play and a good free kick from Sturgess was headed just off target be Robin Elmes. A minute later Elmes again headed a ball on target but a great save from Greygoose meant the ball hit the post and rebounded away. Altrincham had their first chance on nine minutes, when Price shot from the edge of the area. Jones saved the effort well, and Elmes immediately latched onto a loose ball but Greygoose saved comfortably from the resulting shot. Further attempts were seen from Hawes and later by Taylor, whose shot from fifteen yards went wide. Two minutes later Gavin Williams shot from an Elmes pass, but the ball went just over the bar.
On the half hour, Kevin Ellison had a good shot from the left. After a scramble the Hereford left-back Paul Sturgess cleared, and United broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half when Taylor crossed in a good ball. Elmes flicked on to meet Parry who scored from three yards to give Hereford the vital opening goal. Altrincham equalised after just two minutes when Gavin Price headed a Hodson free-kick into the far corner.
The lead, however, lasted little more than two minutes when Taylor's short free-kick was knocked on by Robin Elmes from Rodgerson to head in his second goal of the season. United held the lead until the third minute of injury time, when Altrincham's substitute striker Richard Landon got onto the end of a Gary Talbot shot after a Steve Hawes free-kick. Only three players were booked by referee Mr North, and only Lane for dissent for Hereford with eight minutes left.
Attendance = 1,789
Man of the match - Dean Greygoose (Altrincham)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Wall, James, Sturgess, Rodgerson, Taylor, Snape, Parry, Elmes, Williams
Sub(s) who came on - None
GRAHAM Turner's post match comment: "Yet another two points thrown away. We played much better than we did at Billericay and in patches passed the ball around positively.
"But we gave away an unnecessary free-kick which led to their first goal. Then we have to defend a corner successfully and the game is won, but we fail to do so."
Jan 24th:
HUISA Meeting - The supporters meeting is on 16th February in Legends at 8pm. The Members Meeting is at the Richmond Place Club on the 19th February. It starts at 12.15pm so there is plenty of time for you to get to the match.
Jan 25th:
Andrew Quy and Steve Piearce have returned from injury and will be available for Saturday's match against Hednesford Town.
Jan 26th:
Bulls in the Conference - Football Conference Statistics show that Paul Fewings is the =8th top goalscorer with 10 goals. Hereford are second fastest to score a home league goal (39 mins, Dover are 37 mins), and are 20th fastest to score an away goal (100 mins). Overall, Hereford are =5th with Rushden (53 mins), but they concede a home league goal every 58 minutes (=4th), and every 56 minutes away (9th). Overall they are =7th (58 minutes) with strugglers Hayes and Forest Green Rovers
Jan 27th:
GRAHAM Turner has announced that he is looking to loan one or two experienced players soon. He had been offered youngsters but feels his side lacks the right amount of experience. Team news and Ian Wright and Matt Clarke will both be suspended this weekend as Hereford United travel to Hednesford Town. James Wall is struggling with a groin injury, but Parry (knee) and May (flu) will struggle to return. Hednesford have lost their last three matches and will be eager to end the run.
Jan 28th:
GRAHAM Turner has signed two players on one month loans from League clubs. Scott Cooksey, a goalkeeper, has signed from Shrewsbury and Tom White, a Central Defender from Bristol Rovers. Cooksey was a former England semi-professional international and White has been with Rovers all of his career.
Jan 29th:
IT might only be a short-term move, but Scott Cooksey admits his one-month loan at Hereford United will play a big part in his long-term future.
The giant goalkeeper's Football League dream has turned sour and he accepts he has no place in Shrewsbury Town's plans.
New boss Kevin Ratcliffe has told the keeper, signed by previous Shrews boss Jake King for £15,000 18 months ago from Hednesford, that he will be given a free transfer in the summer.
But joining Hereford for a temporary spell will give him the chance to revive his career - and put himself `in the shop window'.
"I'm just looking forward to playing and getting some games," said Cooksey, who still has 18 months on his contract.
"It's been a bit monotonous playing just in the reserves and it's been frustrating.
"I haven't been given a chance by the new boss at Shrewsbury so this move to Hereford puts me in the shop window.
"I've been speaking to clubs about playing next season but there's nothing definite so I hope I can do well at Hereford and take it from there. If it becomes a longer term thing, that would be great."
Ironically, Cooksey was due to make his debut today for Hereford at Hednesford, the club he served for four years.
But the 27-year-old will be no stranger to being the one-time hero cast as the villain.
After leaving Bromsgrove Rovers to join Peterborough, he was loaned to Welling - and made his bow against the Greens.
It was the same story when he had a spell at Stalybridge - and Rovers were again first up.
"As somebody always says: `it's a funny ol' game'," smiled Cooksey. "It will be strange to be in the opposition dressing room at Keys Park, but all I'll be thinking about will be keeping a clean sheet."
Cooksey is one of two loan signings made by Hereford director of football Graham Turner to try to revive the Bulls' season.
Bristol Rovers defender Tom White has also joined a Hereford side, whose FA Cup heroics have been followed a run of seven games without a win. White - who was 24 on Wednesday - had made over 50 appearances for Rovers but didn't figure at all last year.
Jan 29th:
TODAY's match between Hednesford Town and Hereford United was delayed due to traffic congestion. The match kick off : 3.45pm.
The Stevenage match (away) has been moved again - this time to Monday 28th February.
'WHAT time do you start?
'I'm not sure, what time can you get here?'
The old joke was doing the rounds at Keys Park on Saturday as Hednesford Town's kick-off against Hereford United was delayed by 45 minutes.
Traffic hold-ups were the problem, but not for the Bulls.
Half of Graham Turner's team live in Birmingham, and the delay was caused by the Pitmen's reliance on players based in the north-west, all of whom were stuck in the same jam on the M6.
As one was goalkeeper Billy Stewart and manager John Baldwin didn't have a replacement, the referee was forced to put back the kick-off until he got there.
Hereford had the last laugh, though. Rob Elmes got the winning goal with just 13 minutes left and, as one would expect from the man who spends his weekdays as a Sutton Coldfield schoolteacher, he's never late for class.
HEDNESFORD Town 0 - 1 Hereford United (report by Terry Goodwin)
Hereford United went into this game knowing that they had only won twice away in the league this season - and with a fourty five minute delay thanks to travel problems, it was looking to be a long day. Hednesford's goalie Billy Steward and Ged Kimmins were stuck in a motorway pile-up, and their team not in the best of form, had lost their last three league matches. Graham Turner was unhappy with the original 15-minute delay and was then fuming over a further 30 minutes.
He was, however, to come home pleased with a 1-0 victory but it wasn't until Elmes scored thirteen minutes from time that he could relax. The Bulls attacked from the start and missed chance after chance. Defender Comyn blocked a Parry shot and then United hit the woodwork twice. Snape's header from a Taylor corner on 21 minutes bounced off the post then seven minutes later a surging 40-yard run by Paul Parry meant Elmes hit the post from the edge of the box.
Rodgerson also had a good chance which Stewart tipped away and all those chances came in just the first half. The second half brought Hednesford back into the match. John Hibbins and Scott Bettney, both on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, had great games to prevent United from scoring but they couldn't prevent the 77th minute effort. Gavin Williams, who had played very well all afternoon, squeezed in a cross from the left between two defenders which Elmes found with a powerful header to beat Stewart from six yards. The goalkeeper got a hand to the ball, but it wasn't enough to prevent United going 1-0 up.
Hednesford had been nothing short of awful up to then and one couldn't see their performance improving greatly. Cooksey, making his debut in the Hereford goal in a loan spell from Shrewsbury,, had only one save to make. Three minutes from time a right-wing cross from Kimmins was volleyed by Hednesford defender Chris Brindley but Cooksey saved well. Little can be seen from this match whether him and Tom White (central defender on-loan from Bristol Rovers) are any use. United had the last chance when Fewings, on as a sub, shot but Stewart tipped just wide. The referee, Mr Bryan, had only two bookings to make in the game. Bradley and Evans were carded for Hednesford. Overall a satisfactory performance resulted in a deserved three points for Hereford United.
Attendance = 1,129
Man of the match - Gavin Williams
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, White, James, Rodgerson, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - May, Fewings
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers 1 - 1 Hereford United (report by Terry Goodwin)
Just when Harriers think they could win this match comfortably, an old face appeared and gave them one hell of a fright. It was Leroy May who secured United the point at Aggborough in the second league encounter between the old rivals in a week. This was a true derby, with great action and heated encounters.
But unexpectedly, it was United who took an early lead - Leroy May, released by Harriers at the end of 1998/99 season, popped up to score in just the fourth minute. He took his chance well, and reminded the opposite fans what made him top-scorer last season. Fewings intercepted a poor clearance, but his shot went all wrong. Luckily Leroy was on hand to place the ball past Clarke for a narrow angle.
Fewings almost made up for that miss thirteen minutes later. Taylor swung in a free-kick onto Fewings' head who flicked it uder the bar. Clarke was on hand to fist it away for a corner to United.
Kidderminster's former United striker Ian Foster almost equalised in the first half when Skovbjerg knocked in a low cross, but Hadley missed it and Foster was destined to score. Matt Clarke, however, managed to turn the ball away for a corner and save United. Clarke was sent off on 57 minutes after recieving his second yellow card. H was cautioned in the first for a foul, and brought down Foster in the second who was destined for goal. The resulting free-kick was taken by Scott Stamps, it bounced off the United wall, and rattled the post.
United were living dangerously, and the inevitable equaliser came on 65 minutes. Mark Jones caught a long-range effort from Dean Bennett, but fumbled with the ball and Ian Foster was on hand to slot it home. 1-1. The man advantage had obviously paid off, but it wasn't to last long. Two minutes after the goal, former West Ham midfielder Mike Marsh was sent off. He had been booked in the first half, and for bringing down John Snape in the centre circle. Referee Andrew Penn sent off the Kidderminster captain.
Kidderminster continued to have the best of the play, and almost secured all three points with five minutes to go. Bennett's run split the United defence but his shot was rushed and went wide of the goal. A relieved Hereford side must be happy with a point from Aggborough, after losing a defender on 57 minutes.
Attendance = 4,606
Man of the match - Dean Bennett (Kidderminster)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, Clarke, Rodgerson, Taylor, May, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - Shirley, Elmes, Wall
Jan 4th:
ACCORDING to Teletext reports, top clubs are watching United winger Paul Parry. This was after outstanding performances in the two FA Cup Third Round matches against Leicester City.
Jan 5th:
A number of league clubs are keeping tabs on Paul Parry. Interested outfits are rumoured to include Premiership Coventry City and Division One high-flyers Huddersfield Town. Two Premier League clubs have asked Graham Turner to keep them posted on his progress. Matt Clarke and Craig Hanson have attracted informal attention, but no offer has been made by the unnamed side as yet.
Jan 6th:
MATT Clarke has been suspended for one match from the 17th January. This is after the Billericay Town Trophy match.
GRAHAM Turner has said that his side will be ready for a potential FA Umbro Trophy upset from Essex Ryman League side Billericay Town. Paul Parry and Tony James are expected to recover from injuries, but Paul Sturgess has damaged knee ligaments, and could be out for weeks. United will play Billericay on the 15th, and only have two Nationwide Conference home matches throughout the whole of January and February (22/1 Altrincham, 19/2 Dover Athletic).
The United boss was thankful for the FA Cup run: "Without the revenue we recieved from our FA Cup ties, financially it would have been a very worrying two months. We must now aim to be successful in the Trophy, while the chase for the Conference title is still wide open with only fifteen points seperating the top nineteen teams." United are currently ten points behind leaders Rushden and Diamonds.
Jan 8th:
FA Cup hero Rob Elmes can enjoy another dream come true after being called up for the FA XI for their latest England semi-pro trial game on Monday.
The Sutton teacher, whose goal earned Hereford United a Cup giant-killing over Hartlepool in November, has caught the eye of national team boss John Owens and gets his first FA call-up for the game with Combined Services at Worcester City (7.30).
The striker is one of three Bulls players in the squad. Skipper Ian Wright and left-back Paul Sturgess have also been included.
Jan 8th:
LEROY May hushed the Kidderminster crowd with the first Conference goal of the 21st century - and then promised Hereford United will still be big noises in the title race reports the Sports Argus.
The striker, Harriers' top scorer last term before being freed, took just four minutes to net Hereford's opener in Monday's New Year derby.
It silenced the Aggborough boo-boys and though Ian Foster earned Harriers a point, May is convinced Hereford remain firmly in the championship picture.
Hereford have proved their quality in their memorable FA Cup run but now they need to show consistency in the league to close the gap - currently ten points - on leaders Rushden & Diamonds.
"I believe we are still in there," vowed May. "Anyone can win this league. It's a matter of getting the run together.
"Kidderminster had high hopes of being top over Christmas. They probably thought they could have had six points against us. But we are still in the title race and we will have something to say.
"I hope we go on now and put in same good performance and get right up there with the pacesetters. It's really tight. There's only a couple of games here or there.
"You have got to be solid and consolidate."
May, having been a regular sub, was starting his first game since November and he was delighted to justify boss Graham Turner's decision to include him.
"It's good to get a start and get a goal," he said. "I'm sure the gaffer knew I would be up for it coming back to my old team.
"Some of the fans gave me a bit of stick and it was great to shut them up.
"Now I want to get back into the side regularly and keep my place."
Jan 10th:
ROBIN Elmes, Ian Wright and Mark Taylor have been selected for the England trial squad against the Combined Services tomorrow. All three will be available for the FA Trophy tie on Saturday, as will Paul Parry who will return after recovering from a groin injury.
Jan 12th:
HEREFORD's delayed Conference matches have been rescheduled : Stevenage Borough vs Hereford United for 21st February, and Kingstonian vs Hereford United for 22nd March.
Jan 13th:
ROBIN Elmes scored for the FA X1 as they beat the Combined Services 4-0 in their friendly match. Fellow teammates Ian Wright and Mark Taylor also participated in the match.
Billericay team news - United could have Tony James, Paul Sturgess and Gavin Williams back for the tie at Billericay Town on Saturday. Also to return is Paul Parry. Billericay are currently mid-table in the Rymans Premier League, but lost 4-0 to leaders Dagenham and Redbridge last weekend.
Jan 14th:
Billericay Town have announced that they expect a full house tomorrow as United play them at New Lodge in Essex. Manager Gary Calder is hoping for a 1,500 attendance as Billericay play for the first ever time against the Bulls. There are expected to be around 500 Hereford United fans at the FA Umbro Trophy match. Billericay's recent form is poor. They have lost seven of their last nine games but Calder is upbeat about the match.
"This is a great game for the club, but we're certainly not entering it thinking we're without a chance. We've had Hereford watched three times, had three training sessions ourselves this week, and hopefully have got our preparations spot on. If we go out there with the right attitude and defend properly – and that's something we've not been doing recently – we're in with a chance."
The Essex side may be without Steve Blaney who pulled a hamstring in training this week, and the chairman has asked all fans to arrive early if possible to avoid congestion. The clubhouse is open from 1pm, but everyone should be thinking about entering the ground at around 2.30pm.
THERE have been further suggestions from unofficial sources that an unnamed top club are to swoop for United midfielder Paul Parry.
Jan 15th:
IT'S has been a fairy tale season for Hereford United's Rob Elmes - but he still hopes there's another chapter of success still to be written.
A move to a Conference club, a place among the top scorers, an FA Cup giant-killing and a match-winning goal to boot, and now a chance to represent his country, the Sutton teacher of German has crammed more into half of one season than in the rest of his career.
But, pardon the pun, nothing would would cap the achievements of the 29-year-old than an England call-up.
The striker, plus Bulls' team-mates Ian Wright and Mark Taylor, figured in last Monday's FA XI trial game against the Combined Services, one of five matches designed for national semi-pro boss John Owens to select his squad for three internationals in the spring.
Elmes' continued the script for success with one of the goals in a 4-0 romp at Worcester City - Andy Thackeray (Nuneaton), Marc McGregor (Forest Green) and Christian Moore (Ilkeston) also netted - and now he will wait to hear whether he will be involved in the first international in Padova to face Italy on March 1.
"It was flattering to be selected for the FA XI," said Elmes. "It was an honour putting on an England strip. It's every footballer's dream to play in a shirt with three lions on the chest.
"It was a real privilege to play alongside so many talented players and to be lucky enough to score a goal after ten minutes made it even more memorable.
"It's nice for a striker to get any goal but in a trial game was even better. If I could get the chance to play for England in an international it would really cap a very successful season for me and for Hereford. Hopefully there's more success to come for all of us."
Meanwhile the Bulls - who have not written themselves out of the championship equation - will be given a double boost with both Steve Piearce and Andy Quy eying a comeback.
The unlucky Piearce - Elmes' partner in goals at Halesowen Town last term before their summer move to Edgar Street - has been started just eight games all season, while goalkeeper Quy has been missing since September 4.
"They are making good progress and I expect Steve and Andy to play in the reserves a week next Wednesday," said Bulls chief Graham Turner.
"It will be like having a couple of new signings on board."
Jan 15th:
Billericay Town 3 - 1 Hereford United
FA Umbro Trophy Third Round Match
Hereford United travelled to Essex knowing that anything but their best performance could see them eliminated from the competition. Billericay were a tough side to contend again, and their ground New Lodge was sure to present Hereford with a hostile reception. Billericay, lying ninth in the Dr. Martens Premier League before the start of play, had lost 4-1 to league leaders Dagenham and Redbridge in their match last weekend.
