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Sir Alex Ferguson has now been at Old Trafford for over twenty years but it might not have been anywhere near as long had Hereford United defeated Manchester United in the FA Cup on January 28th 1990.
Fergi had to take his team to Edgar Street to face Hereford United in the fourth round of the FA Cup. At the time he was under pressure as his side were sliding down the First Division. Some of his expensive squad were not performing and as ever the buck stops with the manager.
"He takes his side into tomorrow's tie at Hereford knowing that his tenure will probably go the way of the Government's Football Spectators Bill should the League's 88th-placed team prove victorious." wrote Phil Shaw in the Independent.
Team captain Bryan Robson revealed before the game that United were wary of going to Edgar Street. They had defeated Notts Forest in the previous round.
"It's cup final to them and it's sure to be tough," said Robson.
"On paper this looks easier than playing Forest away, but you never know when you go to these lower league clubs."
On
the day of the game, Sunday January 28th 1990, the pitch was awful
after days of rain and the Bulls held their visitors until the 84th
minute of the game when Clayton Blackmore scored the only goal of the
game.
"Being drawn against a little club can be a nightmare. When we won the
FA Cup in 1990we played Hereford United on a quagmire of a pitch,"
Ferguson wrote in a column later that year.
"There was an incredible extravaganza with marching bands and a big bull - the Hereford emblem - out on the pitch.
"There was a sell-out crowd, tickets changing hands on the black market
and of course television - they hadn't seen so many cameras since they
beat Newcastle in the FA Cup in 1972.
"So our visit made it a big day for them.
"It was so wet that the car park was flooded and some cars were marooned for days.
"We only won with a goal in the final minutes."
13,777 watched the game.
Hereford United: Elliott, Jones MA, Devine, Hemming, Peacock, Pejic, Jones M, Narbett, Robinson, Benbow, Tester.
Relive the game with YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyMSCXBKZ0A
Other Highlights from 1990:
Jan 1st: Hereford 1 Gillingham 2
Jan 6th: Hereford 2 Walsall 1 (FA Cup Third Round)
Jan 10th: Peterborough 0 Hereford 1 (Leyland-Daf Cup First Round)
Jan 12th: Hereford United have fixed a 1 p.m. kick-off for their fourth round FA Cup match with Manchester United at Edgar Street on Sunday, January 28. Police have fixed a ground limit of 12,500.
Jan 13th: Hereford 0 Cambridge 2
Jan 20th: Carlisle 2 Hereford 1
Jan 22nd: Manchester United have sent a scout to measure the size of the visitors dressing room at Hereford ahead of Saturday's FA Cup game.
Jan 28th: Hereford 0 Manchester United 1 (FA Cup Fourth Round)
A phantom whistler nearly cost Manchester United
their place in the English F.A. Cup fifth round draw. Referee John
Moules spoke with police after the 50th minute incident during United's 1-0 win at Hereford.
Feb 5th: Hereford United have signed Nottingham Forest striker Phil Starbuck on a month's loan. He will make his debut for the Fourth Division club in Wednesday's Leyland Daf Cup match against Notts County.
Feb 7th: Hereford 1 Notts County 1 (Notts won 4-3 penalties) (Daf Southern Quarter Final). Most of the action was in 30 minutes of extra time.
Feb 10th: Wrexham 0 Hereford 0
Feb 13th: Cardiff City, the favourites, have been drawn to meet either Bangor City or Hereford United in the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup.
Feb 14th: Maidstone 2 Hereford 0
Feb 17th: Hereford 4 Hartlepool 1
Feb 20th: Hereford United have signed Nottingham Forest striker Phil Starbuck on a month's loan.
Feb 22nd: Bangor 1 Hereford 1 (Welsh Cup Quarter Final)
Feb 25th: Doncaster 0 Hereford 1
Feb 26th: Notts County striker Phil Stant, signed for £175,000 from Hereford United last summer, has been put on the transfer list.
Feb 28th: Hereford 4 Bangor 0 (Welsh Cup replay)
Mar 3rd: Hereford 4 Aldershot 1
Mar 7th: Hereford 0 Grimsby 1
Mar 9th: Colin Addison, former Derby County, Hereford United and Newport County manager, flies to Madrid on Sunday to take charge of Swinish club Cadiz until the end of the season.
