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Sunday, April 22, 2018

A Fitting End To Purdie's Magnificent Career Said Beadle


An emotional Rob Purdie leaving the Edgar Street pitch
'It's been the pinnacle of his career with Hereford' - that's what manager Pete Beadle had to say after Rob Purdie's last home game at Edgar Street.

The 35-year old utility player is set to retire from football at the end of the season due to an increase in work commitments having recently qualifying as a firefighter.

Beadle said it was fitting that Purdie not only scored the goal that secured the league title, but also during his last league game at Edgar Street.

"When I came in and had the back end of one season, and then the following season when things didn't go well and it folded, Rob was integral in all of that," Beadle told BBC H&W's Trevor Owens.

"He was one of the first ones we looked to sign when we reformed, and the only way to sum it up is that it was fitting that he scored the goal that won us the championship. 

"We knew a couple of weeks ago that he'd struggle to commit if we did win promotion, so it could've have been done any better than scoring the goal that won us the championship and on his final league at Edgar Street.

"Whether he plays in the HFA cup final we'll wait and see, but it's a fitting end to what has been a magnificent career for a lad that's spent a lot of time here and had lots of ups and lots of downs. He's stuck at it, and if you ask him I'm sure he's thoroughly enjoyed the last three years and it's been the pinnacle of his career with Hereford."

Purdie is the longest-serving player of the reformed club, being the only one left of the team that travelled to Malvern in the first friendly in July 2015.