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#Post#: 2602--------------------------------------------------
Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s &
1970s)
DIR By: Left Field
Date: November 17, 2018, 11:59 am
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Records before 1980 are not complete but the following referees
who departed in the 1960s and 1970s are very likely or certain
not to have completed their final season. In some cases they
departed only a month or two early but others bowed out very
soon in their final season:
Atherton, Albert;
Callender, Norman;
Cooke, Jack - resigned;
Counsell, David*;
Darlington, Roy - resigned;
Dimond, Arthur - retired due to injury;
Finn, Jim (supplementary referee) - died;
Fussey, Maurice
Hackney, Harold 1* - injury;
Hartley, Geoff;
Haynes, WE;
Hayward, PW*;
Howell, Cliff;
Howell, Denis (MP) - political commitments;
Hughes, Allan;
Husband, Jack - died;
Jones, Ron - died;
Judson, Ron;
Kayley, Syd;
Kerkhof, Mike - retired due to injury;
Lowry, Jack - resigned;
Lyden, Danny - resigned;
Morrissey, Tony;
Paget, Norman;
Pallister, Tom;
Peake, LN;
Perkin, Bob - resigned;
Porthouse, Bob;
Powell, Harry;
Powell, Jim;
Pugh, Dennis;
Pullin, Gilbert;
Reynolds, Tom - left to referee in the USA;
Rhodes, Peter - left to referee in the USA;
Ridden, Ken - new job at the FA;
Sherlock, Jack;
Sweet, Ken - resigned to take Secretary job at Swansea;
Teale, Alan (supplementary referee) - resigned;
Underwood, Kelvin (supplementary referee) - resigned;
Walker, Keith - resigned to take Secretary job at Sheffield
United;
Wallace, David;
Weller, Alan;
Wells, David;
Williams, Harold;
Woan, Roger;
Wrennall, Jack*.
I have included reasons for departure where I know them - I
imagine resignation or injury would account for the great
majority of the others.
The referees marked with an asterix appear to have refereed only
one match in their final season. It's always possible in these
cases that the information is wrong and another referee took
charge of their match, e.g. due to injury. In the case of P.W.
Hayward this may have been his only Football League game.
#Post#: 2617--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Acme Thunderer
Date: November 18, 2018, 6:26 am
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If we are including referees who died in service, then we
perhaps need to include Roy Harper of Sheffield who died during
a game at Middlesbrough in April 1969 (v Norwich?) and D T
Jackson of Water Orton (supplementary ref) who was appointed to
the list in 1976/7 but died before he could referee any games.
RIP.
#Post#: 2624--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Left Field
Date: November 18, 2018, 8:49 am
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The list above was for referees whose final match was at least a
month before the end of the season - Roy Harper collapsed and
died in a match at York (v Halifax) in May 1969 in what was
around the last match of the season. I wasn't aware of the case
of David (D.T.) Jackson. He was being appointed to games up to
January 1977 so it is possible he did handle some matches but it
may be he didn't referee any and he was being appointed in the
hope he would be recovered. It's quite possible a few other
referees on the above list also died during their final season.
Another referee - Arthur Edge of Liverpool - also died but this
appears to have been around or just after the end of the
1964-1965 season.
As regards 1976-1977 three linesmen sadly also died during that
season. Graham Cutler (St Austell); AA Isaacs (Barking); VR
McCowan (London). Mr Cutler died in a car crash returning from a
match at Exeter.
#Post#: 2625--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Acme Thunderer
Date: November 18, 2018, 9:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for clarifying LF. Some surprising names here - Burns,
Fussey, Morrissey and Paine.
I was reliably informed that Dennis Turner retired after a match
at Ipswich due to work commitments, and perhaps his forthcoming
move to the USA had something to do with this.
Kelvin Underwood from Romford, not a name that has appeared on
ISOR before, he was one of the 'white lace or else' brigade and
I suspect his early resignation may have had something to do
with this!
Vince McCowan from London was also (I believe) a car crash
victim whilst returning from a 6-a-side tournament in Surrey.
RIP.
#Post#: 2629--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Left Field
Date: November 18, 2018, 10:47 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Acme Thunderer link ---
>
> Thanks for clarifying LF. Some surprising names here - Burns,
Fussey, Morrissey and Paine.
>
> I was reliably informed that Dennis Turner retired after a
match at Ipswich due to work commitments, and perhaps his
forthcoming move to the USA had something to do with this.
>
> Kelvin Underwood from Romford, not a name that has appeared on
ISOR before, he was one of the 'white lace or else' brigade and
I suspect his early resignation may have had something to do
with this!
