Hereford away Pics

Me and my mate have our picture in the North concourse taken at half time. Just the two of us both looking absolutely morose at the time as we are 1 down, and heading out of the league, and probably out of existence. Weird the club have picked just the two of us from that day, as we were amongst hundreds in the top tier.

Sounds like Hereford were being bullies and picking on small groups after the game because all I saw were Brightons large mob chasing them outside the ground, in the cattle market, on the main road and back to the station

I was waiting at traffic lights in my sister's car after the game when a full milk bottle smashed on the pavememt next to us. Never been so glad to see the lights go green.

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I've still got the Nationwide Football League Extra on a tape somewhere. Last time I watched it I had a few tears of happiness in my eyes. What a terrible ground though.

timco said:

I was in the home end and during the game I was told if I got my camera out again I would be thrown out, from where I sat could have got some good action shots.

http://www.albionalbum.co.uk/teams/hereford/03_05_1997/index.shtml

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oh dear
regards
DR

LA1972 said:

Sounds like Hereford were being bullies and picking on small groups after the game because all I saw were Brightons large mob chasing them outside the ground, in the cattle market, on the main road and back to the station

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30 of us waited for our coach outside the ground After the game and never see a sniff of them , got dropped of outside the ground before the game and it got a bit lively as we got off
regards
DR

I'm glad I was there but would never want to re-live that day again. Our coach stopped for refreshments on the way home ( and trust me we liked a drink) but it was it wasn't really a celebration just an amazing feeling of relief and the fact that you could now get your life back on track again.
This campaign has been amazing, tense, nail biting and at sometimes ecstatic, but NOTHING will ever compare to that day in my opinion. Tomorrow should be a celebration. This club needs a party.

Peter Grummit said:

I was waiting at traffic lights in my sister's car after the game when a full milk bottle smashed on the pavememt next to us. Never been so glad to see the lights go green.

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We were also there in a long queue of Albion cars. It seemed to be the only main route out. A group of the Hereford firm were attacking all the cars and trying to get at those inside. The first car at the lights, decked in blue and white, got badly damaged and then they moved onto the next and next. Our turn was coming so we swiftly removed Albion colours and put down the bottles we had opened in celebration and luckily they somehow passed us by. Yes, it seemed like an age til those lights turned green.

Durlston said:

I've still got the Nationwide Football League Extra on a tape somewhere. Last time I watched it I had a few tears of happiness in my eyes. What a terrible ground though.

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That's the video I put on youtube which is post #24 in this thread

Questions said:

I'm glad I was there but would never want to re-live that day again. Our coach stopped for refreshments on the way home ( and trust me we liked a drink) but it was it wasn't really a celebration just an amazing feeling of relief and the fact that you could now get your life back on track again..

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That sums it up, just an overwhelming sense of relief. The large amount of alcohol before hand and the nature of the game made it an uncomfortable experience. It wasn't helped being stuck in the home end seats right next to the home end behind the goal. It was interesting getting out after the final whistle.

Pretty pink fairy said:

oh dear
regards
DR

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Decent football fans supporting their team. Whatever next.

Pretty pink fairy said:

30 of us waited for our coach outside the ground After the game and never see a sniff of them , got dropped of outside the ground before the game and it got a bit lively as we got off
regards
DR

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Oh dear.

Harry Wilson's tackle said:

That's Lord B with what looks like a blond rinse, there, isn't it? I recognise the woman to his left, too. I have a photo from the centenary dinner with her very excited to be stood next to Gary Hart

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Sure is me. "Blond rinse"? That's the kindest thing anyone has said about me in years.

Pretty pink fairy said:

oh dear
regards
DR

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Dick Knight took the trouble to speak with our kids pre-match and congratulate them on the effort they had put in.

That was the first time I ever met DK and, guess what, I'm more impressed with his comment than yours, DR.

timco said:

I was in the home end and during the game I was told if I got my camera out again I would be thrown out, from where I sat could have got some good action shots.

http://www.albionalbum.co.uk/teams/hereford/03_05_1997/index.shtml

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My favourite picture from that never to be forgotten day. Some of those pictured have children of their own now!

As is my custom for the past 37 years as often as possible, I had a gig after the game at the wonderful Barrels (home of the Wye Valley Brewery), booked/organised 3 months before by Chris from Talking Bull, HUFC's fanzine, when they were mid table and we were well adrift. Brimming over with happiness I got a big hug from Sarah Watts (RIP) then Roy Chuter (RIP) and the rest of our group got to the Barrels where I had a message from the landlord saying that the organisers were so gutted they weren't coming and we had to organise the evening ourselves. Which we did. Some Hereford people who didn't care about football came to the gig to listen, joining a merry throng of Albion fans, a few Hereford people who did care about football came to try and smash it up, we saw 'em off, people appeared to enjoy the gig despite the fact I was paralytic, it remains my happiest Albion memory........
UNTIL TOMORROW.
I'm thinking about Roy, Sarah, Paul and all the other old campaigners who won't be there. Especially Roy. So happy, so sad.

Just watched the highlights on utube , we were so close to losing and going down , now look at us 20 years later going to the Premiere league and poor old Hereford in the southern league

Our day started with our driving announcing that he had forgotten his ticket as drove up the M23 at 10.30am. That totally freaked me out. Biggest game ever and this tosser was driving back to Shoreham.

