Former Bulls player and Manager Colin Addison celebrates his seventieth birthday today.
Addison was born in Taunton, Somerset on the 18th May 1940 but was brought up in York where he signed his first professional contact with York City in 1957. Happy to play in midfield or up front, Addison scored 28 goals from 87 performances before being transferred to Nottingham Forest for £12,000 in 1961. Five years and 62 goals later he moved on to Arsenal for £45,000 but his stay at Highbury was short-lived and just a year later he found himself on the move again, this time to Sheffield United’s Bramhall Lane.
In October 1971, Addison arrived at Edgar Street as successor to the legendary John Charles inheriting a group of players that he led through what is often said to be the most famous non-league FA Cup runs of all time. Two second round replays against Northampton Town saw an eventual victory at the neutral ground of West Bromwich Albion’s Hawthorns before the third round clash with top-flight Newcastle at St James Park on 24th January ‘72.
Addison’s Hereford United took an early lead through Brian Owen before The Magpies fought back to lead 2-1. The United player manager then forced a replay at Edgar Street when he hit a 25-yard equaliser. The much-delayed third round replay was finally played on 5th February, the day other remaining FA Cup teams were playing their fourth round ties. The match famously ended 2-1 to Hereford with goals coming from Ronnie Radford and Ricky George. The BBC covered the game with 26 year-old rookie commentator John Motson. The following weekend, Newcastle defeated Manchester United by two goals to nil at Old Trafford in what is now The Premiership.
At the end of the season, Hereford were elected to the Football League and Addison continued as manager until 1974 despite giving up his playing career a year earlier. He moved to South Africa to manage Durban City before returning to England as assistant to Ronnie Fenton at Notts County. A brief stint at Newport was followed by anther assistants post, this time at West Brom under Big Ron Atkinson. Addison then spent a couple of seasons in charge at Derby County before returning for another spell at Newport. Three years at Somerton Park preceded an overseas appointment in the Middle East with Al-Ahli (Doha) before he joined Celta Vigo in Spain where he got them promoted to La Liga. A further spell at The Hawthorns with Big Ron ended when the pair packed their bags and joined Athletico Madrid. Atkinson lasted just two months in the post and his departure saw Addison assume control until the end of the season. Addison then moved to Cadiz before re-joining Hereford United during the 90/91 season but his second spell at Edgar Street was less successful. He is later credited with spells at Al Arabi, Ajax, Merthyr, Scarborough, Yeovil, Swansea City, Forest Green and Barry Town before most recently working as a pundit for BBC Wales.
Have a good one Colin.