Matt Healey continues the series.
Gary Bell was born in Stourbridge on the 4th April 1947. A hard-tackling defender. Bell was an amateur at West Brom and took a job working at Halesowen steelworks during his time with the Baggies.
Bell was offered a contract by non-league side Lower Gornal Athletic when their manager, Fred Whittle, visited Bell’s home. Despite his father recommending that he stay with West Brom as an amateur, Bell accepted the contract. Bell told us “I wanted to be offered professional terms at West Brom but it didn’t happen so I got myself a job and played part time at Lower Gornal”
He was spotted by Cardiff City who immediately signed him, he signed professional terms with the club in 1966, along with George Andrews for a combined transfer fee of £2,100, a record amount that still stands for Gornal Athletic.
“I was at Lower Gornal for about eight months. Cardiff had seen me play, it took me a few months to get up to speed with the fill time training, but when I did I adapted well”
Cardiff would regularly win the Welsh Cup back then and the prize would be qualification to the European Cup Winners Cup.
In the 1970/1971 season Cardiff would reach the Quarter Finals and face the massive Real Madrid over two legs. Having beaten Pezoporikos Larnaca and Nantes, they were drawn to face Real in the quarter-finals, with the second leg at The Bernabeu.
Bell told us “The 1st leg was at Ninian Park. The official crowd was 47,500, but it seemed like 60,000 were in, we won 1-0 with a goal from Brian Clark. It was a fantastic experience”
I asked him how he coped with the big game occasion “You would be a bit apprehensive beforehand, but as soon as we kicked off all your fears went out of the window, we had Arsenal in the FA Cup around that time too. We drew with them at Ninian Park and had a replay at Highbury”
Cardiff would lose 2-0 in the 2nd leg at Real Madrid, going out 2-1 on aggregate.
Bell joined Hereford on loan for a month in March 1974 making his debut in a 2-1 home loss to Southend. He played for the Bluebirds against Hereford in the Football League Cup at the start of the 1973/74 campaign.
The Bulls were in the old Division Three (Now League One) and were involved in a relegation battle. Another loanee in the centre forward Willie Brown signed from Newport County.
I asked him the move to Hereford came about “A new manager had taken over at Cardiff and he bought in his own players. Colin Addison (Hereford Manager) had spotted me playing in the reserves and must have remembered me from the League Cup match earlier on in the season, so we agreed a loan move. It was great going to Edgar Street as it wasn’t far from Cardiff”
The arrival of Brown and Bell turned around Hereford’s fortunes and the club would steer themselves clear of relegation back to the old Division Four.
“Hereford was a cracking club, David Rudge was there who I used to play with as a youngster, Harry Gregory was a right character. I remember him playing for Charlton, we also had the likes of Eric Redrobe, plus there were still players from the Giantkillers team. People like Ronnie Radford, Ken Mallender and Mick McLaughlin were still in the squad”
After a successful month at Edgar Street Bell returned back to Cardiff City. I asked him if he considered signing for Hereford on a full time basis.
“Yes, that was the plan. Colin Addison told me to sit tight and he would arrange something with Cardiff. They had quoted Hereford a fee of around £35,000 for me, but Colin was sure he would get them down. He called me back and told me to sit tight and I was sure I would become a Hereford player. The next morning I went and bought the Daily Mirror and read in the sports pages that Addison had left Hereford, so that was the end of that. I ended up signing for Newport County”
Bell would then be reunited up with Addison in 1978 when he became Newport County manager “Colin was a real breath of fresh air, when he joined us we seemed set to have to apply for re-election again, but we beat Workington twice at the end of the season and reached safety”
Bell would leave professional football at the end of the season and become a part time player. “I got myself a job as a rep and played part time for Gloucester City. I then played in the Hellenic League for Lydney, but the travelling from Wales was getting too much. I then signed for Bridgend which was closer to home and I also had a spell at Maesteg and Caerau before retiring from the game”
He now works at Cardiff City in the hospitality department “It’s fantastic, theres me, Derek Brazil, Roger Gibbins and David Giles who are all former Cardiff players and we look after our hospitality guests. It keeps me involved in football and I love meeting and chatting to the supporters”
Now aged 74 he still looks out for Hereford’s results “I always see how they are doing and I loved my time at Edgar Street. It was a fantastic little club and I’m glad they are bouncing back. They are playing Gloucester next and it’s two of my old teams up against each other. I hope the best team wins on the night”
*Photos supplied by Ron Parrott
