Which non-league team famously knocked out top-flight Newcastle United in the 1972-73 FA Cup?

The Moment That Defined FA Cup Giant-Killing

If you want to understand why English football fans still get misty-eyed about the FA Cup, start here. On 5 February 1972, Hereford United — a non-league Southern League club — travelled to St James' Park and held Newcastle United, a First Division side, to a 2-2 draw. That alone was remarkable. What happened in the replay three days later became one of the most replayed moments in British football history.

Ronnie Radford's Thunderbolt

The replay at Edgar Street in Hereford was played on a mudbath of a pitch after heavy rain had turned the surface into something closer to a ploughed field. Newcastle, with international players and a massive budget, were expected to swat the amateurs aside. They hadn't counted on Ronnie Radford.

With the scores level at 1-1 deep into the second half, Radford — a carpenter by trade who earned a few extra pounds playing part-time football — picked up the ball about 35 yards from goal and unleashed an absolute thunderbolt of a shot into the top corner. The crowd spilled onto the pitch in celebration. It was pure, unscripted chaos and joy.

Ricky George then added a second in extra time to seal a 2-1 victory. Hereford United, a club that didn't even play in the Football League, had knocked out one of England's biggest clubs.

Why It Still Matters

The BBC's Match of the Day cameras were there to capture the whole thing, and that footage has been broadcast countless times since. Radford's goal — the mud flying, the net bulging, the fans flooding the pitch — became the defining image of FA Cup magic. It's the benchmark against which every subsequent giant-killing is measured.

For Hereford, the consequences were significant beyond just one famous afternoon. The club's performance that season helped convince the Football League to admit them as members in 1972, replacing Bradford Park Avenue. They spent several years in the lower professional leagues before financial troubles eventually led to their dissolution in 2014. A reformed club, Hereford FC, now carries on the tradition.

Newcastle's Embarrassment

For Newcastle, it remains one of the most embarrassing results in their history. They had Malcolm Macdonald, a prolific striker, in their ranks and were genuine top-flight contenders. Losing to a part-time side on a muddy pitch in front of the national cameras stung badly.

But that's the FA Cup. It doesn't care about reputations or wage bills. On the right day, on the right pitch, with the right shot from 35 yards out, absolutely anything can happen — and Hereford United proved it in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.