Ronnie Radford - The Newcastle Replay

The Newcastle Replay

The much-postponed replay at Edgar Street was played on a quagmire of a pitch in front of a capacity crowd. The match was being covered by the BBC with a young John Motson commentating. It was originally scheduled for a small slot on Match of the Day later that evening. Newcastle went 1-0 ahead in the last ten minutes, and with the tie seemingly settled, Radford won a tackle in the Newcastle half and played a one-two with Brian Owen (who had scored the first goal at Newcastle). The return pass bobbled on the muddy surface but sat up nicely for Radford, and he unleased a 30-yard strike into the top corner that beat Willie McFaul to equalise. The goal sparked a pitch invasion, and the images of the muddy pitch, Radford celebrating with arms aloft and the crowd invading the pitch, have since become immortalised in FA Cup history.

Radford's goal is sometimes incorrectly attributed as the winning goal; indeed the match actually went to extra time. It was substitute Ricky George who got the winner and wrote his name in the history books alongside Radford, as Hereford held out for an incredible 2-1 victory which is generally considered the greatest FA Cup shock of all time. The BBC quickly switched the match to the feature slot on Match of the Day, and Radford's goal was replayed countless times and was eventually voted Goal of the Season. It was the first goal from the FA Cup to win the Goal of the Season competition. For many years the footage of Radford's wonder goal, coupled with the commentary of John Motson, was part of the Match of the Day opening titles and it arguably launched Motson's career.