Matt Healey continues the series.
Chris Hemming was born in Newcastle Under Lyme on the 13th April 1966. He was a product of Stoke City’s youth team and played in the top flight of English football during the 1983/1984 and 1984/1985 season. He had a brief loan spell at Wigan Athletic and signed for Hereford United for £25,000 in the Summer of 1989.
Hemming told me. “I was injured at the time and Stoke had offered me a new contract but I had a bit of a fall out with Mick Mills the manager. Rotherham were interested too, but the Hereford manager Ian Bowyer came to see me at Lilleshall where I was doing my rehab, we agreed a deal and I signed for the club. I signed on the same day as Mark Jones, he was nicknamed Barry as he looked like the character from Auf Wiedersehen Pet”
Hemming made his Hereford United debut on the opening day of the 1989/1990 season which was a 2-2 draw with Carlisle United.
Hemming made 35 league appearances in his first campaign at Edgar Street and would form a Central Defensive partnership with Darren Peacock who later played in the Premier League for Newcastle United & QPR.
“Darren was very quiet, I didn’t think at the time he would go on to have the career he had, in fact when I started at Hereford he was playing up front, but he was very solid and went on to greater things. Sometimes I would play sweeper as well and I shared the defensive duties with Mel Pejic and Russell Bradley”
Hemming was also part of the Hereford United team that played Manchester United in the FA Cup 4th Round on the 28th January 1990. Hemming played every game in the famous cup run that season for the Bulls and can recall each game.
“Farnborough away we scraped a win, then we played Merthyr Tydfil, 3-0 up and plain sailing but we let them back into it with two late goals and won 3-2. Next round was Walsall and we were going out, but scored two very late at the end to win 2-1, then the big one up against Manchester United in the 4th round”
After the 2-1 win against Walsall Hemming was interviewed by the BBC about playing with a pacemaker fitted to his heart. “Around 1985/1986 after games I was turning blue and thought my career would be over, but a doctor suggested fitting a pacemaker and it continued my playing career”
You can watch the interview below with Hemming and Gerald Sinstadt which is shown after the Walsall match footage.
The build up to the Manchester United game was intense and everybody wanted a ticket for the big match “We had a few days away in Torquay before the game and we weren’t sure whether it would be played as the pitch was waterlogged”
“We should have won the game, we were the better team and if Manchester United had lost and Sir Alex had been sacked then things would have been a lot different in the world of football”
Unfortunately Hemming would miss out on an appearance in the Welsh Cup final later in that season which Hereford would win. “I injured my knee playing against Notts County in the Leyland DAF Cup. I remember scoring and we drew the game 1-1, but we lost on penalties. I came back and played in midfield. We went to Ninian Park in the Semi Final against Cardiff and I scored. It was from about 25 yards out. We were winning and I felt confident so I went on a bit of a run and I just whacked it, we won that game 3-0.
“We needed those goals as we lost the 2nd leg at Edgar Street 3-1 and scraped through on aggregate 4-3. The knee then flared up again soon after and I missed the rest of the season. It was gutting to miss out on playing in the Welsh Cup Final, especially as I had played in most of the games”
Ian Bowyer would depart that Summer. “It was a shame as I got on well with him, he did try and be like Brian Clough at times, but he was very fair with me. I heard about his departure when I got back from Lilleshall after having some rehab on my knee”
Colin Addison then took over as manager but Hemming only made 6 league appearances for Hereford during the 1990/1991 season.
“My knee was still causing me problems. Colin Addison tried to help as much as he could and I had a brief spell on loan at Merthyr Tydfil in the GM Vauxhall Conference to try and get my fitness back”
Hemming made a return to the team in the February and was on the scoresheet in a 4-0 win over Maidstone on the 23rd February 1991.
“I left at the end of the season. My knee couldn’t stand up to professional football so went and signed permanently with Merthyr. George Wood signed for them as well, plus they had the ex Manchester City player Tommy Hutchison down there too. They both increased the average age of the squad massively as they were both aged over 40”
The travelling down to Merthyr was taking its toll on Hemming. “When I left Hereford I had moved back to Stoke and the journey was killing me”
As I type this journey in to Google maps it tells me its a good 3 hour drive, so it came as no surprise Hemming linked up with another GM Vauxhall Conference side in Stafford Rangers which was a lot more closer to home.
“I had a couple of seasons there but I had to retire due to my injuries”
Hemming now lives in Swansea “I met my wife in 2002 and I moved down and stayed ever since, its a lovely part of the world. I wanted to come to the reunion in 2019 to see all the players like Jon Narbett and Richard Jones but we were on holiday”
I asked Hemming if he still has the heart pacemaker “Yes, ironically it wasn’t the heart that made me retire it was my knee. I’ve had 4 pacemakers fitted in the last 16 years. The doctors thought I wouldn’t need them anymore but last August I suffered a massive heart attack and I’ve been off work recovering. I work for HSBC and they have been absolutely brilliant towards me and me getting better. I’ve had a hip replacement and due the other one at some point, plus my other knee needs fixing, but HSBC have been great and I think working from home will become the norm for a lot of people because of the Covid situation”
Hemming is also the uncle of Aaron Ramsdale who plays in the Premier League with Arsenal and made his England debut against San Marino in November 2021.
Photos supplied by Ron Parrott, MH Archive and Chris Hemming
