A HEREFORD photographer who shot Radford’s Rocket – the goal that still defines the FA Cup – has died this week aged 82.

Derek Evans lived his life through a lens to leave an astonishing archive of still photographs, but the pictures are far from the only impression he made on the county.

Derek’s reputation as a photographer alone would ensure a strong send-off, but the service will draw the county’s political and sporting circles into the frame too.

Serving as press officer, Derek was behind every Liberal and Liberal Democrat bid to win Hereford’s seat in parliament from the “firebrand” Frank Owen campaigns of the 1950s to the triumph of Paul Keetch in 1997.

He served as a councillor himself on the old Hereford City Council, chairing the leisure and recreation committee that found £450,000 of funding to build what is now Hereford Leisure Pool.

Derek was also one of the team to help Hereford United first earn its place in the football league, his studio files chronicle 50 years of covering the club, with the stand-out being his shot of Ronnie Radford’s rocket goal in the famous giantkilling win over Newcastle United.

Hereford City Sports Club had Derek as a cricketer, he even illustrated a book on batting by West Indies legend Sir Viv Richards.

If not photographing big golfing tournaments, he was playing and captained Hereford Golf Club in 1987.

The pictures, though, are Derek’s legacy. A highly skilled old-school “stills” photographer, this son of a Welsh miner had a talent apparent from childhood, honing his eye as a freelance around Herefordshire before earning an international reputation with his agency work.

Derek worked through Fleet Street’s hey-day to boast a host of award-winning shots, then was one of the first “stringers” to branch out into the then fledgling TV market.

His professional achievements were rewarded with a fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society.

Negotiations are underway to deposit Derek’s remarkable picture archive with the County Records Office. He is survived by his wife Isabel and three daughters, Linda, Christine, and Diana.