Malcolm Macdonald doesn't watch television during the first weekend in January.

The former England international might have achieved legendary status during his five years on Tyneside but, for two days every year, he chooses to forget about his time with Newcastle United.

Or, to be more precise, he chooses to forget about the two seconds that have come to represent one of the most infamous games in the club's illustrious history.

When Macdonald and his fellow first division highfliers travelled to non-league Hereford in February 1972, the striker jokingly predicted that he might score ten.

One looked like being enough when, on a pitch that resembled a ploughed field, Macdonald fired Newcastle into the lead with eight minutes left.

But then, with a strike that has since become etched in footballing folklore, part-time joiner Ronnie Radford paved the way for the greatest act of giant-killing the FA Cup has ever seen.

With his socks rolled down to his ankles, Radford picked the ball up near the halfway line and, with little else on, the Hereford striker decided to try his luck from 40 yards.

The result was one of the best - and most replayed - goals in the history of English football.

"That goal is the reason I won't be watching the television this weekend," said Macdonald, who now works as a football pundit in the North-East.

"I know they'll continue to trot out the Hereford match, the Radford goal, and it's something that has been so over-used over the years.

"I was running just behind him when he shot, and the ball sat up on a divot for him. He had never struck a ball like that before and he never did again.

"It's only ever used as a stick to beat Newcastle United over the head with.

"What no-one ever talks about is Hereford, how well they played and what they did. They did so well but people forget that."

Hereford's exploits had actually begun a month earlier when two goals from their player-manager, Colin Addison, earned a shock 2-2 draw at St James' Park.

The replay at Hereford's Edgar Street should have taken place much sooner than it did, but a combination of snow and rain forced a succession of postponements.

With Newcastle's players living in a hotel in Worcester while the game was constantly re-scheduled, the Magpies were desperate to draw a line under the whole affair once they were finally able to take to the field.

Instead, Radford's rocket extended the agony, and the humbling was complete when Hereford substitute Ricky George scrambled a close-range winner in extra-time.

"Hereford had done exceptionally well to get a replay in the first place," explained Macdonald. "We went there time and time again, only for the game to be continually postponed.

"In the end we were camped out in a hotel. We had gone there with an overnight bag, but we finished up being there for around ten days, trying to get the replay on.

"We were going off to play first division matches, and then returning to this hotel in the hope that this game could finally be played. Finally, of course, it was."

While Macdonald will not be subjecting himself to a repeat viewing, you can be sure that Yeading's players will remind themselves of Hereford's exploits before they attempt to inflict more FA Cup misery on Newcastle this weekend.

The Ryman Premier Division side host the Magpies on Sunday looking to achieve an upset that would be even more remarkable than the defeat the club suffered some 23 years ago.

Yeading's players - who include warehouse staff, van drivers and printers - are paid around £70 a week and normally parade their talents in front of an average crowd of 140.

There will be considerably more than that inside Loftus Road on Sunday but, by switching the game from Yeading's own ground, Macdonald feels the FA have handed Newcastle's players an advantage that his own side were denied.

"The FA have put the game in favour of Newcastle with that decision," he said. "We had to play on a mud-bath in an incredibly hostile environment. It's a shame that Yeading haven't been able to make the very most of this weekend.

"But it's still very difficult to prepare for a game like this. You're on a hiding to nothing. Unless you get a score in double figures, you never come out of it with any credit."

And, as every Newcastle fan knows to their cost, sometimes you come out of it with egg on your face. "Football is a stupid game," said Macdonald. "Having lost at Hereford on the Saturday, we went to Old Trafford next and gave Manchester United a real thrashing.

"Life in football is strange and anything can happen. That's why I have never gambled on football in my life - and why I won't be doing so this weekend."

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