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First County Visit:	Saturday 14th April 1979
Competition:	Football League Division 4 – (Tier 4)
Result:	Hereford United 1 – 0 Stockport County
Attendance:	3,609
Away Trip:	13
Away Day:	14
County Line-up	1 David Lawson; 2 Carl Halford; 3 John Rutter; 4 Paul Edwards; 5 Andy Thorpe; 6 George Armstrong; 7 Phil Henson; 8 Alan Sumner; (12 Andy Seddon); 9 Les Bradd; 10 Eddie Prudham; 11 Stuart Lee
Manager:	Mike Summerbee
County Visits:	20

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VERTIGO SUFFERERS NEED NOT APPLY

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The rumour makes sense, with the stadium sitting adjacent to the town’s cattle market. On nineteen visits to Hereford I never uncovered any evidence of this, nor had a sighting of said ruminant.  Maybe the spectacle fell foul of the Health and Safety busybodies as they gradually throttled the lifeblood from a competitive nation. Or maybe not.  I know where my money is. It is with some satisfaction that I note, as Hereford FC were reborn from the ashes of the management induced debacle that was Hereford United, that the creature did make a re-appearance. 

Proper pre-match entertainment seems to have disappeared in the last three decades, and certainly Hereford can claim something unique in their brand!!  Some of the very first games I went to, in the early 1960’s, were at Maine Road and Old Trafford when the throng was royally entertained by the Beswick Prize Band, (conductor Albert Risby). That’ll ring a bell with those of similar years to myself I imagine.   It felt like something to entertain the crowd rather than the anodyne pumping out of the latest pop ditty, interspersed with a reading of half time scores, (sometimes with dubious degrees of accuracy arising from trawling the less up to date web sites)..  Anyway, enough of that – it’s just the old fogey emerging at this point!!

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In the photo above in the foreground is the Meadow End, on the right the Len Weston Stand; the Main Stand, (left), and in the distance the Blackfriars Street End

I suppose that 19 (†) trips to Edgar Street are a direct reflection of the fact that the Hatters and Hereford were very much fellow travellers throughout the 1980’s and through to the early 2000’s. There’s certainly a fair degree of synonimity between the two. True tales of mismanagement on an epic scale at Board Room level resulted in ignominious falls from grace. Hereford United went out of business, and County must have been within inches of matching them. It’s good to see that the reborn Hereford FC are now making their way back up the pyramid, maybe to follow Accrington Stanley and AFC Wimbledon, back to their rightful place in the League hierarchy

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† At the time of writing this piece originally, (November 2016), I had been to Edgar Street 19 times – in April 2019 came a 20th trip – see the postscript below)

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What of Edgar Street that first time I entered back in April 1979?  (Archive footage as Edgar Street was then), Tucked tightly between the road that gives the stadium it name and the cattle market, it feels as though it’s been shoehorned in.    A smallish main stand fronted by a lot of glass which points to hospitality arrangements or something similar, I hope that Hereford managed to get a decent sponsorship from the double glazing manufacturers.  Their product must have been good to withstand the impact of heavy clearances from leaden footed Division 4 centre halves, and thus protect those enjoying the warmth inside from the icy blast which always seemed to surround Edgar Street on winter afternoons, never mind showers of glass shards.   

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Behind each goal was a curved terrace, the curvature being a reminder that the venue was also once home to an athletics track.  The Meadow End reserved for home fans was seemingly a lot closer to the action than its counterpart, the Blackfriars Street Stand, where a small cover, and maybe 10 rows of standing, was the away fans destination.  The problem was that the terrace was a good 15 yards away from dead-ball line.  It always felt a bit detached.  Not as bad as the accommodation allocated to away fans at the Withdean Stadium many years later, which stills holds pride, (or shame), of place at the top of the list for simply the worst view I have ever experienced.

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So after a couple of tries of this terrace, my third visit saw me pay the couple of quid more to experience the Len Weston Stand, (below), which backed, literally onto Edgar Street and the passing traffic.  Len Weston was formerly a president and benefactor of the Club and this edifice was constructed in 1974.  Clearly the architects had a job on their hands. 

Running virtually the whole length of the pitch the real constraint was a building footprint no wider than a decent sized pavement.  On this was created a double decker stand, the lower part for standing and the upper for those who fancied a sit-down.  With the best will in the world nobody would ever describe the standing area as affording a good view, as the structure required a substantial number of concrete pillars to keep it aloft.  It was virtually impossible to get a proper view of the action.

