Hartlepool United interim boss Keith Curle pays tribute to FA Cup goal scoring hero ahead of Solihull Moors tie

Curle knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the FA Cup drama as both a player and a manager having suffered cup upsets and been part of a team causing the upset. But the famous competition will be forever indebted to Radford for his heroics against Newcastle in 1972.

Radford scored one of the greatest ever goals of the competition in one of the greatest ever shocks in the competition as Hereford historically saw off the Magpies in a third round replay. It’s a goal which continues to grace highlight reels season upon season and one which holds even more significance at the dawn of the first round of this season’s competition after Radford sadly passed away earlier this week, aged 79.

“Everybody, certainly in my generation, can still remember that goal and the elation and the state of the pitch and everything like that. That’s the beauty of the FA Cup,” Curle told The Mail.

“It was a very sad passing and one memory that everyone will have.”

Curle continued: “I’ve got some fantastic memories of the FA Cup. I’ve been involved in some upsets as well.

“The biggest upset was probably at Man City away to Cardiff and we got turned over and I think it kick-started the career of Nathan Blake. From a throw-in he cut inside me and bent one in the far corner and he went on a meteoric rise up the divisions. Again, that’s the beauty of the FA Cup.

“In the quarter-final with Wolves we beat Leeds away. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink missed a penalty and Don Goodman scored. We played Arsenal in the semi-final at Villa Park and got beat 1-0. The semi-final is the furthest I've got as a player but they’re good memories.

“I know what it’s like being on both ends of the spectrum of being favourites and expecting to win but also being turned over.”

And Curle will, perhaps, experience one end of that spectrum this afternoon as he takes his Hartlepool side to face Solihull Moors of the National League. This might have been a League Two fixture this season had things gone differently for the Midlands club in the play-off final back in June but Neal Ardley’s side are looking to right that wrong as they, currently, sit fourth in the table.

“I know the manager and I know some of the players. We’ve had them watched a couple of times. Colin went down and watched them on Tuesday,” said Curle.

“They’re a good team with a good set-up and a good manager but we believe it’s a game we can win.

“The early rounds are for the teams who have played six, seven, eight games already to get to the first round proper and then it’s a case of looking to get to the third round.”