>
> Vince McCowan from London was also (I believe) a car crash
victim whilst returning from a 6-a-side tournament in Surrey.
RIP.
>
--- End Quote ---
Thank you for those extra details AT. Ken Burns and Tony
Morrissey did referee most of their final season - why they
finished a little early I don't know. Ken Burns was due to
retire but Tony Morrissey had years left so may have succumbed
to injury or resigned for some reason. Reg Paine did later work
for the FA but I'm not sure if that was the reason for his
slightly early departure. He was in his final season and had
just lined the League Cup Final so maybe he felt that was a good
point to bow out. Maurice Fussey seemed to depart very soon into
the 1971-1972 season but later took up a job as Assistant
Commercial Manager at Sheffield United - that may have been the
reason but it may also have been related to the injury that
stopped him refereeing the Newcastle-Liverpool game in August
1971.
Kelvin Underwood was - according to a profile - a dock worker, a
rare occupation for a referee.
One other 1970s referee who died during the season was Mike
Bevan of Melksham. He had been a supplementary referee between
1975 and 1977 before returning to the line. He was due to retire
at the end of the 1978-1979 season but died in late 1978.
#Post#: 2633--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: JCFC
Date: November 18, 2018, 11:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Jim Carr was another who left towards the end of his final
season (on age grounds) in 1968, having been invited to referee
in the USA. I don't know whether or not that was within Left
Field's one month or not, but I do recall that it did me out of
a promised trip to a rearranged match at Everton!
#Post#: 2634--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: bmb
Date: November 18, 2018, 12:03 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Left Field link ---
>
> The list above was for referees whose final match was at least
a month before the end of the season - Roy Harper collapsed and
died in a match at York (v Halifax) in May 1969 in what was
around the last match of the season.
>
--- End Quote ---
Monday 5th May so possibly the last game of the season. Was
amazed when reading the reports that he collapsed in the 8th
minute and the game carried on with him being replaced by a
lino!
I remember Mike North dying, he was a local, 1st season on the
FL. Apr 2001. I had literally just moved to Darsetshire from
Lundin about 1 week before!
#Post#: 2635--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Left Field
Date: November 18, 2018, 12:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: bmb link ---
>
> [quote author=Left Field link=topic=307.msg2624#msg2624
date=1542552597]
> The list above was for referees whose final match was at least
a month before the end of the season - Roy Harper collapsed and
died in a match at York (v Halifax) in May 1969 in what was
around the last match of the season.
>
--- End Quote ---
Monday 5th May so possibly the last game of the season. Was
amazed when reading the reports that he collapsed in the 8th
minute and the game carried on with him being replaced by a
lino!
I remember Mike North dying, he was a local, 1st season on the
FL. Apr 2001. I had literally just moved to Darsetshire from
Lundin about 1 week before!
[/quote]
The games also carried on in which Jim Finn and Jack Husband
died, with linesmen taking over as referee. In Jack Husband's
case he was found dead in his dressing room at half-time after
apparently striking his head. It does seem extraordinary that
these games continued but maybe in those more distant days there
was more of a "stiff upper-lip" and "show must go on" attitude.
I don't know whether the players, all the officials and the
spectators were fully aware the referees had died but even if
they weren't it would be amazingly difficult to focus on the
game after such shocking events.
#Post#: 2637--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: bmb
Date: November 18, 2018, 12:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
That's probably the reason - the "stiff upper lip" attitude of
those days but how on earth the linesmen involved carried on
absolutely amazes me. What an awful position to be put in. In
the reports I read on Roy Harper it said the 4000 crowd were
unaware. I'd assume the players were aware if not immediately
but at half time or maybe they just assumed he'd been carted off
to hospital for treatment. Feels very disrespectful looking back
on it.
#Post#: 2640--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referees who departed early in their final season (1960s
& 1970s)
DIR By: Left Field
Date: November 18, 2018, 1:12 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: bmb link ---
>
> That's probably the reason - the "stiff upper lip" attitude of
those days but how on earth the linesmen involved carried on
absolutely amazes me. What an awful position to be put in. In
the reports I read on Roy Harper it said the 4000 crowd were
unaware. I'd assume the players were aware if not immediately
but at half time or maybe they just assumed he'd been carted off
to hospital for treatment. Feels very disrespectful looking back
on it.
>
--- End Quote ---
After further checking on the Jack Husband incident in 1960, he
was found collapsed at half-time and taken to hospital where he
later died. The linesman who took over (George Walker of
Bristol) knew he was very ill and said he and the players were
very upset but play continued - whether that was their decision
or made by others I don't know. Jim Finn also died in hospital
after collapsing on the field although whether the other
officials and players were aware of the full extent of his
condition is uncertain.
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