A young Builth Wells singer’s dream came true when he got the chance to perform in front of the subject of one of his songs.
Harry Harris wrote The Ballad of Ronnie Radford after hearing about the former Hereford United midfielder’s dramatic 30-yard shot to equalise against Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round replay, 40 years ago this month.
Ronnie, who was a roofer and went back to work the following day, created an FA Cup highlight which will never die.
Every year without fail, the film of that shot pops up on a TV screen somewhere, reminding everyone that the minnows can always beat the giants.
Harry, 22, did some research on Ronnie’s goal, and penned his song about four years ago.
Last Saturday he got to perform it in front of the great man at a gala dinner at Hereford United Starlight Rooms, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Giantkiller match.
“I found out he was a roofer and went back to work afterwards. It is a really nice story and I like to write songs about things like that,” said Harry.
“It was nerve-wracking playing the song for Ronnie but it was lovely. He seemed to really enjoy it. I wrote the song for him but I never thought I would get the chance to perform it for him, it was a dream come true.”
Caroline Preedy, wife of Hereford United’s director Dave, found a video of Harry singing The Ballad of Ronnie Radford on YouTube, and got in touch with him via Facebook.
The clip was played at a party night for the giantkillers last Friday but his Saturday performance was a secret.
Harry went along to watch Hereford’s home match with Cheltenham last Saturday before his performance.