At half time, the Ryman Leaguers had a 1-0 lead. Billericay had played well and Stafford Browne banged in the first goal. The second half brought more bad luck as United conceded again - and again. Justin gentle side-footed the second past the helpless Jones and then Colin Simpson, on his return from injury, made it Hereford United 0 Billericay 3.. Only a good cross from Leroy May presented Hereford United with any kind of a chance, and Robin Elmes' header was enough to salvage a goal - but no win. The embarrasing scoreline of 3-1 means United are out of the Trophy, and leaves the league. United's league form is less than great this season, and thoughts of last seasons late struggle come flooding back. Perhaps a good run could see United flung to the higher reaches of the Conference, but a bad run could see them fighting relegation. Hereford have not won since the fourth of December, and Altrincham next week must be the match to end the run.
Attendance = 757
Man of the match - Stafford Browne (Billericay Town)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, Clarke, Rodgerson, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - May, Parry
Jan 16th:
United in the Conference update - Leading goalscorers : =6th Fewings (Hereford) 10, Strike rates Average time taken to score a League goal - home: 3rd Hereford 39 mins away: 20th Hereford 100 mins, overall: 6th Hereford 54 mins. Concede rates - home: 5th Hereford 60 mins, away: 10th Hereford 56 mins, overall: =7th Hereford 58 mins.
Jan 17th:
ANYONE thinking of going to see the Bulls at home better get to Edgar Street on Saturday as they will be taking on Altrincham. Your support is vital as the next home match is on 19th February against Dover Athletic, a four week break.
Jan 20th:
UNITED director George Hyde has resigned as Chairman of Herefordshire council but will remain a director at the club
Altrincham Team News - Matt Clarke starts a two match suspension and is absent for Saturday's vital Conference League match against Altrincham. Ian Wright, Leroy May and James Wall have all been suffering from flu this week, and will have to fight to recover. Mark Jones will play, but it was thought Mark Jones may have been out after suffering a nasty shin injury against Billericay. Tony James and Paul Parry will return, but Paul Sturgess is still absent with a knee injury. Andy Quy and Steve Piearce will play their first match on their return from injury against Hednesford in the reserves next Wednesday. In the last encouter between the two sides, Altrincham beat Hereford 2-1 at Moss Road in November, but Altrincham are unbeaten in eleven. Hereford haven't won in six league games.
No new players - Graham Turner has said that no new players can be bought after United crashed out of the FA Trophy to Billericay Town. The income from the remaining ties would have been vital to increase the size of the squad.
Jan 20th:
HEREFORD City Centre is in great need of redevelopment, and local newspaper The Hereford Times has revealed plans set out be the city council to save the club, and refresh the surrounding area.
The major part of the plan is that Hereford United Football Club and the Hereford Livestock Market will not be moved from the city centre. Councillor Tony James will show the plans to the public next month, and the plan is for commercial and sporting events to come together. The big part for the sporting side of the city would include a new stand on the Merton Meadow side of the ground. The new section of stadia will include a corperate hospitality section with bar/administration/social space for the cities sports clubs (HUFC, Hereford Rugby Club etc.) and for the Herefordshire Football Association headquarters. Across the car park would be a sports physiotherapy and medicine centre, and the lower Merton Meadow end will house a multiplex cinema. Other new features include a hotel and the demolision of Garrick House.
Chelverton Properties development director Simon Morgan has said the plan had many "attractive elements" and was pleased of the councils involvment in the situation. Graham Turner is "delighted" with the plans if they come to life. Turner also said that if the loans are paid off, it will be brilliant for the club and provide an extra income from non-footballing events. Other clubs wanting use of the stadium include Pegasus, Westfields and Hereford Rugby Club. Both of the soccer clubs were upbeat about proposals, but the rugby club were more sceptical. They would rather improve their current facilities at Wyeside.
Jan 21st:
GRAHAM Turner has continued to lead the calls for increased promotion opportunities to the Football League.
The Edgar Street boss, whose side were relegated from the Third Division in 1997, spoke of his hopes of a fair promotion and relegation system.
He said: "It is up to the Conference to persuade the Nationwide League to open the door to more relegation and promotion places.
"It is the same league clubs who have insisted upon a continuation of three up and three down between the league and the Premiership, yet they continue to thwart the Conference in our quest for fairness."
Jan 22nd:
HEREFORD United have been reminded that their season is far from over, despite their shock FA Trophy exit last week.
Having been the giant-killers in the FA Cup, the Bulls were on the receiving end after crashing 3-1 at Ryman Leaguers Billericay Town in last week's third round tie.
They will have a mountain to climb to challenge for the summit of the Conference - but boss Graham Turner says there will be plenty of incentive, individual as well as collective, to make sure their campaign doesn't peter out.
Players - young and old - will be fighting for their futures.
"We've got to keep our season alive," said Turner.
"We've still got some big games coming up and we need to put a run together.
"There's a lot to play for individually. One of two of the youngsters are being watched by bigger clubs so they need to keep doing well if they want to move, while other players have got contracts coming up at the end of the season and their performances will decide whether they stay or go."
Youngsters Paul Parry, who had been interesting Coventry City, Gareth Williams, Tony James and Chris Lane have all been marked down as ones to watch.
Turner insists Hereford would not stand in their way of a dream move to a League side, but unlike previous seasons he is under no pressure to sell.
The income generated from their excellent Cup run has helped them cut their overdraft by half and though Turner has no money to splash out in the transfer market the financial future looks a lot firmer.
Jan 22nd:
HEREFORD United keeper Mark Jones is fit for today's home clash with Altrincham, despite injuring his shin in last week's shock FA Trophy defeat at Billericay.
But flu-hit striker Leroy May is out along with defender Matthew Clarke, who starts a two-match ban after being sent off in the New Year's holiday return match at Kidderminster.
Jan 22nd:
Hereford United 2 - 2 Altrincham (report by Terry Goodwin)
Hereford United surrendered the lead at the end of a vital match and gift Altrincham a point. It was substitute Richard Landon who scored the goal and extend Altrincham's unbeaten run to twelve league matches. Hereford United have now not lost a league match since December 8th, but have not won a match of any kind since December 4th. Landon scored three minutes into injury time, his fifth goal in six matches.
United included Wall, James and Parry into the side changed from their 3-1 defeat to Billericay in the FA Trophy last Saturday. Hereford had the best of the early play and a good free kick from Sturgess was headed just off target be Robin Elmes. A minute later Elmes again headed a ball on target but a great save from Greygoose meant the ball hit the post and rebounded away. Altrincham had their first chance on nine minutes, when Price shot from the edge of the area. Jones saved the effort well, and Elmes immediately latched onto a loose ball but Greygoose saved comfortably from the resulting shot. Further attempts were seen from Hawes and later by Taylor, whose shot from fifteen yards went wide. Two minutes later Gavin Williams shot from an Elmes pass, but the ball went just over the bar.
On the half hour, Kevin Ellison had a good shot from the left. After a scramble the Hereford left-back Paul Sturgess cleared, and United broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half when Taylor crossed in a good ball. Elmes flicked on to meet Parry who scored from three yards to give Hereford the vital opening goal. Altrincham equalised after just two minutes when Gavin Price headed a Hodson free-kick into the far corner.
The lead, however, lasted little more than two minutes when Taylor's short free-kick was knocked on by Robin Elmes from Rodgerson to head in his second goal of the season. United held the lead until the third minute of injury time, when Altrincham's substitute striker Richard Landon got onto the end of a Gary Talbot shot after a Steve Hawes free-kick. Only three players were booked by referee Mr North, and only Lane for dissent for Hereford with eight minutes left.
Attendance = 1,789
Man of the match - Dean Greygoose (Altrincham)
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Wall, James, Sturgess, Rodgerson, Taylor, Snape, Parry, Elmes, Williams
Sub(s) who came on - None
GRAHAM Turner's post match comment: "Yet another two points thrown away. We played much better than we did at Billericay and in patches passed the ball around positively.
"But we gave away an unnecessary free-kick which led to their first goal. Then we have to defend a corner successfully and the game is won, but we fail to do so."
Jan 24th:
HUISA Meeting - The supporters meeting is on 16th February in Legends at 8pm. The Members Meeting is at the Richmond Place Club on the 19th February. It starts at 12.15pm so there is plenty of time for you to get to the match.
Jan 25th:
Andrew Quy and Steve Piearce have returned from injury and will be available for Saturday's match against Hednesford Town.
Jan 26th:
Bulls in the Conference - Football Conference Statistics show that Paul Fewings is the =8th top goalscorer with 10 goals. Hereford are second fastest to score a home league goal (39 mins, Dover are 37 mins), and are 20th fastest to score an away goal (100 mins). Overall, Hereford are =5th with Rushden (53 mins), but they concede a home league goal every 58 minutes (=4th), and every 56 minutes away (9th). Overall they are =7th (58 minutes) with strugglers Hayes and Forest Green Rovers
Jan 27th:
GRAHAM Turner has announced that he is looking to loan one or two experienced players soon. He had been offered youngsters but feels his side lacks the right amount of experience. Team news and Ian Wright and Matt Clarke will both be suspended this weekend as Hereford United travel to Hednesford Town. James Wall is struggling with a groin injury, but Parry (knee) and May (flu) will struggle to return. Hednesford have lost their last three matches and will be eager to end the run.
Jan 28th:
GRAHAM Turner has signed two players on one month loans from League clubs. Scott Cooksey, a goalkeeper, has signed from Shrewsbury and Tom White, a Central Defender from Bristol Rovers. Cooksey was a former England semi-professional international and White has been with Rovers all of his career.
Jan 29th:
IT might only be a short-term move, but Scott Cooksey admits his one-month loan at Hereford United will play a big part in his long-term future.
The giant goalkeeper's Football League dream has turned sour and he accepts he has no place in Shrewsbury Town's plans.
New boss Kevin Ratcliffe has told the keeper, signed by previous Shrews boss Jake King for £15,000 18 months ago from Hednesford, that he will be given a free transfer in the summer.
But joining Hereford for a temporary spell will give him the chance to revive his career - and put himself `in the shop window'.
"I'm just looking forward to playing and getting some games," said Cooksey, who still has 18 months on his contract.
"It's been a bit monotonous playing just in the reserves and it's been frustrating.
"I haven't been given a chance by the new boss at Shrewsbury so this move to Hereford puts me in the shop window.
"I've been speaking to clubs about playing next season but there's nothing definite so I hope I can do well at Hereford and take it from there. If it becomes a longer term thing, that would be great."
Ironically, Cooksey was due to make his debut today for Hereford at Hednesford, the club he served for four years.
But the 27-year-old will be no stranger to being the one-time hero cast as the villain.
After leaving Bromsgrove Rovers to join Peterborough, he was loaned to Welling - and made his bow against the Greens.
It was the same story when he had a spell at Stalybridge - and Rovers were again first up.
"As somebody always says: `it's a funny ol' game'," smiled Cooksey. "It will be strange to be in the opposition dressing room at Keys Park, but all I'll be thinking about will be keeping a clean sheet."
Cooksey is one of two loan signings made by Hereford director of football Graham Turner to try to revive the Bulls' season.
Bristol Rovers defender Tom White has also joined a Hereford side, whose FA Cup heroics have been followed a run of seven games without a win. White - who was 24 on Wednesday - had made over 50 appearances for Rovers but didn't figure at all last year.
Jan 29th:
TODAY's match between Hednesford Town and Hereford United was delayed due to traffic congestion. The match kick off : 3.45pm.
The Stevenage match (away) has been moved again - this time to Monday 28th February.
'WHAT time do you start?
'I'm not sure, what time can you get here?'
The old joke was doing the rounds at Keys Park on Saturday as Hednesford Town's kick-off against Hereford United was delayed by 45 minutes.
Traffic hold-ups were the problem, but not for the Bulls.
Half of Graham Turner's team live in Birmingham, and the delay was caused by the Pitmen's reliance on players based in the north-west, all of whom were stuck in the same jam on the M6.
As one was goalkeeper Billy Stewart and manager John Baldwin didn't have a replacement, the referee was forced to put back the kick-off until he got there.
Hereford had the last laugh, though. Rob Elmes got the winning goal with just 13 minutes left and, as one would expect from the man who spends his weekdays as a Sutton Coldfield schoolteacher, he's never late for class.
HEDNESFORD Town 0 - 1 Hereford United (report by Terry Goodwin)
Hereford United went into this game knowing that they had only won twice away in the league this season - and with a fourty five minute delay thanks to travel problems, it was looking to be a long day. Hednesford's goalie Billy Steward and Ged Kimmins were stuck in a motorway pile-up, and their team not in the best of form, had lost their last three league matches. Graham Turner was unhappy with the original 15-minute delay and was then fuming over a further 30 minutes.
He was, however, to come home pleased with a 1-0 victory but it wasn't until Elmes scored thirteen minutes from time that he could relax. The Bulls attacked from the start and missed chance after chance. Defender Comyn blocked a Parry shot and then United hit the woodwork twice. Snape's header from a Taylor corner on 21 minutes bounced off the post then seven minutes later a surging 40-yard run by Paul Parry meant Elmes hit the post from the edge of the box.
Rodgerson also had a good chance which Stewart tipped away and all those chances came in just the first half. The second half brought Hednesford back into the match. John Hibbins and Scott Bettney, both on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, had great games to prevent United from scoring but they couldn't prevent the 77th minute effort. Gavin Williams, who had played very well all afternoon, squeezed in a cross from the left between two defenders which Elmes found with a powerful header to beat Stewart from six yards. The goalkeeper got a hand to the ball, but it wasn't enough to prevent United going 1-0 up.
Hednesford had been nothing short of awful up to then and one couldn't see their performance improving greatly. Cooksey, making his debut in the Hereford goal in a loan spell from Shrewsbury,, had only one save to make. Three minutes from time a right-wing cross from Kimmins was volleyed by Hednesford defender Chris Brindley but Cooksey saved well. Little can be seen from this match whether him and Tom White (central defender on-loan from Bristol Rovers) are any use. United had the last chance when Fewings, on as a sub, shot but Stewart tipped just wide. The referee, Mr Bryan, had only two bookings to make in the game. Bradley and Evans were carded for Hednesford. Overall a satisfactory performance resulted in a deserved three points for Hereford United.
Attendance = 1,129
Man of the match - Gavin Williams
Hereford - Cooksey, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, White, James, Rodgerson, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - May, Fewings
Saturday, 25 July 2009
December 1999
Dec 1st:
FINAL reminder - Members must buy their tickets from the club office by 4pm on Friday for the Leicester match, or risk losing them to non-members.
Dec 2nd:
BILLERICAY Town info Injury problems - Umbro Trophy opponents Billericay Town are a league higher than last round's opponents Barton Rovers (Ryman Premier), and are currently 9th. They have 23 points from 16 games, and will be fancying their chances at their home ground in Essex.
Southport will post threat - Hereford United's preperation for the FA Cup tie against Leicester could go pear shaped in they don't get something from their home match against Southport on Saturday. The Northerners have appointed Paul Lodge as caretaker manager after the resignation of Paul Futcher last week. They are currenly six points behind United, with two games in hand, and in 17th place.
Injury problems - Both Mark Taylor and Ian Wright could miss this weekend's match through injury.
Rebels transfer listed - Craig Hanson and Matt Clarke have be placed on the transfer list by Graham Turner. Hanson wants regular first team football, but Matt Clarke's reason for the action is unknown. Graham Turner has stated that cover is good for Clarke. Chris Lane and Ian Rodgerson are also right sided defenders.
Bank to wait - The £75,000 from Sky Sports is not to be paid to the bank. Turner has said that a final decision will be made in a couple of weeks.
Ticket news - Any members must buy their tickets for the match by tomorrow (Friday). Any cards and season tickets must be shown when purchasing from the club shops. Junior Bulls are allowed one adult (non-member) ticket to attend the match with them. Vouchers will then be handed out at the Southport game on Saturday, and people with vouchers may purchase tickets between 10am and 12pm on Sunday. Any tickets left are then on sale to the general public. Prices are - SEATS : £13 (Concessions £6) TERRACES : £10 (Concessions £5)
Motty returns - John Motson will return to Edgar Street to commentate on the Leicester City match for BBC's Match Of The Day. His first big match came in 1972 when United beat Newcastle 2-1.
80% record - Hereford United have only lost once against a league side since relegation from Division Three in 1997. They have beaten Brighton, Colchester, York and Hartlepool. Only Tranmere have beaten United since demotion, winning 3-0 in the third round.
Dec 4th:
HEREFORD United 2 - 1 Southport
Their first double of the season, Hereford have now gained six points off Southport. It must be a good side for Fewings to play against - he has scored twice against them this season. As predicted, the biggest league attendance of the season at Edgar Street watched this, and it may have had something to do with the vochers being handed out for the Leicester match next weekend. An unchanged line-up for Hereford, and it paid off.
The action began in the first minute, with Furlong shooting at Jones, and United had chances wasted through Parry and Sturgess. Southport's best early chance came with Mark Stuart, but he ballooned ove the bar. Two minutes later, Stuart's free-kick was only just scrambled away by Jones. Soon after, United hit back. Fewings' shot was saved by Dickinson, and Stuart, on good form, had his head scooped from under the bar by Jones.
United took the lead against the run of play on 45 minutes, when Williams crossed, Wright headed on for Fewings to beat the 'keeper. Straight after break, the Bulls should have doubled their lead, but Fewings' shot was stopped by Dickinson. On 63 minutes, Southport should have been awarded a penalty. Arnold had been pulled to the ground by Wright, but referee Probert deemed it a fair challenge.
Two minutes later, Fewings was pulled down by Ryan, and Williams' penalty was brilliantly saved by Dickinson. Southport fought for the equaliser, and substitute Elam ran onto a Trundle through ball eight minutes from time to slot the ball past Jones from ten yards.