Upstairs was better, but for those a slave to vertigo not recommended. There were 5 rows of seating, and to afford a view over the heads of the row below the steepness of the structure was something to be marvelled at.  Standing up to salute a goal was to chance plummeting downwards and joining those who had elected to stand.  Not that it was much of an issue for the diehard Hatters fans.  It took 8 visits, (managing only a couple of draws), for me to see the legendary Tommy Sword on target and break my Edgar Street duck.  We still lost though.

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It became a pretty happy hunting ground after that. 8 wins in the next 11 visits, which may have always drawn me to an Away Day which wasn’t the easiest.  The much travelled M6 / M5 route wasn’t a problem but it always seemed to take ages to cover that last 30 miles or so along winding country roads.  But Hereford was always a decent trip, indeed many of the long suffering and far travelled County faithful regard it as the best Away Trip.  Others prefer Bootham Crescent.  It’s each to his own, but I’d probably side with those who liked a visit to the Minster city, which coincidentally was my next Away Day…..

November 2016

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Postscript (March 2020)

I originally wrote what appears above in November 2016.  A further trip to Edgar Street came in April 2019.  The opposition this time round was the phoenix from the ashes Hereford FC.  They had stormed through the pyramid after their formation in 2014, and the game came as the Hatters and Chorley were engaged in a titanic struggle to claim the one automatic promotion place from National League North. County had 6 games left, one more than the Magpies, but were two points adrift.  Chorley looked nailed on for 3 points, as they hosted Telford.  A win was therefore paramount to ensure that we kept in touch, knowing that if we did the title would more than likely be decided when we travelled to Victory Park on Easter Saturday, two weeks hence.  County’s travelling support, always good, had increased in the weeks leading up to the game, and the “authorities” had made it an all-ticket affair for Hatters fans.  With Rob living in Solihull, it was an ideal opportunity for Julie and myself to go down, and for Rob and I to go to the game.  I managed to get a ticket for him. 

Arriving at Edgar Street it was as though time had stood still.  The ground remained unchanged from my last visit there, back in 2012, apart from the installation of a small stand at the Blackfriars Street End.  It stood just behind the goal, inside the original fence, and was very similar to the construction at the Horsfall Stadium, Bradford.

The game kicked off and soon news came through of an early lead for Chorley and the tension built.  It was assuaged somewhat as Adam Thomas put County in the lead, and the mood changed to something akin to delirium as Nyal Bell doubled the lead a minute later.  There was no change at Chorley, and with Hereford pulling one back around 20 minutes from time it promised to be a nervy end.  The nerves changed to deep gloom as Liburd netted his second of the game deep into injury time.  Two vital points dropped.

Leaving the ground I suggested to Rob that it was now certain that the best we could get was the play-offs, as we now stood 4 points adrift of Chorley, albeit with that game in hand.  He looked at his phone and said “Not so”.  Brendon Daniels had pulled Telford level with a late penalty, and it was “as you were”, 90 minutes earlier.  County folklore affords cult hero status to Glenn Taylor, for his late, late goal which beat Chorley up at the Brewery Field Spennymoor on Easter Monday.  Arguably Brendon Daniels played just as big a part!!

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Sat	14/04/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	1	3,609	14
Sat	15/03/80	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	2	2,424	25
Wed	06/05/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	2	1,707	43
Wed	04/11/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	D	0	0	2,350	49
Wed	02/03/83	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	D	0	0	1,294	74
Mon	23/04/84	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	2	3,728	95
Sat	15/09/84	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	2	3,395	98
Wed	16/04/86	Canon League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	2	3	1,978	132
Sat	11/04/87	Today League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	2	1	2,251	142
Sat	26/03/88	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	1	0	1,695	158
Sat	25/02/89	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	1	2	2,015	169
Sat	17/03/90	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	2	1	2,458	187
Sat	29/09/90 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	D	0	0	2,619	195
Sat	03/12/05 (Highlights)	FA Cup	Round 2	Hereford United	W	2	0	3,620	543
Sat	03/02/07 (Highlights)	Coca-Cola Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	2	0	3,310	573
Sat	01/03/08	Coca-Cola Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	1	0	3,526	600
Sat	25/10/08 (Highlights)	Coca-Cola Football League – League 1	Tier 3	Hereford United	W	1	0	3,210	615
Sat	15/01/11	npower Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Hereford United	L	0	3	3,154	667
Sat	06/10/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Hereford United	W	2	1	1,889	709
Sat	06/04/19 (Highlights)	Vanarama National League North	Tier 6	Hereford FC	D	2	2	3,025	843

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – LEEDS ROAD Next stop – BOOTHAM CRESCENT