A last minute goal from substitute Ray Ball gave Banbury a thrilling draw at the Spencer Stadium on Saturday 27th February 1971 in the Third Round (last 16) of the FA Trophy against Southern League Premier Division leaders Hereford United in front of their biggest crowd for a decade, 4,322.

The game had gone into injury time with the referee frequently looking at his watch. Banbury were a goal down and the majority of the home crowd had given up hope. Then Tony Foster picked up a loose ball on the halfway line, ran forward and slipped it through to Tony Bradbury on the left. He chipped it over to the near post and there was the blond head of Ray Ball stooping low to head past Fred Potter in the Hereford goal into the back of the net for the equaliser.

The crowd erupted and surged forward behind the Town End goal. A barrier gave way and the crowd poured on to the pitch. After a five minute hold up two injured youngsters were taken to the Horton Hospital. Cyril Beavon then almost snatched a dramatic winner in the final seconds of injury time with a brilliant 18 yard drive but Potter saved equally well with his right hand.

In the opening stages of the game Banbury seemed as if they would be overrun by the fast moving Hereford attack. Goalkeeper Stewart Rennie was called into action immediately with a 25 yard drive from Dudley Tyler. It was all Hereford and if a goal had been scored early on one felt that they would have sown this cup tie up by the interval. Beavon hacked a ball off the line and then minutes later stood and watched as Billy Meadows’ sliding shot went over the top.

Banbury never really threatened the Hereford goal in the first half and in the 38th minute the Welsh border side took the lead through a penalty. Foster put his defence in a tangle when he intended his back pass for Kenny Butler. It went straight to Tyler who ran for goal. With only Rennie to beat, Butler brought him down inside the box. The obvious penalty was easily hit home by Meadows.

However, the Hereford crowd's celebrations were cut short about two minutes later when Banbury equalised! The Welsh veteran John Charles needlessly gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box. Steve Lee’s kick floated over into the middle and there was Bob Haynes rising high to nod into the goal. Not for the first time in the match, toilet rolls were thrown onto the pitch holding the cup tie up for several minutes.

Just before the hour Bradbury almost put Banbury ahead when he chipped an Alan Hellyer pass onto the angle of post and bar. From then until the second Hereford goal the game had its quiet period. Then in the 85th minute Haynes gave away a free-kick on the edge of the box. A brilliant curling shot from Dudley Tyler over the Banbury defensive wall gave Rennie no chance and Hereford were seemingly in to the quarter-finals.

But manager Johnny Crichton sent on Ray Ball for Chris Riley and the move paid dividends when he fired in the injury time equaliser.

Banbury United: Stewart Rennie, Cyril Beavon, Ken Butler, Bob Haynes, Steve Lee, Colin Moulsdale, Alan Hellyer, Tony Foster, Tony Bradbury, Dick Spiers, Chris Riley. Sub: Ray Ball.

Hereford United: Fred Potter, John Bird, Mick McLaughlin, Alan Jones, Billy Tucker, John Charles, Alan Rodgerson, Dudley Tyler, Billy Meadows, Brian Owen, Bruce Walker. Sub: Roger Griffiths.

After the game Banbury United manager Johnny Crichton said “We were a bit unfortunate because the ball didn’t really run for us. The play of John Charles was an absolute disgrace. With the obstructions he committed he shouldn’t be allowed on a football field. He must have committed more fouls than all the other players put together.”

John Charles the Hereford United player-manager said “Banbury played very well, especially in the second half and I thought a draw was a good result for us.”

There follows below a team photo from season 1970/71 which includes all the players from the Hereford game except Chris Riley. The players are:

Back Row (Left to Right): Terry Jeakings, Dick Spiers, Stewart Rennie, Bob Haynes, Steve Lee, Ken Butler.

Front Row (Left to Right): Tony Foster, Colin Moulsdale, Cyril Beavon, Alan Hellyer, Tony Bradbury, Ray Ball.
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Photo below shows Banbury's first goalscorer that afternoon Bob Haynes up above the Hereford defence
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Player-manager of Hereford United at the time of this game was John Charles who is best remembered for spells with Leeds United and Juventus as well as his appearances for the Welsh national team.

Charles scored 150 league goals in eight years for Leeds, including 42 goals in the 1953-54 season. In 1957 he joined the Italian club Juventus for a then-British-record £65,000 transfer fee. In his five years at Juventus he scored 93 goals in 155 matches, winning the Italian League championship three times. He was nicknamed in Italy “Gigante Buono” – The Gentle Giant. In 1997 on Juventus’ centenary, Charles was voted the best ever foreign player to play for the club, ahead of the likes of Platini and Boniek. Following his time at Juventus he had a short spell back at Leeds United before returning to Italy to play for Roma and then finishing his league career at Cardiff City. He later became manager of Hereford and Merthyr Tydfil. Charles first played for the Wales national team shortly after his 18th birthday. He played for them when they made it to the quarter finals of the 1958 World Cup and in total made 38 appearances and scored 15 goals.

Below is a photo which shows Charles being introduced to the Mayor of Banbury Harold Heath prior to the game.
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Photo below shows youngsters invading the pitch after Ray Ball's late equaliser. And I can confirm in those days there was no chance of finding any toilet rolls in public toilets on a Saturday afternoon in the town when Banbury were at home!
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Photo below shows the immediate aftermath of the barrier collapse upon United's late equaliser
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Photo below shows the two boys injured in the barrier collapse, Stephen Tamblin (in bed) and Christopher Grimshaw (in chair) spending time in the Horton Hospital. Both were soon able to go home but neither were well enough to go the replay at Edgar Street on the following Wednesday. That game saw Hereford go through to the quarter-finals with a narrow 1-0 win in front of over 6,700 fans, the goal coming in the 70th minute when a corner was headed home by Roger Smee.
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Admission to the game for an adult, as can be seen in the advert below, was 25 pence. This is equivalent to £3.50 in today's money.
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