We got there in plenty of time but it certainly didn't help the nerves.

Most tense atmosphere I have ever experienced. I recall no one talking at half time, and then the sheer jubilation when we scored followed by an absolute age of totally shitting it.

Dancin Ninja BHA said:

I'm standing very close to you as you took the second picture, but annoyingly I'm out of picture! For some reason, I wore a New York Cosmos football shirt that day (bright green Pele era) so easy to spot in the crowd!

What a day, so many mixed emotions.

Carrying on the theme of walking into a possible warzone,remember the group of us (12) walking back to the minibus parked at the cattle market - coming from the other end first were some young teenage lads (spotters) and then a sizeable group of Hereford lads most definitely 'up for it' We slowed slightly, but then from behind us a large group of Albion lads thundered past and cue the scraps!!!

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We were all perched on that fence for that game and I suspect I knew most of those lads who thundered past you as we went up in 3 mini buses and parked them all at Ledbury
We tried to keep a low profile in Ledbury but that went pear shaped when a certain member of our crew decided to ride on some innocent car drivers bonnet singing Albion through the High Street!!

Bigtomfu said:

[MENTION=812]Gotsmanov[/MENTION] Can I borrow some of your memories please?

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20 years ago, we faced near extinction. We'd battled back from the abyss, points deductions, a twelve point deficit, now had new owners and achieved ten wins from twelve home games witnessed the mother of all score draws against Orient. It left us at parity with Hereford going into the do or die gane. Bizarrely, with goals scored being higher ranked than goal difference for that season, we had the advantage, needing a point at Edgar Street.

It's fitting that today, the penultimate home game before the premier league door opens, is against Wigan, the penultimate opponents at the Goldstone. Tickets for those last few Goldstone home games were scarce and hard to come by. I don't remember the exact mechanism for qualifying status, but, it wasn't online, there was no algorithm, not even a club ticket office Commodore 64 to keep track of loyalty. From vague recollection, it was merely the presentation of previous ticket stubs or whether you'd been on Liz Costa's bus. It got you the Wigan ticket. It got you the Doncaster ticket. And now, it got you the Willy Wonka golden ticket. Hereford away. I was in the sixth form at school and remember being offered £40 for it. That was four bottles of whiskey, with money left over for a porn mag and caramel doughnut. But, it wasn't enough. This was hot property. We'd fought belotti and archer for years, peaceful protests, not so peaceful protests, coordinated whistles, coordinated pitch invasions, coordinated entrance and exit of the ground, coordinated boycotts of games. So much anger, frustration, sadness. Pure raw emotion, as a teenager. This was a game that was not to be missed.

Except for one person. [MENTION=638]Bigtomfu[/MENTION] had been ever present for years as a young boy in the west stand and teenager in the North Stand. He'd never missed a game in years. We'd stood together on the north stand terraces for years, in the same spot, just near the guy who looked a lot like harry redknappp. But wasn't Harry redknappp. We'd watch games as teenagers, then kick a ball around the next day, trying to emulate Denny Mundee's not-quite-Cruyff turns. [MENTION=638]Bigtomfu[/MENTION] had his ticket for Hereford, and he deserved it. It was his rite of passage.

However, this isn't another story of Reinelt, redemption and rising from the ashes. This is a story of decisions. £40 was one tabled offer for the ticket. But it would take something greater to separate man from deliverance. In the world of high stakes poker, Tony bloom frequently plays the opponent, calls the bluff, and collects his chips. Those chips buy him the services of Chuba Akpom for a few months (too many chips). But, Tony has never faced a poker conundrum that befell [MENTION=638]Bigtomfu[/MENTION] that week prior to the game: Go to Edgar Street and face the mother of all tanties from the current long term girlfriend (4 weeks), or, emulate the eunuch, give up your manhood, face a lifetime of abuse, forego your match ticket, and, instead, go shopping with aforementioned girly.

A tough decision to make.

He chose BHS, C&A, Olympus Sports, David Rose, Wisdens and Radio Rentals over Mayo, Ormerod, Storer, Maskell and Reinelt. He chose the thrill of the purchase over the emotional release of THAT GOAL. Temporary love over lifetime companionship. Many a Womans Own column has dealt with just such conundrums, with slightly duller metaphors.

So, here's to you [MENTION=638]Bigtomfu[/MENTION]. One last rinse (to accompany the permanent rinsing you receive every time the pre-match montage runs at the Amex with a glimpse of Reinelt's equaliser) and whenever another "Were you at Hereford?" thread pops up.

And, let this serve as a modern Aesop's Fable to all those young'uns in new first love: they broke up a week later.

Still, at least [MENTION=638]Bigtomfu[/MENTION] had recorded the local news highlights accompanied by an Andy Stegall voice over. Such recordings can never be taken away from him. And he did buy some new goalie gloves from Swift Sports.

Lord Bracknell said:

Dick Knight took the trouble to speak with our kids pre-match and congratulate them on the effort they had put in.

That was the first time I ever met DK and, guess what, I'm more impressed with his comment than yours, DR.

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i met Dick knight in the away end at Port vale, I didn't have a painted face and he didn't congratulate me on my efforts
regards
DR