Saturday morning 23rd April and I receive a phone call “Hi Matt it’s Paul Fewings here, I’ve seen some of the interviews you’ve done online and my son wanted to see pictures of me playing football and thought you may have some of my time at Hereford”
He was surprised when straightaway I tell him “Ah you scored against Leicester in the FA Cup” “I didn’t think you would remember that” he laughs.
We then arrange for the photographs to be sent to him through my archive and club historian Ron Parrott’s and we arrange an interview for the following month.
Matt Healey continues the series.
Paul Fewings was born in Kingston Upon Hull on the 18th February 1978. He started his career at Hull City and was in the first team aged 17. He burst onto the scene at Boothferry park and was the youngest player ever to sign a three year contract with The Tigers.
After making more than 60 league appearances for Hull he moved to Hereford United in the summer of 1998.
“I was only 17 and was billed as the next big thing at Hull City. It didn’t go to plan and I kept getting niggly injuries and ended up being released. I jumped at the first opportunity that I had and that was Hereford United. Graham Turner had taken over as Chairman as well as being manager and he was getting a group of young lads who had been discarded by clubs higher up the leagues”
Fewings would share digs in Hereford with Chris Lane, Gavin Williams and Matt Cross “As soon as I agreed to sign for Hereford I then started getting offers from Football League clubs, I could have easily gone back on my word to join the club, but I had verbally agreed terms with Graham (Turner) and I signed the contract that had been offered and I had agreed too. I was a long way from home and it helped living in the city, we stayed with a lovely couple called Eileen and Wally who kept a close eye on us and kept us on the straight and narrow. I was 20 then and the other lads were probably 18/19”
Fewings made his debut in the opening day 2-0 loss to newly promoted Kingstonian.
A lot of the players from the first season in the Conference had now been released, their lucrative Football League contracts from the previous year had rolled over and come to an end. Graham Turner had signed a group of hungry youngsters with something to prove, plus a sprinkling of part timers from the midlands area, but Hereford would struggle for consistency early on.
It clicked into place for Fewings on the 19th September 1998 when he scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Morecambe, he was now starting to strike up an understanding with Gavin Williams and when he put Hereford 2-0 up against Northwich Victoria on the 29th September 1998 things were looking good, then tragedy struck ….
“I picked up a serious injury against Northwich and was stretchered off, I was playing some really good football, I went for the ball and felt a pain at the back of my leg. I found out later it was an avulsion of the hamstring, basically there are three hamstring muscles and I had completely wrecked one of them, it was really hard for me as it was mis-diagnosed as a normal tear. I should have had an operation”
Fewings continued “I kept breaking down in training and was extremely frustrated. Keith Downing (Hereford coach) was a great help and he put me in contact with a friend of his who was a physio at Birmingham City and he diagnosed me. He was frank and told me I couldn’t play at the top level, but with management and care I could play for a few more years at a decent level”
I asked Fewings what Graham Turner made of this “I cannot fault Graham at all, he helped pay for my travel to Birmingham and told me there would be a contract for me at the club next season. I was so relieved”
Fewings worked exceptionally hard during the 1999/2000 pre season “I was doing work before and after games and plenty of extra training, I had lost a yard of pace so had to modify my game. When I was 17/18 I was very quick, but needed to change my style, if my hamstring had gone again then that was me finished as a footballer”
Turner would go with Steve Piearce and Leroy May as the preferred striking partnership for the start of the season, but from September onwards and with Piearce injured and May yet to score. Fewings and Rob Elmes would then lead the attack “It wasn’t something that was planned, we just seemed to click as a duo, Elmo wasn’t the quickest, but he was an excellent target man and I would feed off his knock downs, I was still trying to nurture my hamstring and we both scored a lot of goals”
Hereford would reach the 2nd round of the FA Cup and would face Football League side Hartlepool live on SKY Sports.
