John Motson credited Ronnie Radford’s amazing FA Cup goal for ‘changing my life’
“And then Ronnie changed everything. He changed his life, my life, the history of the FA Cup with a goal that came out of nowhere. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen a shot fly through the air and go into the net quite like it.”
A crowd of 14,313 packed into Edgar Street on February 5, 1972, but for most football fans, it is the coverage on that evening’s Match of the Day and Motson’s description of the events they witnessed which live on.
Calling Radford’s goal at the time, he said: “Radford – now Tudor’s gone down for Newcastle – Radford again…
“Oh, what a goal! What a goal! Radford the scorer, Ronnie Radford, and the crowd, the crowd are invading the pitch and it will take some time to clear the field.
“What a tremendous shot by Radford. He got that ball back and hit it from well outside the penalty area, and no goalkeeper in the world would have stopped that.”
Radford’s exploits on a quagmire of a pitch made him an instant celebrity, but it proved a career-making day for Motson, a regular guest at the Hereford squad’s subsequent reunions, too.
He said: “It probably wouldn’t have happened that way had he not done that. The way that goal went in and when it went in, it changed everything.
It was the ultimate piece of giant-killing and topped off by one of the great goals of FA Cup history.
“It changed people’s concept of me as a commentator, it got me more important games, and Ronnie’s contribution to that was one of the most amazing goals in FA Cup history.
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“Coming as it did for a non-league team against a first division side as Newcastle were, it made huge headlines. Ronnie became a celebrity from nowhere within a few seconds.
“It was the ultimate piece of giant-killing and topped off by one of the great goals of FA Cup history.”
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