United, however, did produce a winner. A long throw-in caused problems for the defence and Wright fired home from five yards, awarding himself the man-of-the-match award and his team three points.
Attendance = 2,610
Man of the match - Ian Wright
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, James, Parry, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - Rodgerson, May
Dec 5th:
From the Sunday Telegraph: THE talk was of football, momentous matches, heroic deeds and new dreams, rather than financial crises, sponsorship deals and relocation. Graham Turner was a man reborn.
He was liberated to concentrate on his players, organise the coaching and plot the FA Cup demise of Leicester City on Saturday, secure in the knowledge that other matters could, if only temporarily, be put to one side.
Turner, who once managed Aston Villa, then rebuilt Wolverhampton Wanderers, is now all but lost to mainstream football, yet his responsibilities have multiplied. He runs Conference club Hereford United - as chairman, director of football, coach, major shareholder and much more besides.
When Hereford were relegated from the League three seasons ago, Turner felt obliged to stay, to share the blame and shoulder the burden of reviving the club. That commitment became a crusade and he emerged from the boardroom shake-up with full control.
His hands-on approach to fund-raising even embraced an auction. The club gladly accommodated the servicing and parking demands of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain, though Turner had trouble convincing a jobsworth he really did work at Edgar Street and was entitled to penetrate the security cordon.
The car parks will be filled by football folk on Saturday, when Hereford meet the Premiership club in a third-round tie, invoking memories of their fabled victory against Newcastle United, of Radford, of pitch invasions and all, 28 seasons ago.
"It's just what we needed," said Turner, 52. "I'm particularly pleased for the supporters because they've stuck with us through hard times. They've seen us relegated, then have to sell a lot of our better players to survive.
"People are talking about football again, there's excitement and anticipation. The club has a great tradition of cup football. Everyone remembers the Newcastle match but the club were close to beating Manchester United in 1990, and that might have cost Alex Ferguson his job. Four years ago Tottenham scraped a draw here."
This tie is transparently what Turner needed, too. Receipts from a crowd of more than 8,000, and the BBC's fee for Match of the Day highlights will earn the club £60,000. This on top of the £75,000 Sky paid for live coverage of their match against Hartlepool in the previous round.
Hereford are £1.3 million in debt and raised £140,000 last season through the sale of five players.
Turner said: "It means we can pick and choose when we sell and I can enjoy the football side.
"Talking to bank managers and sponsors is the hard part of the job. Coaching, working with the players, is a joy."
He is convinced full-time professional playing staff are imperative if the club are to prosper, but his part-timers have made crucial contributions to the cup run. Leroy May, a 'strippagram' of some repute, and Robin Elmes, a languages and PE teacher, have scored decisive goals, while Mark Jones, a farm manager and brother of the Southampton goalkeeper, Paul, has made important saves.
Turner had to ask Elmes's headmaster to give the striker time off school to practise set plays and acknowledges that his players will need all the preparation they can muster against a team unlikely to consider themselves too precious for this trip beyond League bounds.
"I could have chosen easier Premiership opponents," Turner said. "But Martin O'Neill and players like Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart know what to expect."
TV Update - Hereford will feature on BBC1's Football Focus (Saturday 12.20pm), Match of the Day (BBC1 Saturday 10.30pm) and Channel 5 at 10am on Sunday. Various other shows will preview the game, including ITV's On The Ball on Saturday at 1.10pm. The game by then will have started, and latest results can obtained from Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports 1 from 12pm), and teletext. For latest results on the web, log on to www.football.sports.com or www.bbc.co.uk/football
Leicester lose - Leicester were defeated 3-0 yesterday by Arsenal, putting more pressure on manager Martin O'Neill to get a result on Saturday.
THIS FA CUP weekend promises to be a busy time for the Jones family reports the Independent. Most of the attention will centre on Paul, the Southampton and Wales goalkeeper, when the Saints march up to Ipswich on the Monday. Before that, on the Saturday, the limelight will be on his elder brother Mark, who will be guarding Hereford United's net in their match against Leicester City. Should they both play, the Jones boys will make history, by becoming the first brothers to play in goal in the same round of the FA Cup.
Mark Jones started his football career at 18 when he was enlisted by his local village side, Hadnal. "I didn't like the idea of running around much, so I went in goal," says the 35-year-old, who is three years older than his more illustrious brother. "Paul was in the same team, but he played centre-half. He was already a good keeper, but I took senior priority in those days. He was not going to get me out.
"We've kept an eye on each other's performances since and we ring each other up from time to time," Mark continues. "But when we meet up, we tend to avoid the subject. It's a bit boring, to tell you the truth."
There was plenty of excitement when Mark and his team-mates gathered in a pub just around the corner from Hereford's Edgar Street ground, for the third-round draw. "We would have preferred Newcastle, Arsenal or Liverpool, to be honest," says Jones senior. "But Leicester are a Premiership side, so it's a good tie for us. Ever since the draw was made, the town has been buzzing. All the tickets have been sold now and everyone is really looking forward to the game."
While the Foxes will hardly be shaking in their boots at the prospect of facing a non-League team, they will be acutely aware of Hereford's long history of giant-killing in the Cup. Their most prized scalp remains that of Newcastle United, famously beaten 2-1 in 1972.
According to their manager, however, the Bulls should have savoured more recent joy. "Had there been any justice four years ago in our match against Spurs, we'd have won," says Graham Turner, once of Aston Villa and Wolves. "The game should have been one of the great days in the club's proud Cup tradition."
That match ended 1-1 and, although the Londoners eventually ran out comfortable 5-1 winners in the replay at White Hart Lane, Hereford's reputation as a team for the big occasions was cemented.
So, are Leicester beatable? "Martin O'Neill has got them well organised and they've got a big lad up front... what's his name? Heskey, is it?" asks Jones. "It's going to be difficult but we've got a chance, especially at home. It's only a slim one, but it's a chance."
The previous two rounds provided their own surprises. Progress from the first round was courtesy of a 1-0 win against York, "a real battle" according to Jones. Then came the 1-0 victory over Hartlepool, when a 55th-minute header by their striker Robin Elmes propelled the Conference side into the last 64 of the Cup.
"At the beginning of the season, the gaffer said we wanted to get promotion, and that the FA Cup was just a bonus. But now we're getting really excited about it and we feel confident."
To maximise their team's chances, six fans will carry out the Bulls' FA Cup ritual before the game. They will surround and worship a swede (the root vegetable, not Stefan Schwarz) in the centre circle, before chasing it and kicking it into the Meadow End goal. "Don't ask me why," pleads Jones. "All I know is that it's been around for ages [1958 to be precise] and it's worked so far."
It says much about football these days that a relatively modest club like Hereford should be made up primarily of full-time professionals with just a handful of part-timers.
Jones, a dairy farmer by trade, is one of the three "amateurs" in the team, who at present lie in the top half of the Conference. "I work on the farm every day, and that keeps me relatively fit," he says. "Otherwise, I come in once a week for a training session. The manager has been great about it. His show of confidence helped me settle, and now that I've played in the last 20 games or so, I'm more comfortable with the lads and our style of play."
Who better, then, to guide us through Hereford's herd of black and white bulls than Mark Jones MC? Introducing...
Chris Lane: Scouser, right-back. Typical Liverpudlian, a true character. Released by Everton as a trainee and joined us last season. Still only 19, he's a great prospect but a complete loony. Good lad to have around -bubbly in the dressing-room.
Paul Sturgess: Known as Stavros because of his olive skin. Signed this season from Brighton. Real Cockney lad, who loves to get forward. He's got a sweet left foot. And he's English to boot.
John Snape: One of the part-timers, a Brummie electrician. He's our Paul Ince - a good battler in midfield. Not sure about his skills as a sparky. Last week he couldn't even repair the extension lead for the stereo.
Ian Wright: Big fella. He's our defensive rock; the Tony Adams of the side. He's captain, too. Great in the air, he leads by example. Was our top scorer with 13 goals last season.
Tony James: Wrighty's centre-half partner, TJ's not the tallest of lads, but he's incredibly good in the air. Quietly spoken Welsh lad. He gets a bit of stick about his relations with sheep. Not from me, mind. I'm Welsh too.
Gavin Williams: Another Welsh boy. Great player, the David Beckham of the team. Can play anywhere in midfield or on the wings. He's our best crosser of the ball. Also likes running and dribbling past players.
Paul Parry: One of the club's trainees, he had a bad dose of glandular fever at the start of the season, but he's over that now and he's making telling contributions on the left of midfield. Sets up a lot of the goals. A bit lazy tracking back, though.
Mark Taylor: Bags of experience. Played in the Premiership for Sheffield Wednesday and knows what it's all about. He's not arrogant either. He's come down to a lower level but doesn't bully his way around. His wife went into labour the morning of the Hartlepool match, but she kindly held on until the Monday so Markie could play.
Robin Elmes: Mr Smoothie. German teacher from Sutton Coldfield. He's a tremendous asset. Scored the winning goal in the last round against Hartlepool. Some of the lads tease him by shouting in German, but he just answers them back. They never have a clue what he's saying.
Paul Fewings: Pretty face. He's the good-looking one of the team. Don't tell him, though. Girls always look for him after games. Works well with Robin.
Leroy May: Super sub. Everyone knows about him being a male stripper, don't they. You can imagine the banter. Tall lad up front. This guy's the Full Monty: he can score and tackle too.
Dec 9th:
FA Cup preview - Hereford United can become the first Nationwide Conference club to knock out a Premier League side in this Saturday's FA Cup, kick off 1pm. Woking, Stevenage and Rushden have held Premier League teams to replays, but none has beaten a side from the elite. Graham Turner knows he will face a tough task, but the financial rewards are a godsend.
Team news - Except for the long-term injuries to Steve Piearce and Andrew Quy, Hereford have a full squad to select from. Part-timers Elmes, Jones and Snape are expected to start, and Leicester have no major injuries in their team. Rob Elmes will be marked by Scottish international defender Matthew Elliott.
Pitch invasion may mean bans - A pitch invasion during or after the Leicester City FA Cup match may mean big trouble for the club, and for the fans. A small element of 'fans' against Hartlepool tried to cause trouble, and this could mean a points deduction or fine for the club, or life bans for the fans. There will be a heavy police presence and Graham Turner has pleaded to the fans that there will be no problems.
Leicester to field British side - All of the players on show in the tie on Saturday will be British born. Internationals for Leicester include Northern Ireland's Neil Lennon and Gerry Taggart, England's Steve Guppy and Emile Heskey, Scotland's Matt Elliott and Wales' Robbie Savage. Jamaica's adopted player Frank Sinclair could also play, as will former international's Tony Cottee and Tim Flowers. Former West Ham and QPR midfielders Andrew Impey and former Chelsea player Muzzy izzet will participate in midfield.
Last time - In 1982, United lost 1-0 to Leicester in 1982 FA Cup fourth round, then managed by former Bulls' goalkeeper Jock Wallace. Gary Lineker also starred.
Match of the day - Gary Lineker will introduce the action from Edgar Street, and John Motson will provide full commentary. Hereford will get £18,750 from the BBC and the show starts at 10.30pm on BBC1 on Saturday night. Sky Sports 1 will show highlights at 6pm, and Sky Sports 2 at 11pm.
Capacity attendance - The game is now sold out, and a capacity crowd of 8,843 expected. HUISA's guests are former FA Cup heroes Roger Griffiths and Dudley Tyler. Rembrandt the Bull will feature, as will the swede. Rob Elmes will be supported by fourty fans from Bishop Walsh School in Sutton Coldfied, where he teaches PE and German.
Bookies - United are 7/1 to win. Leicester City are 1/4 and a draw is 4/1. Hereford United are 2500/1 to win the FA Cup.
Brian out, Adriano in - Adriano Girolami has been appointed the new Football in the Community officer at HUFC. He replaces Brian Williams who left for Shrewsbury Town.
Dec 9th:
From the Independent:
The mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent used to transform himself in telephone boxes. Robin Elmes, head of German at a Catholic comprehensive school in Birmingham, does it in penalty boxes.
Elmes, who will lead Hereford United's attack at home to Leicester City in the third round on Saturday, was already a super-hero with the students at Bishop Walsh School after heading the goal which knocked out Hartlepool. When the draw gave the Nationwide Conference club a home tie against a Premiership team studded with internationals, everyone wanted a tug of his cape.
As he arrived at school the next morning, the secretary handed him a note which read: "Central TV 10.20, Midlands BBC 10.45, Sky Sports 11.00." In the staff-room he discovered that tabloids and broadsheets alike made him man of the match against Hartlepool. In class, too, the plaudits flowed, many pupils having watched live television coverage of the match.
He might have been carried away by it all but for one budding Jimmy Hill, who announced bluntly: "The ball went in off yer ear, Sir."
Elmes admits he has scored better goals but none more precious. For hard-up Hereford it has generated a sell-out crowd of 8,800 plus TV revenue and commercial spin-offs. On a personal level it has produced a Jim'll Fix It-style opportunity, at 29, to compare himself with a current England striker, Emile Heskey, and to pit his wits against defenders such as Matt Elliott and Frank Sinclair.
When they were in France at the World Cup finals last year, with Scotland and Jamaica respectively, Elmes was switching between two Dr Martens League clubs, Bromsgrove Rovers and Halesowen Town. He was then a centre-back, as he was throughout his degree course at Keele University, and with his first club, Boldmere St Michael's.
It was not until Christmas that Halesowen tried him up front, where he last played in the sixth form at Poole Grammar School. Although he scored regularly, what impressed Hereford's chairman-manager, Graham Turner, was Elmes' partnership with a forward called Steve Piearce. Turner, who turned Steve Bull from an under-achieving West Brom reserve into Wolves' record marksman, snapped them both up last summer.
"At my age I thought it could be my last chance to play at that level, which is as high as it gets for someone in my job," Elmes says. "Steve went full-time but unfortunately he has been injured most of the time. For me, it's been the best move I've made in football."
Professional players tend to be disdainful of erudite colleagues; an A-Level is often enough to attract monikers like "Brains", "Prof" or worse. Revealing that he is known as "Elmo", Elmes says: "I seem to remember that was the nickname of the fat, balding barman in Brush Strokes, but I like to think it comes from my surname."
Any doubts his new colleagues may have harboured about his pedigree were dispelled when he hit Hereford's winner in a friendly against Wolves on his debut. After missing a week of pre-season training - "In my job I can't pick and choose when I go on holiday" - he eventually came off the bench and had already scored seven goals for the Bulls before Hartlepool's visit.
"I was wary beforehand because we were live on Sky. I kept thinking that if I had an absolute nightmare, or got sent off, I'd be slaughtered on the Monday. I was also very conscious of the need to avoid swearing. As a teacher you have to set standards and practise what you preach.
"When I was playing for Boldmere I got fouled really viciously and the referee did nothing. I swore and was sent off. As I trudged off I saw some kids from school, so I called over, 'Do as I say, not as I do'. On my birthday I received several red cards.
"As it turned out, I was caught on camera spitting on the ground against Hartlepool. My mother-in-law spotted it, which has had me excommunicated from my wife's side of the family."
All will be forgiven, one suspects, before Leicester hit Edgar Street. Quite apart from relatives, the number of Elmes' colleagues with tickets for the tie will far exceed the spaces in the school mini-bus which sufficed in the previous round.
His preparations have not been ideal. With Hereford's only other part-timer, the electrician John Snape, he trains two nights a week with Oldbury United. Most evenings are spent marking (though not the kind to which Elliott will doubtless subject him).
"I try to get it all done at school by six o'clock, but I'm also head of year, so I've a lot of responsibility. Fortunately I don't need much time off because the Conference regionalise midweek games. The head, Mike Moran, is very supportive and I try to reciprocate with extra-curricular things like helping with the football and cricket teams."
Leicester promise to be a searching examination; mocks, finals and an Ofsted inspection rolled into 90 minutes. However, Elmes recalls how his boyhood favourites, Bournemouth, beat Manchester United when they were Cup-holders, and takes heart from the way Stevenage and Rushden & Diamonds held Newcastle and Leeds respectively in recent seasons.
Then there is Hereford's own Cup tradition. Ronnie Radford must wish he was on a royalty for every time his brutal winner against Newcastle is replayed. While Elmes claims he never nets from such range, he likes the idea of popping in a goal that will have people reminiscing 25 years from now.
"We have to have an exceptional day and Leicester a terrible one. I've watched them on Match of the Day and it was frightening. They're all genuine, hard-working British pros with no prima donnas who won't fancy a muddy pitch on a cold winter's day. They've also got pockets of real class but I'm confident it won't be boys against men."
A draw would delight Hereford, not to mention their bank manager. But maybe, just maybe, Sir's ear for goals will spring the last great giant-killing of the century.
Dec 9th:
In When Saturday Comes a few years ago a Bristol City supporter revealed that his most embarrassing moment as a fan had come during a visit by Chelsea to Ashton Gate. In a move which seemed designed to pander to the worst metropolitan stereotype of the West Country the club played The Wurzels on the public address and provided half-time entertainment in the shape of a smock-wearing comedian named Shag with a dancing chicken.
Short of burning a wicker man in the centre circle and announcing that first prize in the raffle was a goat in saucy underwear it is hard to imagine what else could have been done to send the visiting Londoners home with their prejudices more totally reinforced.
Yet, if this was bad, the situation must be a whole lot worse for the urbane Hereford United aficionado. After all, he or she has to contend not only with a bull parade and a bit of traditional painted mangelwurzel dribbling but also with having David Icke as the club's best known ex-player.
The former goalkeeper and Grandstand presenter has always been a little different. During his playing days at Edgar Street he openly confessed to being a keen trainspotter in the match programme. Nowadays I think it is safe to say he is the most unusual of retired sportsmen, not least because, when he says "I am over the moon", one is not sure whether he is speaking metaphorically.
