1960-1970

United had gone unbeaten at Edgar Street in league matches for the first time ever, and repeated the feat two seasons later in 1960/61. No Hereford side to date has managed to match this.

In the 1962/3 season, Hereford made the national press by posing a problem for the mighty E.U.F.A. The club had re-entered the Welsh Cup, and after beating Barry Town in a replay and Haverfordwest County, they met Wrexham in the quarter final. The biggest crowd of the season, 3,534 saw Hereford overcome the Third Division side with a 2-1 victory.

The draw for the semi-finals was made, pairing The Bulls with Borough United, to be played at Wrexham’s ground. It was at this point that the European FA were put on the spot.

A Welsh Cup victory for Hereford would have meant that they would have been nominated by the Welsh FA to compete in the European Cup Winners Cup. An E.U.F.A spokesman said at the time that he did not know what the reaction would be if two English clubs were entered by different associations.

However, Hereford would cause no embarrassment to football administrators when the team from Llandudno won 1-0 and also went on to beat Newport County in the final.

It was Borough United, and not Hereford, that went on to compete in the Cup Winners Cup the following season. They knocked out the Maltese team, Sliema Wanderers, before crashing out to Slovan Bratislava. The rules of the Welsh Cup changed afterwards, specifying that even if an English club won the competition, they would not be allowed to represent Wales in Europe.

Relegation for the one and only time in Hereford United’s non-league career was suffered in 1963/64, despite the late intervention of new manager Bob Dennison. Fortunately, it was not as big a disaster as it seemed at the time as United bounced straight back, winning the First Division title (pictured Below) with a record number of both points and goals. Edgar Street favourite Albert Derrick led the way with 37 league goals.

At the end of the 1964/65 campaign Hereford received two votes in their bid for election to the Football League, their first votes ever received.

United continued upsetting the odds in the FA Cup in the 1965/66 season, with victory over Third Division leaders Millwall. Despite no one giving Hereford a chance, they pulled off a massive shock by beating the Londoners thanks to a marvellous strike by legendary forward Ron Fogg.

The result left only two non-league clubs in the cup and, almost inevitably, they were drawn against each other in the next round. Bedford Town were the opponents, who progressed after a 2-1 win on a snow-covered pitch.

1966/67 was a red-letter season for Hereford United, with the sensational signing of the “Gentle Giant”, John Charles (Pictured). His popularity was immediately underlined when the largest opening day crowd for many years, 4,869, turned out to witness his debut. “Big John” didn’t let his fans down, scoring in a 5-1 thrashing of Bedford Town. The game was also memorable for another reason. Roger Griffiths became Hereford’s first ever substitute, replacing Peter McCall.

Despite John Charles’ presence, United could only finish the season in tenth place and lost 4-1 at Peterborough in the FA Cup. An additional record was set during this campaign that may never be bettered. Hereford’s goalkeeper, Jock Wallace, left the club to become player/manager of Berwick Rangers, and played for them in their historic Scottish Cup triumph over Glasgow Rangers.

His Scottish Cup appearance was added to those already made for Hereford in both the English and Welsh FA Cups, making him the only man to play in all three competitions in the same season.

John Charles succeeded Bob Dennison as manager in December 1967, but his first season in charge would end in disappointment. The team finished a lowly sixteenth, although a money-spinning Welsh Cup Final over two legs was played against Cardiff City, the Welshman winning 6-1 on aggregate.

Charles set about rebuilding the team over the next two seasons, but his plans were, tragically, hampered when two of his star players (Roy Evans and Brian Purcell - Pictured Left) were killed in a car crash en route to an away fixture at Nuneaton.

The 1969/70 campaign is predominantly remembered for the signing of United favourite Dudley Tyler. Southern League defences were terrorised by Tyler over the next three seasons, supported by Billy Meadows, Brian Owen, Fred Potter, Alan Jones and Bruce Walker.