Mar 10th: Chesterfield 2 Hereford 1
Mar 14th: Hereford 2 Colchester 0
Mar 17th: Hereford 1 Stockport 2
Mar 20th: Southend 2 Hereford 0
Mar 24th: Scarborough 0 Hereford 1
Mar 28th: Hereford 0 Burnley 1
Mar 31st: Hereford 2 Exeter 1
HEREFORD have frequently disappointed their fans with their home performances this season but this time they received a grandstand ovation after beating the Fourth Division leaders. Most of the first half play was fast and furious with neither side able to gain ascendancy for any length of time.
Skipper Darren Peacock was a tower of strength in the home defence and it was City's rearguard which eventually capitulated in the 56th minute. Mark Jones's free kick was cleared back to him and when he pumped the ball back into the goalmouth Russell Bradley headed down for Chris Hemming to force it over the line. In the 77th minute United went further ahead when Paul Wheeler dispossessed a defender, advanced a few yards and cracked a low drive past Miller.
HEREFORD
Freestone; Jones (M.A), Bowyer, Hemming, Peacock, Bradley, Pejic, Narbett, Wheeler, Juryeff, Jones (M). Sub: Jones (S).
Apr 2nd: Cardiff 0 Hereford 3 (Welsh Cup semi-final 1st leg)
Apr 4th: Hereford 1 Cardiff 3 (2nd leg)
Apr 7th: Lincoln 1 Hereford 0
Apr 11th: Hereford 0 Halifax 1
Apr 14th: Gillingham 0 Hereford 1
Apr 16th: Hereford 0 Torquay 0
April 21st: Scunthorpe 3 Hereford 3
Ian and Gary Bowyer became first father and son combination to appear in the Football League for 39 years for Hereford United against Scunthorpe. The game was drawn 3-3.
April 25th: Hereford 1 York 2
April 28th: Hereford 1 Peterborough 2
May 1st: Aldershot 0 Hereford 2
May 5th: Rochdale 5 Hereford 2
May 13th:
IN front of just 4182 Hereford United win the Welsh Cup for the first time. They defeated Wrexham 2-1 in the final at Cardiff Arms Park. Colin Robinson and Ian Benbow scored the goals. They became the first English club to win at the Welsh National stadium since 1963.
Team: T Elliott, M A Jones, S Devine, M Pejic, D Peacock, Bradley, S Jones (P Tester), M Jones, I Benbow, Robinson, I Bowyer
May 18th: 
Hereford will bring the recently won Welsh FA Cup with them when they play
Newcastle Town tomorrow (3pm) In a feast of football being staged at Mahal, Road. borough and the Fourth Division dub are expected to field
a full-strength side.
July 9th: Bobby Smith, the former Bury and Swindon manager, has joined fourth division Hereford United as assistant manager to Colin Addison.
July 11th: Central defender Mel Pejic, released by Hereford United at the end of last season, has rejoined the club on a two-year contract and been reappointed captain. Pejic holds Hereford United's appearance record of 351 League games.
Aug 2nd: Hereford will travel to Brentford in the Rumbelows Cup on August 28th. Second round will be at Edgar Street on September 5th.
August 4th: Hereford have signed former 37 year old Scottish international keeper George Wood from Cardiff City on a one year contract.
August 4th and 8th
Pre-season friendlies against Millwall (0-1) and Chelsea (2-2)
New signings Dennis Wise and Andy Townsend played for Chelsea.
Aug 25th: Hereford 1 Northampton 2
Aug 28th: Brentford 2 Hereford 0 (League Cup First Round First Leg)
Sept 1st: Hereford 2 York 0
Sept 5th: Hereford United 1 Brentford 0 (League Cup Second Leg). Bulls went out on aggregate 2-1
Sept 7th: Hereford United have signed former Manchester United apprentice Karl Goddard (22) on a free transfer from Bradford.
Sept 8th: Chesterfield 1 Hereford 0
Sept 12th:
Hereford United have sold striker Ian Juryeff to Halifax for a reported £50,000. He made 28 starts and scored four goals whilst with the Bulls.
Sept 15th: Hereford 4 Carlisle 2
Sept 19th: Hereford 1 Gillingham 1
Sept 22nd: Walsall 0 Hereford 0
The Bulls made their first visit to the Bescot Stadium, Walsall new ground close to the M6.
Sept 29th: Hereford 0 Stockport 0
Oct 3rd: Lincoln 1 Hereford 1
Oct 6th: Darlington 3 Hereford 1
Oct 13th: Hereford 3 Burnley 0
Oct 20th: Hereford 1 Cardiff 1
Oct 23rd: Halifax 0 Hereford 4
Oct 27th: Hartlepool 2 Hereford United 1
Stewart Phillips scores for the Bulls.