In 1991 Icke announced that much of Britain would soon be engulfed by a massive tidal wave, which was bad news for most of us but a bit of a plus for the pools panel, who had not had much in the way of overtime since the advent of global warming.
In a week which offered such whimsical gems as the allegation that a former Newcastle United player had sold his team-mates' Cup final tickets to a tout for Monopoly money and Roy Keane reacting to his new £50,000-a-week contract by asserting, "I have always put my career ahead of money", it was left to Icke to take time out from his "cosmic mission to save the world from darkness" to provide a welcome burst of good, sound common sense. In Tuesday's Guardian he told Frank Keating: "You can't control a herd of sheep physically if those sheep want to express their uniqueness."
This is entirely true, of course. Indeed, it is one of the reasons why the popular TV show One Man And His Dog was taken off the air. In the past few years the flocks, possibly under the mind-expanding influence of sheep dip, had begun to reject the collie's fervent imprecations to trot swiftly across the field and into the pen in favour of doing a bit of abstract expressionist painting and experimental film-making. It was enriching for the sheep perhaps but it hardly made good television.
The other thing that finished off Phil Drabble and co was the news that one of the recalcitrant ovines was in fact none other than the ace undercover investigator Donal MacIntyre in one of his cunning disguises. The reporter's subsequent documentary revealed the shocking news that away from the bright lights and glitz of the programme the sheep were treated little better than cattle.
In his Guardian interview Icke also revealed that he had always wanted to work with "a little soccer team". Perhaps Hereford should seize the opportunity. By embracing the author of The Biggest Secret on their own terms the club would be empowering themselves in the manner of Madonna with her corsets. Other football clubs have done so successfully in the past, appropriating the substance and language of others' abuse to forge their own strong identities.
Dec 10th:
UNITED unchanged - Hereford United will be unchanged from their 2-1 win over Southport last weekend.
Hereford United Starting XI
Jones
Lane - Wright - James - Sturgess
Parry - Taylor - Snape - Williams
Fewings - Elmes
City facing goalie crisis - Leicester City could rest international stars Gerry Taggart and Steve Guppy, both of whom are not fully fit. Tim Flowers is still out with the flu, and Pegguy Arphexad with an ankle injury. Youth team 'keeper John Hodges could start. New £3,000,000 signing Darren Eadie is cup-tied for the game.
Dec 11th:
LEICESTER held - Hereford United have drawn 0-0 with Leicester City in the FA Cup.
Match of the day - Gary Lineker will introduce the action from Edgar Street, and John Motson will provide full commentary. Hereford will get £18,750 from the BBC and the show starts at 10.30pm on BBC1 on Saturday night. Sky Sports 1 will show highlights at 6pm, and Sky Sports 2 at 11pm.
HEREFORD United 0 - 0 Leicester City
FA Cup Third Round Match
A welcome attendance for Hereford United, and the performance should make many of the fans return. Leicester City were lucky to leave with a draw, and Graham Turner was delighted with a Hereford performance, in which they outshone the Foxes in the second half.
Leicester took control, in the first half, but Hereford returned in the second reformed, playing the match to the Premier League side. Only the woodwork stopped United scoring, against a side with eight internationals in the starting line-up. Paul Parry passed Matthew Elliott, and his shot beat Tim Flowers, but the near post allowed the ball to rebound to safety. Parry played well on the right side, and has already attracted interest from Coventry City and Huddersfield Town.
Hereford's electrician John Snape was awarded Man Of The Match award after a solid display in breaking down the Foxes' midfield. United still have the chance of becoming the first non-league club in the 1990's to beat a side in the top division.
Leicester started well, with Andy Impey's pass was flicked by Cottee to Heskey, who's shot was deflected away by United captain Wright. Hereford weathered the early storm, and Parry and Fewings caused former QPR and West Ham man Impey trouble in the corner. In the seventh minute, Frank Sinclair was brought off for Steve Walsh. No challenge caused the substitution, but Sinclair was limping as he left the pitch.
On ten minutes, Northern Ireland international Gerry Taggart headed over the bar and Izzet's second corner was palmed away by Mark Jones. Elliott also squandered a chance, as his shot was beaten away by Jones.
Hereford's first chance came on twenty minutes, as Rob Elmes passed to Fewings, but Flowers got the better of him, saving well. Leicester were the better side in the first half, but hadn't broken the deadlock.
Snape was booked two minutes into the second half by referee Mike Dean for a foul on Izzet, and from that point, Hereford piled on the pressure. Lane crossed, Elmes met but the attempt was scrambled away. Three corners in five minutes followed, and Steve Walsh was solid at the back to prevent a Hereford goal. Elmes fired in a low shot, and City's defence scrambled the effort away.
Leicester had a couple of breakaways, with Impey's cross dropped by Jones. Luckily the defenders stubbed out any threat. However, United's best chance came on 66 minutes. Snape fed Parry with a low ball down the middle. Parry beat Elliott, and his 10-yard shot hit the woodwork. Five minutes later, a Parry free kick was fired against the City wall.
Heskey should have scored with ten minutes left, but he headed the corner over the bar, after Jones had dropped it. On 82 minutes, Jones kept a Walsh header from crossing the line, and Cottee's chance was well saved by the Welshman.
Attendance = 7,795
Man of the match - John Snape
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, James, Parry, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings.
Sub(s) who came on - Rodgerson
Dec 11th
NON-league Hereford United's bonny commitment and often adroit bravado would readily have put out any number of Premiership swankpots with their babel of foreign slickers with no stomach for the unceremoniously folksy traditions of the FA Cup's annual general-excuse-me democracies when the hoi-polloi can play the hoity-toity for a day.
Alas for Hereford on Saturday, Martin O'Neill's Leicester City are not that sort of team. Many of them have battled in - and their way out of - the league's lower divisions. They were versed in the culture of these one-off midwinter dogfights between the haves and have-nots and, though not without alarums, Leicester manfully rode out all the blustery squalls in black-and-white shirts which kept coming at them in gales from the west. But Hereford's invigorating challenge was collectively skilful enough to keep the Premiership side on their mettle for the Filbert Street replay on Wednesday week.
After the overtures of expectation, with a bull on parade and hocus-pocus homage to the swede, here was a terrific Cup tie of vintage, a goalless draw of beef and bone and gristle, heart and sinew. The Hereford players fully deserved to win their cash-strapped club an early Christmas present in the way of a handsome replay cheque.
Hereford are ninth in the Conference, Leicester sixth in the Premiership - a vast gap of 95 places. Said O'Neill: "We might have come and looked around, sniffed the ambush and thought 'this isn't our scene, we've become too big for this, we don't fancy it.' Had we done so for a moment, we'd have got dumped out as sure as eggs."
O'Neill knows the score - not so long ago the boot was on the other foot when, as the manager of non-league Wycombe, he was taking on West Ham and Norwich City. "Even when we were up against it in the second half," he said, "I found myself thoroughly enjoying the contest and the occasion for what it was - a throwback to the good old days."
Having survived no end of swift, quick-thinking attacks, Hereford stirringly raised the siege as the gale and the crowd and a low wintry sun got behind them in the second-half. With their defence now com posed and less fretful, Hereford's hearty and unafraid midfielders even began to secure a grip.
Leicester backpedalled and the 19-year-old former YTS trainee from Chepstow, Paul Parry, almost stole the glory. Having run the legs off Matt Elliott and the rest of the desperate Leicester defence - "Michael Owen against Argentina" comes to Hereford - his fulminating left-foot shot on the run beat the mid-air full stretch of goalkeeper Tim Flowers.
The ball twanged ferociously, wretchedly for drama's sake, against the upright. The woodwork stayed quivering. So did all Hereford with the millimetre closeness of it. So did Leicester. After that a Christmas-week replay was the very best the big-timers could pray for.
Dec 12th:
In Herefordshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen but by golly how fiercely blew the wind in its charming, Christmassy county town yesterday reports the Guardian.
And at the end of the sort of pulsating tie that makes all except Manchester United misty-eyed for the competition, Leicester City of the Premiership were mighty grateful to escape from Edgar to Filbert Street with a replay on Wednesday week against the Nationwide Conference club.
At first the Foxes threatened to run amok in the non-Leaguers' chicken coop, but ultimately the Bulls asserted themselves to such spirited, rampaging effect that they could well have won through - and would have done had Paul Parry's thumping shot hit the inside rather than outside of a post.
'They deserved their replay,' the Leicester manager Martin O'Neill conceded. 'They played very strongly and there was a great atmosphere inside the ground. It was a throwback to the old days.'
Indeed it was, one that would have had the Fast Show 's Ron Manager waxing lyrical about small boys with rattles - yes, there was one in the stand - and giant-killing potential to match Newcastle here in 1972. Unfortunately, the rain had stopped by kick-off and despite some penalty area mud, the pitch was hardly the leveller of Ronnie Radford's era.
Consequently Leicester were able to play their football - or what football they do - early on, creating a glut of good chances, and looking particularly dangerous from a succession of corners. 'They were prepared for us,' said the Hereford manager, Graham Turner. 'Their pace took us by surprise.' In fact, Hereford would no doubt have preferred more fancy dan top-flight opponents rather than ones used to fighting for everything they get.
Emile Heskey had a shot charged down by Hereford's inspirational captain Ian Wright - no, not that one - and Mark Jones, brother of Southampton's Paul, did well to turn aside a low 25-yard drive by Muzzy Izzett. In addition, Paul Sturgess kicked off the line after Jones had parried Tony Cottee's shot on the turn.
Gradually, though, the livewire John Snape - an electrician, of course - and Mark Taylor in midfield got to grips with the task presented by the pugnacious Neil Lennon and Co and fashioned openings of their own. Tim Flowers even had to save one-handed from Paul Fewings after Rob Elmes had flicked on Snape's chip.
Then, with the wind at their backs and the sun in Leicester's eyes, Hereford attacked with passion in the second half, their nerves gone, their respect for the opposition no longer overwhelming them. The flu-ridden Flowers had to save a low shot from Fewings before the moment that Hereford may come to rue in 10 days' time.
Snape again broke up a Leicester move and sent Parry away in the inside left channel. The 19-year-old from Chepstow then glided past Matt Elliott - and Coronation Street 's Fred Elliott might have got closer; I say, Fred Elliott might have got closer - before letting fly from 20 yards, the left-foot shot bouncing to safety from Flowers' right post.
After that, Leicester might have pinched it, Heskey curiously heading over from a few yards and Jones saving Izzett's low header, but they wouldn't have deserved it. In fact, both sides seemed content with a draw, Hereford the more so, as non-League players often are with the chance to perform in a Premiership arena. Who can blame them? Certainly Hereford's board, the club £1.3 million in debt, will be happy enough.
IF Hereford United beat Leicester City in the FA Cup replay (December 22, 7.45pm), they will face travelling to either Arsenal or Blackpool, who play tomorrow night. The 4th round match is Arsenal/Blackpool vs Hereford United/Leicester City.
Dec 13th:
From the Independent:
A STILL darkness had fallen on the scene of an encounter that replenished our faith in the old competition as the team managers relaxed with a glass of Australian red, exchanged pleasantries, and indulged in a little psychological jousting.
"Thanks for the shirts," Graham Turner, chairman, director of football, coach and general factotum of Hereford United said after his players raided the Leicester dressing room for mementoes of a momentous occasion.
"A pleasure," Martin O'Neill replied, relieved that his Premiership side had not paid a heavier price for their uncomfortable second-half ride.
Turner confided that he felt his team's chance had probably gone when 19-year-old Paul Parry scythed through the Leicester defence and hit a post. "I wish you'd told me," said O'Neill, who suffered palpitations to the end.
"Your lads had the right attitude," Turner went on. "We had Spurs here four years ago and they almost laid down. It was only Campbell who kept them in it. Your lads were different."
"Losing to Arsenal last week the way we did was perhaps the worst thing that could have happened from your point of view," O'Neill replied.
"The money from the replay will be useful," Turner said. "That's why we can afford the wine! The tie should be yours now." O'Neill's eyebrows and senses shot up. "Oh yes! Should we settle for a nice 3-2 now?"
But Turner is not about to throw in the towel. O'Neill should negotiate the replay.
Parry's control, pace and impudence demonstrated an unlikely dimension to Hereford's game. Little wonder he is expected to bring in the next significant transfer fee to help offset a debt of pounds 1.3m. The regulation qualities were in evidence, too: the combative, probing midfield influence of John Snape; the unflinching resilience of the back line; the scrambling defiance of the goalkeeper, Mark Jones, brother of Southampton's Paul.
Despite an early bombardment of corners, a goal for Leicester would have been a wretched injustice. Hereford were entitled, at the very least, to dream on.
Dec 14th:
LEICESTER Ticket Info - The replay is on December 22nd 1999, and United have been allocated 3,400 tickets. Prices are : Adults - Lower Tier - £17, Upper Tier - £20, Child/OAP - Lower Tier - £8, Upper Tier - £10 Tickets are available from the Legends Bar on Wednesday 7-9pm, Sunday 11-1pm and Monday 4-9pm. They are also available from the club office Thursday and Friday 9-4pm. An unlimited number can be bought, and all are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Coach travel (15 coaches) costs £8 a person. No discounts. They leave at 4pm, with one possibly leaving from Leominster. Also, buy your scarves and wigs beforehand!
Bulmers the money grabbers - Mike Hughes, the chief executive of HP Bulmer, has been accused of not supporting the local club after signing a sponsorship deal worth £7,000,000 with Leeds United. When asked if he visited the match on Saturday by the Daily Telegraph, he replied "I was abroad." How convenient!
Dec 16th
TWO out for City - Leicester City will be without Steve Guppy and Neil Lennon forn the FA Cup 3rd Round Replay at Filbert Street next Wednesday. Both are to undergo operations.
Scarborough news - United travel to the McCain Stadium on Saturday, and have some doubts. Matt Clarke will try to shake off the flu to participate. Rodgerson, Wall and May could all also play. Colin Addison, now Scarborough boss, has splashed out 50K for Altrincham's Paul Ellender. He has also purchased Gareth Williams from Hull City and former United midfielder Gareth Stoker from Rochdale. All are expected to play.
"Finances Stable" - Turner - Graham Turner has said that money from the FA Cup run has helped to stabilise the finances into next summer. Youngsters do not have to be sold to the first bidder, as United can afford to wait until the right bid is made. This will help to keep promising players including Gavin Williams, Paul Parry, Chris Lane and Tony James. He also commented that a visit to Arsenal would be "perfect incentive" for the players in their match at Leicester.
Dec 17th:
UNITED in the Conference statistics - Leading Scorers : = 6th Paul Fewings (Hereford United). Goalscorers strike rates - Average time taken to score a home League goal : 1st Hereford United 37 mins. Average time taken to score an away League goal : =18th Hereford United 90 minutes. Average time taken to score a League goal : =1st Hereford United 49 minutes. Average time taken to concede a home League goal : 5th Hereford United 58 mins. Average time taken to concede an away League goal : =15th Hereford United 60 mins. Average time taken to concede a League goal : =7th Hereford United 59 mins
Dec 18th:
SCARBOROUGH crush United - Hereford United have been beaten 3-0 by Scarborough in the Conference today. Report from the Halesowen News.
Hereford warmed up for their FA Cup replay at Leicester City in the wrong fashion with this defeat and dropped three places to 12th in the Nationwide Conference.
But they played their part in an entertaining game and had enough chances to take the lead in the first-half, with Leroy May wasting two glorious opportunities.
The match was in doubt until a late pitch inspection, with frost having a firm grip, and United director of football Graham Turner made late changes. Chris Lane, Paul Fewings and Paul Parry all dropped to the substitutes' bench and Mark Taylor was not considered fit enough to play.
May's first opportunity came in the 13th minute when he raced clear of the defence, but his weak effort went straight at Andy Woods in the Scarborough goal.
Scarborough, managed by former Bulls boss Colin Addison, had Chris Tate making his debut following an £80,000 move from Halifax Town and he and fellow striker Steve Brodie caused problems for the United defence.
Mark Jones denied Brodie when he broke at pace into the penalty area and Tate looped a shot onto the top of the bar. Tate then set up the first goal when his header hit the bar and former Hereford man Gareth Stoker volleyed in from just inside the penalty area.
Tony James saw a back-header float just over the bar as Hereford pushed forward and he looked dangerous, especially from set-pieces. Ian Wright brought the best out of Woods from one of these, as he pushed a firm header over the bar, but it was May who was causing most problems. He got the better of Paul Ellender, but Woods came racing from his line to brilliantly block his effort at close range.
After the break, United saw less of the ball and, when Tate turned to send Brodie into the penalty area, Jones was beaten by a fine cross-shot which nestled just inside the post.
This goal signalled a double substitution, with James Wall, who had been impressive in the first half but was fading, replaced by Parry, and Fewings by Rob Elmes. The changes had little effect, although John Snape saw his clever chip shot saved by Woods at full stretch.
Scarborough's third goal came when Brodie's persistence won a loose ball, but his cross rather fortuitously found David Bass, whose left-footed shot beat Jones from the edge of the area.
Hereford: Jones, Clarke, Wright, James, Sturgess, Rodgerson, Snape, Wall (Parry 62 min), Williams, Elmes (Fewings 62 min), May. Subs not used: Lane, Rudall, Shirley.
Referee: H Webb (Rotherham).
Attendance: 1,242.
Dec 21st:
TURNER calls for 3 up - Graham Turner, the United manager, has called for a three up three down system from Division Three to the Conference. This comes after two Conference sides forced replays in the FA Cup third round.