“Looking back when you are a footballer you take all this for granted. I had played for Hull live on TV so knew what it was all about and it was a great occasion for us. Elmo scored the winner and we had Premier League Leicester in the next round”
The 3rd round game at Hereford ended 0-0. “In my career we always tended to play a Premier League side in pre-season and they would annihilate us, not this time, we were a young side with plenty of enthusiasm and the crowd roared us on, Paul Parry hit the post in the 2nd half, but we held them and knew we would give them a match at Filbert Street”
Hereford faced Leicester City in a 3rd round replay on 22nd December 1999. Fewings would put Hereford into the lead “We were confident and took it into the replay. I remember the goal well, the cross came in, it took a deflection. I went for the ball but was losing my balance, but managed to flick it past the goalkeeper with the back of my head. I remember celebrating the goal with the Hereford supporters and it was an amazing feeling seeing the joy on their faces”
Hereford would lose 2-1 after extra time.
On the 27th December 1999 Fewings would experience his first Hereford United v Kidderminster Harriers local derby.
“The previous year they had beaten us home and away and living in the city you could feel the anticipation of supporters and what it meant to them if we could win, we also had Matt Clarke and Leroy May who had played for Kidderminster in our squad and Mark Druce who had been with us was now at Kidderminster. I went from hero to villain, as I put us in the lead, but missed a penalty late on to win it, I slept awful that night, we drew 1-1”
The injury problems were now starting to blight Fewings again. “I was getting these niggly injuries and I had tweaked my hamstring, there was a clause in my contract saying if I had a hamstring injury I could be released immediately. I told the club it was a groin strain, so I never got the right treatment, I scored a couple against Dover in the February, but I was now in and out of the team. I was young and naive and it was the impetuous of youth that was my downfall”
Fewings would have a touchline bust up with Graham Turner against Telford in April 2000 and never played for the club again.
“Thanks for bringing that up” he says with smile.
“I was now in and out of the team, but when I started matches I kept getting subbed, looking back Graham was probably trying to manage the injury. The injury was always at the back of my mind, I found if I scored a goal, I would then think my job was done and probably eased up a bit. I wish I had sat down with Graham and talked about it, things then started to build up and we both were niggling each other and verbally lashing out about things”
It all came to a head on the 20th April in Shropshire “I got subbed and there was an altercation with Graham on the touchline, looking back now it’s probably bigger in my own head than it was, but after it happened I just went and sat on the coach by myself, Graham fined me and I was banished from the club and the season over for me”
Despite scoring 15 league and cup goals and being the joint top scorer Fewings was released at the end of the season “It was a bit awkward as I was at the end of season awards and came across Graham in the gents and I remember making light of the situation, but he released me. I would love to see him now and shake his hand an apologise for my behaviour, I was young and you don’t realise things at the time”
Fewings though was hot property and received plenty of offers, but opted to sign for newly promoted Conference side Boston United.
I asked him how he got on with Steve Evans “Very much a marmite character, lets just say I didn’t really take to his shouting and screaming and I soon left and played for a number of non league clubs in the south”
Fewings retired from the game in his mid 20’s, but had already made plans for a career outside of football. “I invested in property in my late teens and then started working in the insurance industry, what probably helped me is I knew I was on borrowed time because of the injury so made plans for what I was going to do after the game, sometimes you see ex pro’s pack the game in during their mid 30’s and they haven’t got any qualifications”
Fewings now has two children and enjoys a kick about with his son who is nine. “I don’t play five a sides or anything like that, but its great to see his enthusiasm for the game”
Fewings leaves us with this “When I retired from football I pretty much shut it away and didn’t think about it, but when my son started getting older he wanted to know about my old career and I came across videos on youtube of me playing for Hereford. I saw your interview with Chris Lane so on a whim I gave you a call and it’s been great to re-live some memories, in fact me and Chris have been reunited again and after all these years its great to catch up with people”
Photos supplied by Ron Parrott and MH Archive
