They think it’s all Oval as new housing scheme is named after Hereford FA Cup hero
A HOUSING development being built as part of a £30m regeneration scheme in Hereford, is to be named in honour of one of the city’s most famous sporting heroes.
Radford Gardens, at The Oval, will immortalise Hereford United’s FA Cup hero Ronnie Radford, scorer of one of the most memorable goals in the competition’s long history.
Radford and his teammates were responsible for arguably the biggest ever giant-killing in FA Cup history when in 1973 as a non-league outfit , they knocked First Division Newcastle United out of the tournament after a thrilling 2-1 win at Edgar Street.
Radford, now 70, earned his place in FA Cup folklore when he sparked a pitch invasion by scoring a 30-yard thunderbolt (below) for the part-timers in the 85th minute of the game. After his late equaliser Hereford went on to win the game in extra time thanks to a winner by Ricky George.
The achievement has meant that since 2011 the team judged to have performed the biggest FA Cup giant-killing act each year has been honoured with the FA Ronnie Radford Award. Radford, will again present the FA Ronnie Radford Award to the winning team at the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
The name of the development came as the result of a competition by Keepmoat and Herefordshire Housing.
Radford, who now lives in Wakefield, was invited to visit the development to mark the opening of its sales office.
The former footballer, who balanced his career while working part-time as a joiner, also took time to inspect some of the building work going on at the site.
Radford Gardens, in the south of the city, will see the creation of 129 private homes for sale by Keepmoat, together with 130 rental properties being managed by Herefordshire Housing. The scheme is thought to be the biggest regeneration project in the West Midlands.
Radford said: “This is a tremendous honour. It’s truly unbelievable. When I was interviewed after the game and someone asked me whether that goal would change my life, I said: ‘no’. I was mistaken though. That goal has led to some amazing celebrations and anniversaries over the years. I feel like I have been blessed. I never stop being asked about it and I can never stop thinking about it.
“The people of Hereford love their football and it’s nice that that magical period in Hereford United’s history will be remembered in this way. The win over Newcastle is something that Hereford people are very proud of and it’s nice that Radford Gardens will serve as a reminder of that.”
Paul Degg, new build managing director for Keepmoat in the Midlands, said: “Building hundreds of high-quality new homes will help breathe new life into The Oval and regenerate this part of the Newton Farm area of Hereford. The plan for Radford Gardens is to bring highly aspirational and affordable new homes to Hereford which will help families to get on the housing ladder.
“We launched a competition for local residents to come up with the marketing name for this development and Ronnie Radford’s name kept cropping up.
“By naming this development Radford Gardens we pay homage to Ronnie and hope we can help his achievement to live on.”