First for 14 years? - If Hereford United beat Leicester City tomorrow, it will be the fist time a Conference side has beaten a side from the top flight since 1986 when Altrincham defeated then First Division side Birmingham City 2-1.
Odds - Hereford United are 16-1 to beat Leicester City, according Ladbrokes. The Foxes are 1-9 favourites, and the draw is quoted at 5-1. Fellow Conference side Rushden are 7-4 to beat First Division strugglers Sheffield United.
Ruddall Promoted - Youth team goalkeeper Lee Ruddall has been promoted to the first team squad. The 17-year old first year YTS player has featured on the bench frequently this season.
Hanson bid? - Craig Hanson, who is transfer listed, is wanted by Nigel Clough's Burton Albion. He has not been able to hold down a first team place this season.
Dec 22nd:
GRAHAM Turner, Hereford United's Director of Football, whose Conference side held Leicester to a 0-0 draw in the first game, said: "It's often stated that you only get one chance when you play a Premier League side. We might get stuffed out of sight in the replay, but the belief in our camp has got to be that we can win it.
"However, we can't overlook the money factor and what we get from Filbert Street will give us much-needed revenue and keep the wolf from the door for that much longer. Last season any offers we had for players had to be accepted because we had to meet the bills. But this Cup run has aided us. If we go get an offer for a player we can now choose when we decide to sell. But what we've got to do is get on a firmer financial footing."
LEICESTER 2 - 1 Hereford United
FA Challenge Cup Third Round Replay Match
Hereford travelled to Filbert Street in good spirit, with Graham Turner quietly confident that his side could cause an upset.
Paul Fewings scored on eleven minutes, but was well off-side. Throughout the first-half, Leicester goalie Pegguy Arphexad was not looking confident, and he was frequently tested. Leicester's first major chance came on twelve minutes, when Izzet drove a shot from twenty-five yards high and wide.
John Snape, playing in the centre of midfield for United, hit a twenty five yard volley just wide of the Leicester post on twenty-two minutes. Hereford had matched City for most of the first part, and they started to take control of the match. United took the game to Leicester, with Wright heading just over. On thirty-five minutes, Steve Walsh headed an Oakes corner just wide of Jones' post, but Fewings took the game to Leicester. Arphexad was left stranded as Fewings headed past him to put the Bulls 1-0 up.
The half time interval brought a substitution, with Steve Walsh being replaced by Andrew Impey. Walsh appeared to have an injury.
Leicester had the best of the play in the second half, with Theo Zagorakis header cleared off the line by Taylor just one minute into it. Soon, after, Cottee headed wide, and on the hour, Martin O'Neill made a substitution. Theo Zagorakis was replaced by Stuart Campbell, and he Foxes continued to push for an equaliser. Cottee wasted chance upon chance in the match, and Wright blocked the first on 65, and another is deflected wide on 67 minutes from twelve yards.
Arnar Gunnlaugsson replaced Fenton for City's third substitution, and Hereford replaced Paul Fewings, the goalscorer, for Ian Rodgerson. Despite the introduction of Rodgerson, Leicester continued to press and with 14 minutes left, Izzet's long range drive was collected by Jones. A minute later, Impey pulled his hamstring and was called off by the physio. City then only had ten players because they had used all of their subs.
It didn't seem to make much of an impact, as City equalised. Savage found Oakes, and his cross met Fenton. Jones dived for the ball, but dropped it for Elliott to knock it home for the equaliser. 1-1. Leicester then pushed for the winner, and with three minutes left Elliott shot wide. Two minutes later, there was a goal-mouth scramble. Campbell found Fenton, who knocked it to Cottee. Somehow, the former Everton striker missed the target from six yards. Five minutes of stoppage time followed, with Williams hitting just wide from 25 yards.
The first period of extra time brought more City pressure, with Taggart heading just over in the first minute. Three minutes later, Leroy May replaced Rob Elmes but Izzet still attacked. His pass found Elliott, but Chris Lane cleared off the line. The goal came on 103 minutes, when Savage fed Cottee. He charged it down, and crossed to find the head of Izzet. The headed bounced through the legs of Jones.
At this point, United vitally needed the equaliser. Both sides continued to attack, but the United team were starting to look weary. The Bulls fans, situated in the south stand upper tier, cheered on the team. Four minutes from the end, Tony James had a good shot, but this was smothered by Arphexad. Then United could have equalised through Gavin Williams. His shot, from 6 yards, produced brilliant save by Arphexad. Leicester then played out time, and the full time whistle was blown by the referee. Hereford United were eliminated, but far from humiliated.
Attendance = 12,157
Man of the match - John Snape
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Wright, James, Williams, Fewings, Taylor, Snape, Elmes, Parry.
Sub(s) who came on - May
"Hereford were fantastic," said Leicester manager Martin O'Neill afterwards.
Dec 23rd:
LEICESTER City 2 Hereford United 1 from the Independent(aet; score at 90 minutes 1-1)
LEICESTER SNATCHED victory, and with it a fourth-round trip to Arsenal, from the jaws of embarrassment in last night's FA Cup third-round replay trailing to Paul Fewings goal for Hereford from late in the first half until Matt Elliott equalised in the 78th minute, the side lying sixth in the Premiership finally squeezed past opponents from half-way down the Nationwide Conference by virtue of Muzzy Izzet's goal 14 minutes into extra time.
To compound the disappointment of Hereford's chairman-manager, Graham Turner, Leicester's winner followed a poorly executed corner by his own team. Robbie Savage pounced on the loose ball, leading a three-on-one counter- attack, before feeding Tony Cottee on the right. His cross was met by a downward header from Izzet, which shot through the legs of Hereford's farmer-goalkeeper Mark Jones.
Jones, who had been indebted to Chris Lane for a goal-line clearance moments earlier, kept Leicester at bay until Elliott stroked his first goal of the season. Before then, Fewings, the former Hull striker, had looked set to join Ronnie Radford in the pantheon of Hereford's Cup heroes - hardly what Leicester can have expected after the resolution of their behind-the-scenes strife.
Leicester were not helped by a lengthy casualty list. Frank Sinclair, Emile Heskey, Steve Guppy, Neil Lennon and Tim Flowers were all injured, while Darren Eadie was cup-tied. Faced with a makeshift side, Hereford opened as if they believed they could make light of a 98-place disparity in League positions.
The non-Leaguers had the ball in the net as early as the 12th minute, but the referee had blown for offside even before Fewings shot. There was a further scare for Leicester following Paul Gilchrist's weak clearing header midway through the first half. John Snape, the Birmingham electrician who is one of only three part-timers in Hereford's squad, volleyed wide as Pegguy Arphexad scrambled across his goal-line.
When Steve Walsh, O'Neill's emergency striker, finally struck Leicester's first shot in earnest after 25 minutes, the ball threatened the executive- box windows more than Jones' goal. Another centre-half, Hereford's Ian Wright, came rather closer to scoring, heading over from Paul Parry's corner.
So Hereford were not flattered by their 40th-minute lead. Parry beat Savage before crossing and Fewings, taking advantage of a deflection which sent the ball looping into the air, beat Arphexad with a back-header by the near post.
The Hereford contingent crowed: "Are you watching, Arsenal?" Leicester's response was to replace Walsh with Andrew Impey and push Arnar Gunnlaugsson up front in a 4-4-2 formation. An overdue sense of urgency invaded their play, and Elliott and Gerry Taggart both had efforts cleared off the line by Mark Taylor and Robin Elmes following Stefan Oakes' 47th-minute corner.
As the pressure intensified, Hereford struggled to escape their own half. Tony Cottee was allowed a free header, which Jones watched drift past the upright, and sent another volley thudding into Taylor's back.
Izzet also embarked on a surge at the heart of the visitors' back line, whereupon Chris Lane halted him with a textbook tackle.
Hereford's centre-backs, Wright and Tony James, bore the brunt of Leicester's siege, which was supplemented by Elliott's height and bulk with barely a third of the second half played. The towering defender's appearance in attack also had the effect, however, of tempting the home side into launching hopeful high balls rather than trying to play their way through a massed rearguard.
Jones' resistance at last ended with 12 minutes remaining when Leicester were down to 10 men after an injury to Impey. Oakes' centre from the left prompted a diving header by Graham Fenton, one of the substitutes, which Jones pushed aside with an outstretched palm. The ball ran kindly for Elliott, who had only to sidefoot it past the prostrate keeper from two yards.
Leicester City (3-4-1-2) Arphexad; Taggart, Elliott, Gilchrist; Savage, Zagorakis (Campbell, 60), Izzet, Oakes; Gunnlaugsson (Fenton, 69); Walsh (Impey, h-t), Cottee. Substitutes not used: Thomas, Hodges (gk).
Hereford United: (4-4-2) Jones; Lane, Wright, James, Sturgess; Williams, Taylor, Snape, Parry; Elmes, Fewings (Rodgerson, 70). Substitutes not used: Wall, Clarke, May, Ruddal (gk).
Referee: M Dean (Eastham)
Dec 23rd:
LEAGUE form must improve - Now the FA Cup run is over, United must start performing in the Conference. Their first port of call will be to do the double over rivals Kidderminster Harriers next week. The first match is at Edgar Street (Bank Holiday Monday 28th - Kick off 1pm) and the second at Aggborough (Bank Holiday Monday 3rd - Kick off 3pm).
Bank discussions - Barclays Bank have sorted out some problems withg Hereford United's overdraft after a meeting with Graham Turner. He said "We have reached an amicable agreement regarding a new level of borrowing."
Dates announced - Hereford's match at Kingstonian has been re-arranged for Wednesday, March 22nd. The game was originally scheduled for December 11th, but United played Leicester City in the FA Cup.
Vacances for coaching course - Anyone between the ages of 7 and 11 can still apply for the coaching course at the club next Tuesday. He can be contacted ob 01432 341065.
Dec 24th:
KIDDERMINSTER have announced their squad for tomorrow's league derby at Edgar Street. Included in the squad is Andrew Brownrigg, who spent a short time on loan to Hereford from Norwich in the mid 90's, who has recovered from a knee operation. Other players in the squad include former Aston Villa defender Phil King who has recovered from a groin strain. Doubts include Pope and Cunnington. Hereford have no new injury worries, with Quy and Piearce still out. A win cold put Kidderminster top, as the match kicks off at 1pm, and they have only lost once in their last nine league games. Hereford require the points to throw themselves back into the title race. They currently lie in 12th place in the Conference.
Dec 27th:
HEREFORD United 1 - 1 Kidderminster Harriers
The first league match between these two sides in the Christmas period was exactly as expected - a hard fought encounter with little between them. Over a thousand Harriers supporters travelled to Edgar Street, and many of them did a spot of bargain-hunting in town before kickoff.
Hereford United lined up with a full strength side after their narrow defeat to Leicester in the FA Cup tie ten days ago. United had slipped to 12th place after their defeat at Scarborough last weekend, and Kidderminster had risen to fourth. A win would have put them top (because of the early kick-off time).
Paul Fewings opened the scoring on six minutes. Tim Clarke dropped the ball at the near post, but Hereford United's star striker was on hand to knock the ball into the back of the net. The former Scunthorpe United goalkeeper didn't have a very good match, with Fewings charging down some of his clearances, one just going wide of the post.
United continued to pressurise the Kidderminster defence throughout the first period. Adie Smith played well snubbing out any decent United attacks, but Kidderminster couldn't get the momentum going. Ian Wright was booked on 26 minutes for a foul, but five minutes previously Tony James was brought off injured after a seemingly unfortunate challenge. He was replaced by James Wall in the centre of defence.
The second half started and Kidderminster came back into the match. Paul fewings was looking increasingly frustrated by the Kidderminster defence and was booked for a foul after just six minutes. He was also spoken to by the referee in the first half to calm down. Two minutes later came another yellow card, this time to Dean Bennett for another foul. Kidderminster, however, were starting to look like the better side. The referee, Mr Tanner from Bristol, awarded a series free kicks and corners as United fought back but Kidderminster broke and were unlucky not to have a shot when Gavin Williams zoomed back to make the challenge. Paul Parry, usually so influential, didn't get into the match as he would have liked, despite being in acres of space at times. He was brought off midway through the half and replaced by veteran Ian Rodgerson.
Kidderminster started to improve in attacking positions with Stewart Hadley and former United attacker Ian Foster linking well. It was Hadley who eventually opened his sides account with a well taken effort twenty minutes from time. Jones palmed away a shot, but it rebounded off the post for Hadley to bury from three yards. United knew that Kidderminster could now go for the winner. The disappointing Foster was removed for Mark Druce, a £10,000 signing from United last year. He was greeted with a hostile atmosphere from the Edgar Street faithful, but didn't get a decent effort to score the winner. Paul Fewings was then awarded a penalty for a bad challenge, much to the anger of the Kidderminster team. After consulting with his assistant, the penalty was give, but Clarke saved with his legs.
Paul Fewings was removed with six minutes to go, as the crowd greeted the substitute with the cry "Le-roy, Le-roy!". Leroy May came on, but couldn't make the required impact. His first touch was right in front of goal, but his overhead kick flew just over Tim Clarke's cross-bar. A fair result, and all eyes will be on Aggborough next Monday for the second leg of this league fixture.
Attendance = 4,437
Man of the match - Adie Smith (Kidderminster)
Hereford - Jones, Sturgess, Lane, James, Wright, Snape, Williams, Taylor, Fewings, Elmes, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - May, Wall
GRAHAM Turner post match comment: "On the balance of play we had more chances, but we needed a second goal to make the game safe. We didn't play anywhere near as well defensively as we did in our cup game at Leicester and at times we were sloppy on the ball."
Dec 29th:
UNITED in the Conference - Updated Stats - The 4,437 attendance for United vs Kidderminster on Monday is the fourth highest in the Conference this season. Here are the top 4. 5,721 27/12/1999 Rushden and Diamonds v Stevenage Borough 4,706 27/12/1999 Doncaster Rovers v Scarborough 4,490 02/11/1999 Nuneaton Borough v Rushden and Diamonds 4,437 27/12/1999 Hereford United v Kidderminster Harriers
The average league gate of 2,183 for United is sixth highest, beaten by Doncaster, Rushden, Stevenage, Nuneaton and Yeovil. Paul fewings is =5th highest scorer this season with 10 goals. On average, Hereford take 39 minutes (=2nd in the league with Morecambe) to score a league goal, beaten only by one minute by Dover Athletic.
Away from home, United are 19th out of 22 teams, taking 101 minutes to score a league goal. Overall, United are =4th with Kidderminster in the league for scoring goals, taking 52 minutes. Conceding goals at home takes 6o minutes (5th in the league), but away it takes 54 minutes (10th). Overall, United are 6th, and take 57 minutes.
Dec 30th:
TONY James will miss next Monday's derby match against Conference rivals Kidderminster Harriers. After suffering an injury in the last match, he is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury, and will be absent for three weeks. Winger Paul Parry could also miss the vital match after undegoing groin surgery. A long term knee injury to Andrew Quy could be better by the end of January, but Steve Piearce still has inflamed vertebrae in his back. It is not known when he will return to action for the Bulls.
£300,000 lost - If Hereford had beaten Leicester and played Arsenal, they could have earned an extra £300,000 from gate reciepts and live TV coverage by ITV. Graham Turner was 'devastated' when Leicester equalised with ten men, and eventually knocked United out in extra time. Despite the potential loss, the Bulls still made £200,000 from the cup run. The money should keep the books balanced into the summer of 2000.
Dec 30th:
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers manager Jan Molby is expected to keep the same side that drew 1-1 with United last Monday for tomorrow's derby match at Aggborough. Former West Ham midfielder Mike Marsh is out, as well as defender Steve Pope and Andrew Brownrigg, a former United favourite. The Kidderminster side is : Clarke, Clarkson, Stamps, Webb (captain), Smith, Hinton, Bennett, Skovbjerg, Hadley, Petersen, Foster.
FINAL reminder - Members must buy their tickets from the club office by 4pm on Friday for the Leicester match, or risk losing them to non-members.
Dec 2nd:
BILLERICAY Town info Injury problems - Umbro Trophy opponents Billericay Town are a league higher than last round's opponents Barton Rovers (Ryman Premier), and are currently 9th. They have 23 points from 16 games, and will be fancying their chances at their home ground in Essex.
Southport will post threat - Hereford United's preperation for the FA Cup tie against Leicester could go pear shaped in they don't get something from their home match against Southport on Saturday. The Northerners have appointed Paul Lodge as caretaker manager after the resignation of Paul Futcher last week. They are currenly six points behind United, with two games in hand, and in 17th place.
Injury problems - Both Mark Taylor and Ian Wright could miss this weekend's match through injury.
Rebels transfer listed - Craig Hanson and Matt Clarke have be placed on the transfer list by Graham Turner. Hanson wants regular first team football, but Matt Clarke's reason for the action is unknown. Graham Turner has stated that cover is good for Clarke. Chris Lane and Ian Rodgerson are also right sided defenders.
Bank to wait - The £75,000 from Sky Sports is not to be paid to the bank. Turner has said that a final decision will be made in a couple of weeks.
Ticket news - Any members must buy their tickets for the match by tomorrow (Friday). Any cards and season tickets must be shown when purchasing from the club shops. Junior Bulls are allowed one adult (non-member) ticket to attend the match with them. Vouchers will then be handed out at the Southport game on Saturday, and people with vouchers may purchase tickets between 10am and 12pm on Sunday. Any tickets left are then on sale to the general public. Prices are - SEATS : £13 (Concessions £6) TERRACES : £10 (Concessions £5)
Motty returns - John Motson will return to Edgar Street to commentate on the Leicester City match for BBC's Match Of The Day. His first big match came in 1972 when United beat Newcastle 2-1.
