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#Post#: 26964--------------------------------------------------
Harold Prior Hackney
DIR By: JCFC
Date: February 16, 2021, 1:54 pm
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Sorry to learn of the death of Harold Hackney.
HTML http://www.ncefl.org.uk/news/league/2020/5341-tributespaidtoharoldhackney/
#Post#: 26971--------------------------------------------------
Re: Harold Prior Hackney
DIR By: John Treleven
Date: February 16, 2021, 4:09 pm
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16th February, 2021
The NCEL is saddened to hear of the passing of the president of
the league's Match Officials association, Harold Hackney, at the
age of 91.
Harold was born in Thorne near Doncaster in 1929 but moved to
Barnsley when he was five years of age where he stayed for the
rest of his life and was a well-known face in the local
community.
Having served in the RAF, his life as a referee began in 1949
when a match he went to did not have a match official.
Harold volunteered and that was the start of a career that saw
him promoted to the Referees list of the Football League ten
years later.
A severe Achilles tendon injury kept him out of action for a
couple of years during the mid-1960s but he made his comeback at
the end of the decade and he would go on to referee the FA
Trophy Final and League Cup Semi-Final both in 1973 as well as
an Anglo-Italian Cup quarter-final the following year.
His final Football League game before retirement came in 1977
when he took charge of Wrexham versus Mansfield Town, a game
that would see the winners promoted to the Second Division -
Mansfield prevailed and Harold was greeted in the dressing room
afterwards by friends who had driven up especially for the game.
Following his retirement, he continued to contribute to the game
by becoming a match officials assessor (now known as observers),
giving advice to up-and-coming referees in the South Yorkshire
area for decades to come.
He also became president of the Association of Northern Counties
East League Match Officials and would often regale members of
tales of his refereeing exploits.
Away from football, Harold worked for the Co-Op, the National
Coal Board and he was also a magistrate for twenty years after
he took to the bench in 1979.
The time Harold devoted to helping match officials in the NCEL
over the past four decades has been immeasurable and he will be
greatly missed by everyone involved at the league - especially
the hundreds of referees that he has helped and guided along the
way.
#Post#: 26998--------------------------------------------------
Re: Harold Prior Hackney
DIR By: Acme Thunderer
Date: February 17, 2021, 3:10 am
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Thanks for this and sorry to hear of Harold's passing. The
serious injury perhaps explains why he was not on the FL list
for 1968/9 and why he returned to the list for two seasons as a
supplementary (Upton's). I had not realised until recently that
Harold's last game was the promotion 'special' between Wrexham
and Mansfield. I had been at Wrexham a few days previously to
see Wrexham v Crystal Palace (ref Peter Reeves), a game which
the Palace won 4-2, with two goals in the last minute snatching
promotion away from the home side. And another late winner - for
Mansfield who were already promoted - meant that it was the
Palace rather than Wrexham who were promoted. RIP Harold.
#Post#: 27023--------------------------------------------------
Re: Harold Prior Hackney
DIR By: Boris10
Date: February 17, 2021, 8:27 am
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Also sorry to hear of Harold's death.He was a stocky man who
looked older than he actually was.Saw him many times in
Lancashire,and if attending a Barnsley mid week game,he usually
stood just behind us on the terrace.A very good referee,who I
suspect had very good man management skills.
#Post#: 50084--------------------------------------------------
Re: Harold Prior Hackney
DIR By: Ted Best 2
Date: July 12, 2022, 2:12 pm
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Some of Harold's refereeing memorabilia is currently being sold
here:
HTML https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/andyhorsfield/m.html?item=255579591445&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562
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