In October, with Hereford 12th in the table, manager Mike Bailey left to take over at Charlton Athletic, and player-coach Bobby Gould also departed to become assistant manager at Chelsea alongside Geoff Hurst.
On the playing side, the team had already been weakened by the transfer of Steve Emery to First Division Derby County for a club record fee of £100,000.
Frank Lord arrived from South African club Cape Town City to fill the vacant managerial role but was unable to reverse Hereford's declining fortunes.
Despite having won their opening three league matches of the season under Bailey, they eventually finished in 21st place and were therefore forced to apply (successfully) for re-election to the Football League for the first time.
[1] Players who made one appearance or more for Hereford United F.C.