80% record - Hereford United have only lost once against a league side since relegation from Division Three in 1997. They have beaten Brighton, Colchester, York and Hartlepool. Only Tranmere have beaten United since demotion, winning 3-0 in the third round.
Dec 4th:
HEREFORD United 2 - 1 Southport
Their first double of the season, Hereford have now gained six points off Southport. It must be a good side for Fewings to play against - he has scored twice against them this season. As predicted, the biggest league attendance of the season at Edgar Street watched this, and it may have had something to do with the vochers being handed out for the Leicester match next weekend. An unchanged line-up for Hereford, and it paid off.
The action began in the first minute, with Furlong shooting at Jones, and United had chances wasted through Parry and Sturgess. Southport's best early chance came with Mark Stuart, but he ballooned ove the bar. Two minutes later, Stuart's free-kick was only just scrambled away by Jones. Soon after, United hit back. Fewings' shot was saved by Dickinson, and Stuart, on good form, had his head scooped from under the bar by Jones.
United took the lead against the run of play on 45 minutes, when Williams crossed, Wright headed on for Fewings to beat the 'keeper. Straight after break, the Bulls should have doubled their lead, but Fewings' shot was stopped by Dickinson. On 63 minutes, Southport should have been awarded a penalty. Arnold had been pulled to the ground by Wright, but referee Probert deemed it a fair challenge.
Two minutes later, Fewings was pulled down by Ryan, and Williams' penalty was brilliantly saved by Dickinson. Southport fought for the equaliser, and substitute Elam ran onto a Trundle through ball eight minutes from time to slot the ball past Jones from ten yards.
United, however, did produce a winner. A long throw-in caused problems for the defence and Wright fired home from five yards, awarding himself the man-of-the-match award and his team three points.
Attendance = 2,610
Man of the match - Ian Wright
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, James, Parry, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings
Sub(s) who came on - Rodgerson, May
Dec 5th:
From the Sunday Telegraph: THE talk was of football, momentous matches, heroic deeds and new dreams, rather than financial crises, sponsorship deals and relocation. Graham Turner was a man reborn.
He was liberated to concentrate on his players, organise the coaching and plot the FA Cup demise of Leicester City on Saturday, secure in the knowledge that other matters could, if only temporarily, be put to one side.
Turner, who once managed Aston Villa, then rebuilt Wolverhampton Wanderers, is now all but lost to mainstream football, yet his responsibilities have multiplied. He runs Conference club Hereford United - as chairman, director of football, coach, major shareholder and much more besides.
When Hereford were relegated from the League three seasons ago, Turner felt obliged to stay, to share the blame and shoulder the burden of reviving the club. That commitment became a crusade and he emerged from the boardroom shake-up with full control.
His hands-on approach to fund-raising even embraced an auction. The club gladly accommodated the servicing and parking demands of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain, though Turner had trouble convincing a jobsworth he really did work at Edgar Street and was entitled to penetrate the security cordon.
The car parks will be filled by football folk on Saturday, when Hereford meet the Premiership club in a third-round tie, invoking memories of their fabled victory against Newcastle United, of Radford, of pitch invasions and all, 28 seasons ago.
"It's just what we needed," said Turner, 52. "I'm particularly pleased for the supporters because they've stuck with us through hard times. They've seen us relegated, then have to sell a lot of our better players to survive.
"People are talking about football again, there's excitement and anticipation. The club has a great tradition of cup football. Everyone remembers the Newcastle match but the club were close to beating Manchester United in 1990, and that might have cost Alex Ferguson his job. Four years ago Tottenham scraped a draw here."
This tie is transparently what Turner needed, too. Receipts from a crowd of more than 8,000, and the BBC's fee for Match of the Day highlights will earn the club £60,000. This on top of the £75,000 Sky paid for live coverage of their match against Hartlepool in the previous round.
Hereford are £1.3 million in debt and raised £140,000 last season through the sale of five players.
Turner said: "It means we can pick and choose when we sell and I can enjoy the football side.
"Talking to bank managers and sponsors is the hard part of the job. Coaching, working with the players, is a joy."
He is convinced full-time professional playing staff are imperative if the club are to prosper, but his part-timers have made crucial contributions to the cup run. Leroy May, a 'strippagram' of some repute, and Robin Elmes, a languages and PE teacher, have scored decisive goals, while Mark Jones, a farm manager and brother of the Southampton goalkeeper, Paul, has made important saves.
Turner had to ask Elmes's headmaster to give the striker time off school to practise set plays and acknowledges that his players will need all the preparation they can muster against a team unlikely to consider themselves too precious for this trip beyond League bounds.
"I could have chosen easier Premiership opponents," Turner said. "But Martin O'Neill and players like Matt Elliott and Gerry Taggart know what to expect."
TV Update - Hereford will feature on BBC1's Football Focus (Saturday 12.20pm), Match of the Day (BBC1 Saturday 10.30pm) and Channel 5 at 10am on Sunday. Various other shows will preview the game, including ITV's On The Ball on Saturday at 1.10pm. The game by then will have started, and latest results can obtained from Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports 1 from 12pm), and teletext. For latest results on the web, log on to www.football.sports.com or www.bbc.co.uk/football
Leicester lose - Leicester were defeated 3-0 yesterday by Arsenal, putting more pressure on manager Martin O'Neill to get a result on Saturday.
THIS FA CUP weekend promises to be a busy time for the Jones family reports the Independent. Most of the attention will centre on Paul, the Southampton and Wales goalkeeper, when the Saints march up to Ipswich on the Monday. Before that, on the Saturday, the limelight will be on his elder brother Mark, who will be guarding Hereford United's net in their match against Leicester City. Should they both play, the Jones boys will make history, by becoming the first brothers to play in goal in the same round of the FA Cup.
Mark Jones started his football career at 18 when he was enlisted by his local village side, Hadnal. "I didn't like the idea of running around much, so I went in goal," says the 35-year-old, who is three years older than his more illustrious brother. "Paul was in the same team, but he played centre-half. He was already a good keeper, but I took senior priority in those days. He was not going to get me out.
"We've kept an eye on each other's performances since and we ring each other up from time to time," Mark continues. "But when we meet up, we tend to avoid the subject. It's a bit boring, to tell you the truth."
There was plenty of excitement when Mark and his team-mates gathered in a pub just around the corner from Hereford's Edgar Street ground, for the third-round draw. "We would have preferred Newcastle, Arsenal or Liverpool, to be honest," says Jones senior. "But Leicester are a Premiership side, so it's a good tie for us. Ever since the draw was made, the town has been buzzing. All the tickets have been sold now and everyone is really looking forward to the game."
While the Foxes will hardly be shaking in their boots at the prospect of facing a non-League team, they will be acutely aware of Hereford's long history of giant-killing in the Cup. Their most prized scalp remains that of Newcastle United, famously beaten 2-1 in 1972.
According to their manager, however, the Bulls should have savoured more recent joy. "Had there been any justice four years ago in our match against Spurs, we'd have won," says Graham Turner, once of Aston Villa and Wolves. "The game should have been one of the great days in the club's proud Cup tradition."
That match ended 1-1 and, although the Londoners eventually ran out comfortable 5-1 winners in the replay at White Hart Lane, Hereford's reputation as a team for the big occasions was cemented.
So, are Leicester beatable? "Martin O'Neill has got them well organised and they've got a big lad up front... what's his name? Heskey, is it?" asks Jones. "It's going to be difficult but we've got a chance, especially at home. It's only a slim one, but it's a chance."
The previous two rounds provided their own surprises. Progress from the first round was courtesy of a 1-0 win against York, "a real battle" according to Jones. Then came the 1-0 victory over Hartlepool, when a 55th-minute header by their striker Robin Elmes propelled the Conference side into the last 64 of the Cup.
"At the beginning of the season, the gaffer said we wanted to get promotion, and that the FA Cup was just a bonus. But now we're getting really excited about it and we feel confident."
To maximise their team's chances, six fans will carry out the Bulls' FA Cup ritual before the game. They will surround and worship a swede (the root vegetable, not Stefan Schwarz) in the centre circle, before chasing it and kicking it into the Meadow End goal. "Don't ask me why," pleads Jones. "All I know is that it's been around for ages [1958 to be precise] and it's worked so far."
It says much about football these days that a relatively modest club like Hereford should be made up primarily of full-time professionals with just a handful of part-timers.
Jones, a dairy farmer by trade, is one of the three "amateurs" in the team, who at present lie in the top half of the Conference. "I work on the farm every day, and that keeps me relatively fit," he says. "Otherwise, I come in once a week for a training session. The manager has been great about it. His show of confidence helped me settle, and now that I've played in the last 20 games or so, I'm more comfortable with the lads and our style of play."
Who better, then, to guide us through Hereford's herd of black and white bulls than Mark Jones MC? Introducing...
Chris Lane: Scouser, right-back. Typical Liverpudlian, a true character. Released by Everton as a trainee and joined us last season. Still only 19, he's a great prospect but a complete loony. Good lad to have around -bubbly in the dressing-room.
Paul Sturgess: Known as Stavros because of his olive skin. Signed this season from Brighton. Real Cockney lad, who loves to get forward. He's got a sweet left foot. And he's English to boot.
John Snape: One of the part-timers, a Brummie electrician. He's our Paul Ince - a good battler in midfield. Not sure about his skills as a sparky. Last week he couldn't even repair the extension lead for the stereo.
Ian Wright: Big fella. He's our defensive rock; the Tony Adams of the side. He's captain, too. Great in the air, he leads by example. Was our top scorer with 13 goals last season.
Tony James: Wrighty's centre-half partner, TJ's not the tallest of lads, but he's incredibly good in the air. Quietly spoken Welsh lad. He gets a bit of stick about his relations with sheep. Not from me, mind. I'm Welsh too.
Gavin Williams: Another Welsh boy. Great player, the David Beckham of the team. Can play anywhere in midfield or on the wings. He's our best crosser of the ball. Also likes running and dribbling past players.
Paul Parry: One of the club's trainees, he had a bad dose of glandular fever at the start of the season, but he's over that now and he's making telling contributions on the left of midfield. Sets up a lot of the goals. A bit lazy tracking back, though.
Mark Taylor: Bags of experience. Played in the Premiership for Sheffield Wednesday and knows what it's all about. He's not arrogant either. He's come down to a lower level but doesn't bully his way around. His wife went into labour the morning of the Hartlepool match, but she kindly held on until the Monday so Markie could play.
Robin Elmes: Mr Smoothie. German teacher from Sutton Coldfield. He's a tremendous asset. Scored the winning goal in the last round against Hartlepool. Some of the lads tease him by shouting in German, but he just answers them back. They never have a clue what he's saying.
Paul Fewings: Pretty face. He's the good-looking one of the team. Don't tell him, though. Girls always look for him after games. Works well with Robin.
Leroy May: Super sub. Everyone knows about him being a male stripper, don't they. You can imagine the banter. Tall lad up front. This guy's the Full Monty: he can score and tackle too.
Dec 9th:
FA Cup preview - Hereford United can become the first Nationwide Conference club to knock out a Premier League side in this Saturday's FA Cup, kick off 1pm. Woking, Stevenage and Rushden have held Premier League teams to replays, but none has beaten a side from the elite. Graham Turner knows he will face a tough task, but the financial rewards are a godsend.
Team news - Except for the long-term injuries to Steve Piearce and Andrew Quy, Hereford have a full squad to select from. Part-timers Elmes, Jones and Snape are expected to start, and Leicester have no major injuries in their team. Rob Elmes will be marked by Scottish international defender Matthew Elliott.
Pitch invasion may mean bans - A pitch invasion during or after the Leicester City FA Cup match may mean big trouble for the club, and for the fans. A small element of 'fans' against Hartlepool tried to cause trouble, and this could mean a points deduction or fine for the club, or life bans for the fans. There will be a heavy police presence and Graham Turner has pleaded to the fans that there will be no problems.
Leicester to field British side - All of the players on show in the tie on Saturday will be British born. Internationals for Leicester include Northern Ireland's Neil Lennon and Gerry Taggart, England's Steve Guppy and Emile Heskey, Scotland's Matt Elliott and Wales' Robbie Savage. Jamaica's adopted player Frank Sinclair could also play, as will former international's Tony Cottee and Tim Flowers. Former West Ham and QPR midfielders Andrew Impey and former Chelsea player Muzzy izzet will participate in midfield.
Last time - In 1982, United lost 1-0 to Leicester in 1982 FA Cup fourth round, then managed by former Bulls' goalkeeper Jock Wallace. Gary Lineker also starred.
Match of the day - Gary Lineker will introduce the action from Edgar Street, and John Motson will provide full commentary. Hereford will get £18,750 from the BBC and the show starts at 10.30pm on BBC1 on Saturday night. Sky Sports 1 will show highlights at 6pm, and Sky Sports 2 at 11pm.
Capacity attendance - The game is now sold out, and a capacity crowd of 8,843 expected. HUISA's guests are former FA Cup heroes Roger Griffiths and Dudley Tyler. Rembrandt the Bull will feature, as will the swede. Rob Elmes will be supported by fourty fans from Bishop Walsh School in Sutton Coldfied, where he teaches PE and German.
Bookies - United are 7/1 to win. Leicester City are 1/4 and a draw is 4/1. Hereford United are 2500/1 to win the FA Cup.
Brian out, Adriano in - Adriano Girolami has been appointed the new Football in the Community officer at HUFC. He replaces Brian Williams who left for Shrewsbury Town.
Dec 9th:
From the Independent:
The mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent used to transform himself in telephone boxes. Robin Elmes, head of German at a Catholic comprehensive school in Birmingham, does it in penalty boxes.
Elmes, who will lead Hereford United's attack at home to Leicester City in the third round on Saturday, was already a super-hero with the students at Bishop Walsh School after heading the goal which knocked out Hartlepool. When the draw gave the Nationwide Conference club a home tie against a Premiership team studded with internationals, everyone wanted a tug of his cape.
As he arrived at school the next morning, the secretary handed him a note which read: "Central TV 10.20, Midlands BBC 10.45, Sky Sports 11.00." In the staff-room he discovered that tabloids and broadsheets alike made him man of the match against Hartlepool. In class, too, the plaudits flowed, many pupils having watched live television coverage of the match.
He might have been carried away by it all but for one budding Jimmy Hill, who announced bluntly: "The ball went in off yer ear, Sir."
Elmes admits he has scored better goals but none more precious. For hard-up Hereford it has generated a sell-out crowd of 8,800 plus TV revenue and commercial spin-offs. On a personal level it has produced a Jim'll Fix It-style opportunity, at 29, to compare himself with a current England striker, Emile Heskey, and to pit his wits against defenders such as Matt Elliott and Frank Sinclair.
When they were in France at the World Cup finals last year, with Scotland and Jamaica respectively, Elmes was switching between two Dr Martens League clubs, Bromsgrove Rovers and Halesowen Town. He was then a centre-back, as he was throughout his degree course at Keele University, and with his first club, Boldmere St Michael's.
It was not until Christmas that Halesowen tried him up front, where he last played in the sixth form at Poole Grammar School. Although he scored regularly, what impressed Hereford's chairman-manager, Graham Turner, was Elmes' partnership with a forward called Steve Piearce. Turner, who turned Steve Bull from an under-achieving West Brom reserve into Wolves' record marksman, snapped them both up last summer.
"At my age I thought it could be my last chance to play at that level, which is as high as it gets for someone in my job," Elmes says. "Steve went full-time but unfortunately he has been injured most of the time. For me, it's been the best move I've made in football."
Professional players tend to be disdainful of erudite colleagues; an A-Level is often enough to attract monikers like "Brains", "Prof" or worse. Revealing that he is known as "Elmo", Elmes says: "I seem to remember that was the nickname of the fat, balding barman in Brush Strokes, but I like to think it comes from my surname."
Any doubts his new colleagues may have harboured about his pedigree were dispelled when he hit Hereford's winner in a friendly against Wolves on his debut. After missing a week of pre-season training - "In my job I can't pick and choose when I go on holiday" - he eventually came off the bench and had already scored seven goals for the Bulls before Hartlepool's visit.
"I was wary beforehand because we were live on Sky. I kept thinking that if I had an absolute nightmare, or got sent off, I'd be slaughtered on the Monday. I was also very conscious of the need to avoid swearing. As a teacher you have to set standards and practise what you preach.
"When I was playing for Boldmere I got fouled really viciously and the referee did nothing. I swore and was sent off. As I trudged off I saw some kids from school, so I called over, 'Do as I say, not as I do'. On my birthday I received several red cards.
"As it turned out, I was caught on camera spitting on the ground against Hartlepool. My mother-in-law spotted it, which has had me excommunicated from my wife's side of the family."
All will be forgiven, one suspects, before Leicester hit Edgar Street. Quite apart from relatives, the number of Elmes' colleagues with tickets for the tie will far exceed the spaces in the school mini-bus which sufficed in the previous round.
His preparations have not been ideal. With Hereford's only other part-timer, the electrician John Snape, he trains two nights a week with Oldbury United. Most evenings are spent marking (though not the kind to which Elliott will doubtless subject him).
"I try to get it all done at school by six o'clock, but I'm also head of year, so I've a lot of responsibility. Fortunately I don't need much time off because the Conference regionalise midweek games. The head, Mike Moran, is very supportive and I try to reciprocate with extra-curricular things like helping with the football and cricket teams."
Leicester promise to be a searching examination; mocks, finals and an Ofsted inspection rolled into 90 minutes. However, Elmes recalls how his boyhood favourites, Bournemouth, beat Manchester United when they were Cup-holders, and takes heart from the way Stevenage and Rushden & Diamonds held Newcastle and Leeds respectively in recent seasons.