Nov 3rd: Hereford 3 Scarborough 3
Nov 7th: Hereford 1 Newtown 1 (Welsh Cup Round Three)
Nov 10th: Maidstone 1 Hereford 1
Nov 13th: Newtown 1 Hereford 1 (aet) Hereford won 4-3 on pens
Nov 17th: Hereford 1 Peterborough 1 (FA Cup Round One)
Nov 20th: Peterborough 2 Hereford 1 (Replay)
Nov 24th: Hereford 0 Peterborough 0
Nov 28th: Exeter 2 Hereford 2 (Leyland Daf group stage)
Exeter City are through to the knockout stage of the Leyland Daf Cup but
manager Terry Cooper slammed his side's performance in last night's
drab draw with Hereford at St James's Park. The angry City boss labelled
the players a complete disgrace after watching them let a two-goal lead
slip against the Fourth Division side. "I'm absolutely fed up with
them. We spend hours on the training pitch working on crosses and then
on a match day they can't do a thing right," he stormed. "I've told them
I don't want to see them again until 2 o'clock Saturday. I don't see I
should waste my time getting cold and wet in training for nothing. "I've
given them two days off to see if that works but I've told them that if
they don't buck up they'll lose by six to Stoke on Saturday. "The
honeymoon is over and we're finding out who can and who can't do it at
this level. We've got to roll our sleeves up now and I've got a feeling
it's going to be a long old season." City were 2-0 up and cruising
against a busy but unspectacular Hereford side and Cooper admitted: "We
started as if we really meant busi- ness and for half an hour we played
smashing. "But from then on it was an absolute disgrace. If I had to go
through all the things that went wrong I'd be here all night." Hereford
hardly looked capable of getting back into contention after good goals
from Paul Batty and Steve Neville had put City in a commanding
position. But they capitalised on some slack defending to level the
scores by half time and now have a strong chance of winning this
qualifying group to guarantee a home draw in the first round. The
outcome hinges on their December 12th home match with Cardiff, already
beaten 1-0 by City. Batty gave City a tremendous start with a
goal inside two minutes. Trevor Morgan was clearly fouled on the edge of
the penalty area by Darren Peacock but Dorset referee John Carter
allowed good advantage as Batty picked up the loose ball, cut in and
shot past George Wood from 15 yards. They increased their lead in the
18th minute from a long kick downfield by Kevin Miller. The ball bounced
over the Hereford defence and Neville nipped in to lob it over Wood who
was left stranded in no man's land. It could have been 3-0 in the 31st
minute but for Wood's full stretch save from a Morgan header. From then
on, though, it was all down hill for City, Steve Lowndes put Hereford
back in the hunt after 34 minutes, volleying home a Shane Jones cross
after Miller's excellent save from a John Narbett header. City then
looked increasingly uncomfortable as Hereford sensed and exploited a
lack of confidence in their struggling hosts. On the stroke of half time
they drew level from the penalty spot. An out-of-sorts Shaun
Taylor clumsily brought down Paul Wheeler from behind and Narbett
stepped up to slam the undisputable penalty past Miller. The second half
was about as exciting as an episode of Twin Peaks. The match
deteriorated into a scrappy and pat- ternless affair with little
incident and even less entertainment. Miller made a fine 51st minute
save from Shane Jones and Lowndes shot wide for Hereford while Taylor,
Batty, Mark Cooper, Tom Kelly and Richard Young were all way off target
from promis- ing positions for City. The result leaves City without a
home win for two months and is hardly the best preparation for
Saturday's big Third Division match against high-riding Stoke.
Dec 1st: Exeter's Richard Young turned down a £30K move to Hereford.
Dec 1st: Hereford 1 Blackpool 1
Dec 11th: Hereford 1 Cardiff 1 (Leyland Daf group stage)
Dec 15th: Aldershot 1 Hereford 0
Dec 22nd: Hereford 2 Scunthorpe 0
Hereford United have sold defender Darren Peacock to QPR for £200,000. He made 59 appearances and scored four goals whilst with the Bulls.
Meanwhile, Hereford striker lan Benbow is joining Telford United for £5OOO and Cheltenham Town winger Simon Brain has moved to Hereford
Dec 26th: Wrexham 1 Hereford 2
Dec 29th: Doncaster 3 Hereford 1
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