Then there is Hereford's own Cup tradition. Ronnie Radford must wish he was on a royalty for every time his brutal winner against Newcastle is replayed. While Elmes claims he never nets from such range, he likes the idea of popping in a goal that will have people reminiscing 25 years from now.
"We have to have an exceptional day and Leicester a terrible one. I've watched them on Match of the Day and it was frightening. They're all genuine, hard-working British pros with no prima donnas who won't fancy a muddy pitch on a cold winter's day. They've also got pockets of real class but I'm confident it won't be boys against men."
A draw would delight Hereford, not to mention their bank manager. But maybe, just maybe, Sir's ear for goals will spring the last great giant-killing of the century.
Dec 9th:
In When Saturday Comes a few years ago a Bristol City supporter revealed that his most embarrassing moment as a fan had come during a visit by Chelsea to Ashton Gate. In a move which seemed designed to pander to the worst metropolitan stereotype of the West Country the club played The Wurzels on the public address and provided half-time entertainment in the shape of a smock-wearing comedian named Shag with a dancing chicken.
Short of burning a wicker man in the centre circle and announcing that first prize in the raffle was a goat in saucy underwear it is hard to imagine what else could have been done to send the visiting Londoners home with their prejudices more totally reinforced.
Yet, if this was bad, the situation must be a whole lot worse for the urbane Hereford United aficionado. After all, he or she has to contend not only with a bull parade and a bit of traditional painted mangelwurzel dribbling but also with having David Icke as the club's best known ex-player.
The former goalkeeper and Grandstand presenter has always been a little different. During his playing days at Edgar Street he openly confessed to being a keen trainspotter in the match programme. Nowadays I think it is safe to say he is the most unusual of retired sportsmen, not least because, when he says "I am over the moon", one is not sure whether he is speaking metaphorically.
In 1991 Icke announced that much of Britain would soon be engulfed by a massive tidal wave, which was bad news for most of us but a bit of a plus for the pools panel, who had not had much in the way of overtime since the advent of global warming.
In a week which offered such whimsical gems as the allegation that a former Newcastle United player had sold his team-mates' Cup final tickets to a tout for Monopoly money and Roy Keane reacting to his new £50,000-a-week contract by asserting, "I have always put my career ahead of money", it was left to Icke to take time out from his "cosmic mission to save the world from darkness" to provide a welcome burst of good, sound common sense. In Tuesday's Guardian he told Frank Keating: "You can't control a herd of sheep physically if those sheep want to express their uniqueness."
This is entirely true, of course. Indeed, it is one of the reasons why the popular TV show One Man And His Dog was taken off the air. In the past few years the flocks, possibly under the mind-expanding influence of sheep dip, had begun to reject the collie's fervent imprecations to trot swiftly across the field and into the pen in favour of doing a bit of abstract expressionist painting and experimental film-making. It was enriching for the sheep perhaps but it hardly made good television.
The other thing that finished off Phil Drabble and co was the news that one of the recalcitrant ovines was in fact none other than the ace undercover investigator Donal MacIntyre in one of his cunning disguises. The reporter's subsequent documentary revealed the shocking news that away from the bright lights and glitz of the programme the sheep were treated little better than cattle.
In his Guardian interview Icke also revealed that he had always wanted to work with "a little soccer team". Perhaps Hereford should seize the opportunity. By embracing the author of The Biggest Secret on their own terms the club would be empowering themselves in the manner of Madonna with her corsets. Other football clubs have done so successfully in the past, appropriating the substance and language of others' abuse to forge their own strong identities.
Dec 10th:
UNITED unchanged - Hereford United will be unchanged from their 2-1 win over Southport last weekend.
Hereford United Starting XI
Jones
Lane - Wright - James - Sturgess
Parry - Taylor - Snape - Williams
Fewings - Elmes
City facing goalie crisis - Leicester City could rest international stars Gerry Taggart and Steve Guppy, both of whom are not fully fit. Tim Flowers is still out with the flu, and Pegguy Arphexad with an ankle injury. Youth team 'keeper John Hodges could start. New £3,000,000 signing Darren Eadie is cup-tied for the game.
Dec 11th:
LEICESTER held - Hereford United have drawn 0-0 with Leicester City in the FA Cup.
Match of the day - Gary Lineker will introduce the action from Edgar Street, and John Motson will provide full commentary. Hereford will get £18,750 from the BBC and the show starts at 10.30pm on BBC1 on Saturday night. Sky Sports 1 will show highlights at 6pm, and Sky Sports 2 at 11pm.
HEREFORD United 0 - 0 Leicester City
FA Cup Third Round Match
A welcome attendance for Hereford United, and the performance should make many of the fans return. Leicester City were lucky to leave with a draw, and Graham Turner was delighted with a Hereford performance, in which they outshone the Foxes in the second half.
Leicester took control, in the first half, but Hereford returned in the second reformed, playing the match to the Premier League side. Only the woodwork stopped United scoring, against a side with eight internationals in the starting line-up. Paul Parry passed Matthew Elliott, and his shot beat Tim Flowers, but the near post allowed the ball to rebound to safety. Parry played well on the right side, and has already attracted interest from Coventry City and Huddersfield Town.
Hereford's electrician John Snape was awarded Man Of The Match award after a solid display in breaking down the Foxes' midfield. United still have the chance of becoming the first non-league club in the 1990's to beat a side in the top division.
Leicester started well, with Andy Impey's pass was flicked by Cottee to Heskey, who's shot was deflected away by United captain Wright. Hereford weathered the early storm, and Parry and Fewings caused former QPR and West Ham man Impey trouble in the corner. In the seventh minute, Frank Sinclair was brought off for Steve Walsh. No challenge caused the substitution, but Sinclair was limping as he left the pitch.
On ten minutes, Northern Ireland international Gerry Taggart headed over the bar and Izzet's second corner was palmed away by Mark Jones. Elliott also squandered a chance, as his shot was beaten away by Jones.
Hereford's first chance came on twenty minutes, as Rob Elmes passed to Fewings, but Flowers got the better of him, saving well. Leicester were the better side in the first half, but hadn't broken the deadlock.
Snape was booked two minutes into the second half by referee Mike Dean for a foul on Izzet, and from that point, Hereford piled on the pressure. Lane crossed, Elmes met but the attempt was scrambled away. Three corners in five minutes followed, and Steve Walsh was solid at the back to prevent a Hereford goal. Elmes fired in a low shot, and City's defence scrambled the effort away.
Leicester had a couple of breakaways, with Impey's cross dropped by Jones. Luckily the defenders stubbed out any threat. However, United's best chance came on 66 minutes. Snape fed Parry with a low ball down the middle. Parry beat Elliott, and his 10-yard shot hit the woodwork. Five minutes later, a Parry free kick was fired against the City wall.
Heskey should have scored with ten minutes left, but he headed the corner over the bar, after Jones had dropped it. On 82 minutes, Jones kept a Walsh header from crossing the line, and Cottee's chance was well saved by the Welshman.
Attendance = 7,795
Man of the match - John Snape
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Snape, Wright, James, Parry, Taylor, Elmes, Williams, Fewings.
Sub(s) who came on - Rodgerson
Dec 11th
NON-league Hereford United's bonny commitment and often adroit bravado would readily have put out any number of Premiership swankpots with their babel of foreign slickers with no stomach for the unceremoniously folksy traditions of the FA Cup's annual general-excuse-me democracies when the hoi-polloi can play the hoity-toity for a day.
Alas for Hereford on Saturday, Martin O'Neill's Leicester City are not that sort of team. Many of them have battled in - and their way out of - the league's lower divisions. They were versed in the culture of these one-off midwinter dogfights between the haves and have-nots and, though not without alarums, Leicester manfully rode out all the blustery squalls in black-and-white shirts which kept coming at them in gales from the west. But Hereford's invigorating challenge was collectively skilful enough to keep the Premiership side on their mettle for the Filbert Street replay on Wednesday week.
After the overtures of expectation, with a bull on parade and hocus-pocus homage to the swede, here was a terrific Cup tie of vintage, a goalless draw of beef and bone and gristle, heart and sinew. The Hereford players fully deserved to win their cash-strapped club an early Christmas present in the way of a handsome replay cheque.
Hereford are ninth in the Conference, Leicester sixth in the Premiership - a vast gap of 95 places. Said O'Neill: "We might have come and looked around, sniffed the ambush and thought 'this isn't our scene, we've become too big for this, we don't fancy it.' Had we done so for a moment, we'd have got dumped out as sure as eggs."
O'Neill knows the score - not so long ago the boot was on the other foot when, as the manager of non-league Wycombe, he was taking on West Ham and Norwich City. "Even when we were up against it in the second half," he said, "I found myself thoroughly enjoying the contest and the occasion for what it was - a throwback to the good old days."
Having survived no end of swift, quick-thinking attacks, Hereford stirringly raised the siege as the gale and the crowd and a low wintry sun got behind them in the second-half. With their defence now com posed and less fretful, Hereford's hearty and unafraid midfielders even began to secure a grip.
Leicester backpedalled and the 19-year-old former YTS trainee from Chepstow, Paul Parry, almost stole the glory. Having run the legs off Matt Elliott and the rest of the desperate Leicester defence - "Michael Owen against Argentina" comes to Hereford - his fulminating left-foot shot on the run beat the mid-air full stretch of goalkeeper Tim Flowers.
The ball twanged ferociously, wretchedly for drama's sake, against the upright. The woodwork stayed quivering. So did all Hereford with the millimetre closeness of it. So did Leicester. After that a Christmas-week replay was the very best the big-timers could pray for.
Dec 12th:
In Herefordshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen but by golly how fiercely blew the wind in its charming, Christmassy county town yesterday reports the Guardian.
And at the end of the sort of pulsating tie that makes all except Manchester United misty-eyed for the competition, Leicester City of the Premiership were mighty grateful to escape from Edgar to Filbert Street with a replay on Wednesday week against the Nationwide Conference club.
At first the Foxes threatened to run amok in the non-Leaguers' chicken coop, but ultimately the Bulls asserted themselves to such spirited, rampaging effect that they could well have won through - and would have done had Paul Parry's thumping shot hit the inside rather than outside of a post.
'They deserved their replay,' the Leicester manager Martin O'Neill conceded. 'They played very strongly and there was a great atmosphere inside the ground. It was a throwback to the old days.'
Indeed it was, one that would have had the Fast Show 's Ron Manager waxing lyrical about small boys with rattles - yes, there was one in the stand - and giant-killing potential to match Newcastle here in 1972. Unfortunately, the rain had stopped by kick-off and despite some penalty area mud, the pitch was hardly the leveller of Ronnie Radford's era.
Consequently Leicester were able to play their football - or what football they do - early on, creating a glut of good chances, and looking particularly dangerous from a succession of corners. 'They were prepared for us,' said the Hereford manager, Graham Turner. 'Their pace took us by surprise.' In fact, Hereford would no doubt have preferred more fancy dan top-flight opponents rather than ones used to fighting for everything they get.
Emile Heskey had a shot charged down by Hereford's inspirational captain Ian Wright - no, not that one - and Mark Jones, brother of Southampton's Paul, did well to turn aside a low 25-yard drive by Muzzy Izzett. In addition, Paul Sturgess kicked off the line after Jones had parried Tony Cottee's shot on the turn.
Gradually, though, the livewire John Snape - an electrician, of course - and Mark Taylor in midfield got to grips with the task presented by the pugnacious Neil Lennon and Co and fashioned openings of their own. Tim Flowers even had to save one-handed from Paul Fewings after Rob Elmes had flicked on Snape's chip.
Then, with the wind at their backs and the sun in Leicester's eyes, Hereford attacked with passion in the second half, their nerves gone, their respect for the opposition no longer overwhelming them. The flu-ridden Flowers had to save a low shot from Fewings before the moment that Hereford may come to rue in 10 days' time.
Snape again broke up a Leicester move and sent Parry away in the inside left channel. The 19-year-old from Chepstow then glided past Matt Elliott - and Coronation Street 's Fred Elliott might have got closer; I say, Fred Elliott might have got closer - before letting fly from 20 yards, the left-foot shot bouncing to safety from Flowers' right post.
After that, Leicester might have pinched it, Heskey curiously heading over from a few yards and Jones saving Izzett's low header, but they wouldn't have deserved it. In fact, both sides seemed content with a draw, Hereford the more so, as non-League players often are with the chance to perform in a Premiership arena. Who can blame them? Certainly Hereford's board, the club £1.3 million in debt, will be happy enough.
IF Hereford United beat Leicester City in the FA Cup replay (December 22, 7.45pm), they will face travelling to either Arsenal or Blackpool, who play tomorrow night. The 4th round match is Arsenal/Blackpool vs Hereford United/Leicester City.
Dec 13th:
From the Independent:
A STILL darkness had fallen on the scene of an encounter that replenished our faith in the old competition as the team managers relaxed with a glass of Australian red, exchanged pleasantries, and indulged in a little psychological jousting.
"Thanks for the shirts," Graham Turner, chairman, director of football, coach and general factotum of Hereford United said after his players raided the Leicester dressing room for mementoes of a momentous occasion.
"A pleasure," Martin O'Neill replied, relieved that his Premiership side had not paid a heavier price for their uncomfortable second-half ride.
Turner confided that he felt his team's chance had probably gone when 19-year-old Paul Parry scythed through the Leicester defence and hit a post. "I wish you'd told me," said O'Neill, who suffered palpitations to the end.
"Your lads had the right attitude," Turner went on. "We had Spurs here four years ago and they almost laid down. It was only Campbell who kept them in it. Your lads were different."
"Losing to Arsenal last week the way we did was perhaps the worst thing that could have happened from your point of view," O'Neill replied.
"The money from the replay will be useful," Turner said. "That's why we can afford the wine! The tie should be yours now." O'Neill's eyebrows and senses shot up. "Oh yes! Should we settle for a nice 3-2 now?"
But Turner is not about to throw in the towel. O'Neill should negotiate the replay.
Parry's control, pace and impudence demonstrated an unlikely dimension to Hereford's game. Little wonder he is expected to bring in the next significant transfer fee to help offset a debt of pounds 1.3m. The regulation qualities were in evidence, too: the combative, probing midfield influence of John Snape; the unflinching resilience of the back line; the scrambling defiance of the goalkeeper, Mark Jones, brother of Southampton's Paul.
Despite an early bombardment of corners, a goal for Leicester would have been a wretched injustice. Hereford were entitled, at the very least, to dream on.
Dec 14th:
LEICESTER Ticket Info - The replay is on December 22nd 1999, and United have been allocated 3,400 tickets. Prices are : Adults - Lower Tier - £17, Upper Tier - £20, Child/OAP - Lower Tier - £8, Upper Tier - £10 Tickets are available from the Legends Bar on Wednesday 7-9pm, Sunday 11-1pm and Monday 4-9pm. They are also available from the club office Thursday and Friday 9-4pm. An unlimited number can be bought, and all are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Coach travel (15 coaches) costs £8 a person. No discounts. They leave at 4pm, with one possibly leaving from Leominster. Also, buy your scarves and wigs beforehand!
Bulmers the money grabbers - Mike Hughes, the chief executive of HP Bulmer, has been accused of not supporting the local club after signing a sponsorship deal worth £7,000,000 with Leeds United. When asked if he visited the match on Saturday by the Daily Telegraph, he replied "I was abroad." How convenient!
Dec 16th
TWO out for City - Leicester City will be without Steve Guppy and Neil Lennon forn the FA Cup 3rd Round Replay at Filbert Street next Wednesday. Both are to undergo operations.
Scarborough news - United travel to the McCain Stadium on Saturday, and have some doubts. Matt Clarke will try to shake off the flu to participate. Rodgerson, Wall and May could all also play. Colin Addison, now Scarborough boss, has splashed out 50K for Altrincham's Paul Ellender. He has also purchased Gareth Williams from Hull City and former United midfielder Gareth Stoker from Rochdale. All are expected to play.
"Finances Stable" - Turner - Graham Turner has said that money from the FA Cup run has helped to stabilise the finances into next summer. Youngsters do not have to be sold to the first bidder, as United can afford to wait until the right bid is made. This will help to keep promising players including Gavin Williams, Paul Parry, Chris Lane and Tony James. He also commented that a visit to Arsenal would be "perfect incentive" for the players in their match at Leicester.
Dec 17th:
UNITED in the Conference statistics - Leading Scorers : = 6th Paul Fewings (Hereford United). Goalscorers strike rates - Average time taken to score a home League goal : 1st Hereford United 37 mins. Average time taken to score an away League goal : =18th Hereford United 90 minutes. Average time taken to score a League goal : =1st Hereford United 49 minutes. Average time taken to concede a home League goal : 5th Hereford United 58 mins. Average time taken to concede an away League goal : =15th Hereford United 60 mins. Average time taken to concede a League goal : =7th Hereford United 59 mins
Dec 18th:
SCARBOROUGH crush United - Hereford United have been beaten 3-0 by Scarborough in the Conference today. Report from the Halesowen News.
Hereford warmed up for their FA Cup replay at Leicester City in the wrong fashion with this defeat and dropped three places to 12th in the Nationwide Conference.
But they played their part in an entertaining game and had enough chances to take the lead in the first-half, with Leroy May wasting two glorious opportunities.
The match was in doubt until a late pitch inspection, with frost having a firm grip, and United director of football Graham Turner made late changes. Chris Lane, Paul Fewings and Paul Parry all dropped to the substitutes' bench and Mark Taylor was not considered fit enough to play.
May's first opportunity came in the 13th minute when he raced clear of the defence, but his weak effort went straight at Andy Woods in the Scarborough goal.
Scarborough, managed by former Bulls boss Colin Addison, had Chris Tate making his debut following an £80,000 move from Halifax Town and he and fellow striker Steve Brodie caused problems for the United defence.
Mark Jones denied Brodie when he broke at pace into the penalty area and Tate looped a shot onto the top of the bar. Tate then set up the first goal when his header hit the bar and former Hereford man Gareth Stoker volleyed in from just inside the penalty area.
Tony James saw a back-header float just over the bar as Hereford pushed forward and he looked dangerous, especially from set-pieces. Ian Wright brought the best out of Woods from one of these, as he pushed a firm header over the bar, but it was May who was causing most problems. He got the better of Paul Ellender, but Woods came racing from his line to brilliantly block his effort at close range.
After the break, United saw less of the ball and, when Tate turned to send Brodie into the penalty area, Jones was beaten by a fine cross-shot which nestled just inside the post.
This goal signalled a double substitution, with James Wall, who had been impressive in the first half but was fading, replaced by Parry, and Fewings by Rob Elmes. The changes had little effect, although John Snape saw his clever chip shot saved by Woods at full stretch.
Scarborough's third goal came when Brodie's persistence won a loose ball, but his cross rather fortuitously found David Bass, whose left-footed shot beat Jones from the edge of the area.
Hereford: Jones, Clarke, Wright, James, Sturgess, Rodgerson, Snape, Wall (Parry 62 min), Williams, Elmes (Fewings 62 min), May. Subs not used: Lane, Rudall, Shirley.
Referee: H Webb (Rotherham).
Attendance: 1,242.
Dec 21st:
TURNER calls for 3 up - Graham Turner, the United manager, has called for a three up three down system from Division Three to the Conference. This comes after two Conference sides forced replays in the FA Cup third round.
First for 14 years? - If Hereford United beat Leicester City tomorrow, it will be the fist time a Conference side has beaten a side from the top flight since 1986 when Altrincham defeated then First Division side Birmingham City 2-1.
Odds - Hereford United are 16-1 to beat Leicester City, according Ladbrokes. The Foxes are 1-9 favourites, and the draw is quoted at 5-1. Fellow Conference side Rushden are 7-4 to beat First Division strugglers Sheffield United.
Ruddall Promoted - Youth team goalkeeper Lee Ruddall has been promoted to the first team squad. The 17-year old first year YTS player has featured on the bench frequently this season.
Hanson bid? - Craig Hanson, who is transfer listed, is wanted by Nigel Clough's Burton Albion. He has not been able to hold down a first team place this season.
Dec 22nd:
GRAHAM Turner, Hereford United's Director of Football, whose Conference side held Leicester to a 0-0 draw in the first game, said: "It's often stated that you only get one chance when you play a Premier League side. We might get stuffed out of sight in the replay, but the belief in our camp has got to be that we can win it.
"However, we can't overlook the money factor and what we get from Filbert Street will give us much-needed revenue and keep the wolf from the door for that much longer. Last season any offers we had for players had to be accepted because we had to meet the bills. But this Cup run has aided us. If we go get an offer for a player we can now choose when we decide to sell. But what we've got to do is get on a firmer financial footing."
LEICESTER 2 - 1 Hereford United
FA Challenge Cup Third Round Replay Match
Hereford travelled to Filbert Street in good spirit, with Graham Turner quietly confident that his side could cause an upset.
Paul Fewings scored on eleven minutes, but was well off-side. Throughout the first-half, Leicester goalie Pegguy Arphexad was not looking confident, and he was frequently tested. Leicester's first major chance came on twelve minutes, when Izzet drove a shot from twenty-five yards high and wide.
John Snape, playing in the centre of midfield for United, hit a twenty five yard volley just wide of the Leicester post on twenty-two minutes. Hereford had matched City for most of the first part, and they started to take control of the match. United took the game to Leicester, with Wright heading just over. On thirty-five minutes, Steve Walsh headed an Oakes corner just wide of Jones' post, but Fewings took the game to Leicester. Arphexad was left stranded as Fewings headed past him to put the Bulls 1-0 up.
The half time interval brought a substitution, with Steve Walsh being replaced by Andrew Impey. Walsh appeared to have an injury.
Leicester had the best of the play in the second half, with Theo Zagorakis header cleared off the line by Taylor just one minute into it. Soon, after, Cottee headed wide, and on the hour, Martin O'Neill made a substitution. Theo Zagorakis was replaced by Stuart Campbell, and he Foxes continued to push for an equaliser. Cottee wasted chance upon chance in the match, and Wright blocked the first on 65, and another is deflected wide on 67 minutes from twelve yards.
Arnar Gunnlaugsson replaced Fenton for City's third substitution, and Hereford replaced Paul Fewings, the goalscorer, for Ian Rodgerson. Despite the introduction of Rodgerson, Leicester continued to press and with 14 minutes left, Izzet's long range drive was collected by Jones. A minute later, Impey pulled his hamstring and was called off by the physio. City then only had ten players because they had used all of their subs.
It didn't seem to make much of an impact, as City equalised. Savage found Oakes, and his cross met Fenton. Jones dived for the ball, but dropped it for Elliott to knock it home for the equaliser. 1-1. Leicester then pushed for the winner, and with three minutes left Elliott shot wide. Two minutes later, there was a goal-mouth scramble. Campbell found Fenton, who knocked it to Cottee. Somehow, the former Everton striker missed the target from six yards. Five minutes of stoppage time followed, with Williams hitting just wide from 25 yards.
The first period of extra time brought more City pressure, with Taggart heading just over in the first minute. Three minutes later, Leroy May replaced Rob Elmes but Izzet still attacked. His pass found Elliott, but Chris Lane cleared off the line. The goal came on 103 minutes, when Savage fed Cottee. He charged it down, and crossed to find the head of Izzet. The headed bounced through the legs of Jones.
At this point, United vitally needed the equaliser. Both sides continued to attack, but the United team were starting to look weary. The Bulls fans, situated in the south stand upper tier, cheered on the team. Four minutes from the end, Tony James had a good shot, but this was smothered by Arphexad. Then United could have equalised through Gavin Williams. His shot, from 6 yards, produced brilliant save by Arphexad. Leicester then played out time, and the full time whistle was blown by the referee. Hereford United were eliminated, but far from humiliated.
Attendance = 12,157
Man of the match - John Snape
Hereford - Jones, Lane, Sturgess, Wright, James, Williams, Fewings, Taylor, Snape, Elmes, Parry.
Sub(s) who came on - May
"Hereford were fantastic," said Leicester manager Martin O'Neill afterwards.
Dec 23rd:
LEICESTER City 2 Hereford United 1 from the Independent(aet; score at 90 minutes 1-1)
LEICESTER SNATCHED victory, and with it a fourth-round trip to Arsenal, from the jaws of embarrassment in last night's FA Cup third-round replay trailing to Paul Fewings goal for Hereford from late in the first half until Matt Elliott equalised in the 78th minute, the side lying sixth in the Premiership finally squeezed past opponents from half-way down the Nationwide Conference by virtue of Muzzy Izzet's goal 14 minutes into extra time.
To compound the disappointment of Hereford's chairman-manager, Graham Turner, Leicester's winner followed a poorly executed corner by his own team. Robbie Savage pounced on the loose ball, leading a three-on-one counter- attack, before feeding Tony Cottee on the right. His cross was met by a downward header from Izzet, which shot through the legs of Hereford's farmer-goalkeeper Mark Jones.
Jones, who had been indebted to Chris Lane for a goal-line clearance moments earlier, kept Leicester at bay until Elliott stroked his first goal of the season. Before then, Fewings, the former Hull striker, had looked set to join Ronnie Radford in the pantheon of Hereford's Cup heroes - hardly what Leicester can have expected after the resolution of their behind-the-scenes strife.
Leicester were not helped by a lengthy casualty list. Frank Sinclair, Emile Heskey, Steve Guppy, Neil Lennon and Tim Flowers were all injured, while Darren Eadie was cup-tied. Faced with a makeshift side, Hereford opened as if they believed they could make light of a 98-place disparity in League positions.
The non-Leaguers had the ball in the net as early as the 12th minute, but the referee had blown for offside even before Fewings shot. There was a further scare for Leicester following Paul Gilchrist's weak clearing header midway through the first half. John Snape, the Birmingham electrician who is one of only three part-timers in Hereford's squad, volleyed wide as Pegguy Arphexad scrambled across his goal-line.
When Steve Walsh, O'Neill's emergency striker, finally struck Leicester's first shot in earnest after 25 minutes, the ball threatened the executive- box windows more than Jones' goal. Another centre-half, Hereford's Ian Wright, came rather closer to scoring, heading over from Paul Parry's corner.
So Hereford were not flattered by their 40th-minute lead. Parry beat Savage before crossing and Fewings, taking advantage of a deflection which sent the ball looping into the air, beat Arphexad with a back-header by the near post.
The Hereford contingent crowed: "Are you watching, Arsenal?" Leicester's response was to replace Walsh with Andrew Impey and push Arnar Gunnlaugsson up front in a 4-4-2 formation. An overdue sense of urgency invaded their play, and Elliott and Gerry Taggart both had efforts cleared off the line by Mark Taylor and Robin Elmes following Stefan Oakes' 47th-minute corner.
As the pressure intensified, Hereford struggled to escape their own half. Tony Cottee was allowed a free header, which Jones watched drift past the upright, and sent another volley thudding into Taylor's back.
Izzet also embarked on a surge at the heart of the visitors' back line, whereupon Chris Lane halted him with a textbook tackle.
Hereford's centre-backs, Wright and Tony James, bore the brunt of Leicester's siege, which was supplemented by Elliott's height and bulk with barely a third of the second half played. The towering defender's appearance in attack also had the effect, however, of tempting the home side into launching hopeful high balls rather than trying to play their way through a massed rearguard.
Jones' resistance at last ended with 12 minutes remaining when Leicester were down to 10 men after an injury to Impey. Oakes' centre from the left prompted a diving header by Graham Fenton, one of the substitutes, which Jones pushed aside with an outstretched palm. The ball ran kindly for Elliott, who had only to sidefoot it past the prostrate keeper from two yards.
Leicester City (3-4-1-2) Arphexad; Taggart, Elliott, Gilchrist; Savage, Zagorakis (Campbell, 60), Izzet, Oakes; Gunnlaugsson (Fenton, 69); Walsh (Impey, h-t), Cottee. Substitutes not used: Thomas, Hodges (gk).
Hereford United: (4-4-2) Jones; Lane, Wright, James, Sturgess; Williams, Taylor, Snape, Parry; Elmes, Fewings (Rodgerson, 70). Substitutes not used: Wall, Clarke, May, Ruddal (gk).
Referee: M Dean (Eastham)
Dec 23rd:
LEAGUE form must improve - Now the FA Cup run is over, United must start performing in the Conference. Their first port of call will be to do the double over rivals Kidderminster Harriers next week. The first match is at Edgar Street (Bank Holiday Monday 28th - Kick off 1pm) and the second at Aggborough (Bank Holiday Monday 3rd - Kick off 3pm).
Bank discussions - Barclays Bank have sorted out some problems withg Hereford United's overdraft after a meeting with Graham Turner. He said "We have reached an amicable agreement regarding a new level of borrowing."
Dates announced - Hereford's match at Kingstonian has been re-arranged for Wednesday, March 22nd. The game was originally scheduled for December 11th, but United played Leicester City in the FA Cup.
Vacances for coaching course - Anyone between the ages of 7 and 11 can still apply for the coaching course at the club next Tuesday. He can be contacted ob 01432 341065.
Dec 24th:
KIDDERMINSTER have announced their squad for tomorrow's league derby at Edgar Street. Included in the squad is Andrew Brownrigg, who spent a short time on loan to Hereford from Norwich in the mid 90's, who has recovered from a knee operation. Other players in the squad include former Aston Villa defender Phil King who has recovered from a groin strain. Doubts include Pope and Cunnington. Hereford have no new injury worries, with Quy and Piearce still out. A win cold put Kidderminster top, as the match kicks off at 1pm, and they have only lost once in their last nine league games. Hereford require the points to throw themselves back into the title race. They currently lie in 12th place in the Conference.
Dec 27th:
HEREFORD United 1 - 1 Kidderminster Harriers
The first league match between these two sides in the Christmas period was exactly as expected - a hard fought encounter with little between them. Over a thousand Harriers supporters travelled to Edgar Street, and many of them did a spot of bargain-hunting in town before kickoff.
Hereford United lined up with a full strength side after their narrow defeat to Leicester in the FA Cup tie ten days ago. United had slipped to 12th place after their defeat at Scarborough last weekend, and Kidderminster had risen to fourth. A win would have put them top (because of the early kick-off time).
Paul Fewings opened the scoring on six minutes. Tim Clarke dropped the ball at the near post, but Hereford United's star striker was on hand to knock the ball into the back of the net. The former Scunthorpe United goalkeeper didn't have a very good match, with Fewings charging down some of his clearances, one just going wide of the post.
United continued to pressurise the Kidderminster defence throughout the first period. Adie Smith played well snubbing out any decent United attacks, but Kidderminster couldn't get the momentum going. Ian Wright was booked on 26 minutes for a foul, but five minutes previously Tony James was brought off injured after a seemingly unfortunate challenge. He was replaced by James Wall in the centre of defence.
The second half started and Kidderminster came back into the match. Paul fewings was looking increasingly frustrated by the Kidderminster defence and was booked for a foul after just six minutes. He was also spoken to by the referee in the first half to calm down. Two minutes later came another yellow card, this time to Dean Bennett for another foul. Kidderminster, however, were starting to look like the better side. The referee, Mr Tanner from Bristol, awarded a series free kicks and corners as United fought back but Kidderminster broke and were unlucky not to have a shot when Gavin Williams zoomed back to make the challenge. Paul Parry, usually so influential, didn't get into the match as he would have liked, despite being in acres of space at times. He was brought off midway through the half and replaced by veteran Ian Rodgerson.
Kidderminster started to improve in attacking positions with Stewart Hadley and former United attacker Ian Foster linking well. It was Hadley who eventually opened his sides account with a well taken effort twenty minutes from time. Jones palmed away a shot, but it rebounded off the post for Hadley to bury from three yards. United knew that Kidderminster could now go for the winner. The disappointing Foster was removed for Mark Druce, a £10,000 signing from United last year. He was greeted with a hostile atmosphere from the Edgar Street faithful, but didn't get a decent effort to score the winner. Paul Fewings was then awarded a penalty for a bad challenge, much to the anger of the Kidderminster team. After consulting with his assistant, the penalty was give, but Clarke saved with his legs.
Paul Fewings was removed with six minutes to go, as the crowd greeted the substitute with the cry "Le-roy, Le-roy!". Leroy May came on, but couldn't make the required impact. His first touch was right in front of goal, but his overhead kick flew just over Tim Clarke's cross-bar. A fair result, and all eyes will be on Aggborough next Monday for the second leg of this league fixture.
Attendance = 4,437
Man of the match - Adie Smith (Kidderminster)
Hereford - Jones, Sturgess, Lane, James, Wright, Snape, Williams, Taylor, Fewings, Elmes, Parry
Sub(s) who came on - May, Wall
GRAHAM Turner post match comment: "On the balance of play we had more chances, but we needed a second goal to make the game safe. We didn't play anywhere near as well defensively as we did in our cup game at Leicester and at times we were sloppy on the ball."
Dec 29th:
UNITED in the Conference - Updated Stats - The 4,437 attendance for United vs Kidderminster on Monday is the fourth highest in the Conference this season. Here are the top 4. 5,721 27/12/1999 Rushden and Diamonds v Stevenage Borough 4,706 27/12/1999 Doncaster Rovers v Scarborough 4,490 02/11/1999 Nuneaton Borough v Rushden and Diamonds 4,437 27/12/1999 Hereford United v Kidderminster Harriers
The average league gate of 2,183 for United is sixth highest, beaten by Doncaster, Rushden, Stevenage, Nuneaton and Yeovil. Paul fewings is =5th highest scorer this season with 10 goals. On average, Hereford take 39 minutes (=2nd in the league with Morecambe) to score a league goal, beaten only by one minute by Dover Athletic.
Away from home, United are 19th out of 22 teams, taking 101 minutes to score a league goal. Overall, United are =4th with Kidderminster in the league for scoring goals, taking 52 minutes. Conceding goals at home takes 6o minutes (5th in the league), but away it takes 54 minutes (10th). Overall, United are 6th, and take 57 minutes.
Dec 30th:
TONY James will miss next Monday's derby match against Conference rivals Kidderminster Harriers. After suffering an injury in the last match, he is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury, and will be absent for three weeks. Winger Paul Parry could also miss the vital match after undegoing groin surgery. A long term knee injury to Andrew Quy could be better by the end of January, but Steve Piearce still has inflamed vertebrae in his back. It is not known when he will return to action for the Bulls.
£300,000 lost - If Hereford had beaten Leicester and played Arsenal, they could have earned an extra £300,000 from gate reciepts and live TV coverage by ITV. Graham Turner was 'devastated' when Leicester equalised with ten men, and eventually knocked United out in extra time. Despite the potential loss, the Bulls still made £200,000 from the cup run. The money should keep the books balanced into the summer of 2000.
Dec 30th:
KIDDERMINSTER Harriers manager Jan Molby is expected to keep the same side that drew 1-1 with United last Monday for tomorrow's derby match at Aggborough. Former West Ham midfielder Mike Marsh is out, as well as defender Steve Pope and Andrew Brownrigg, a former United favourite. The Kidderminster side is : Clarke, Clarkson, Stamps, Webb (captain), Smith, Hinton, Bennett, Skovbjerg, Hadley, Petersen, Foster.
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