1970 – 1980
Leo Horn and the 1974 World Cup – Leo Horn
Outline Just over 40 years ago the Orange Machine lit up the world, astounding it with “total football”. If people are wondering at the bickering, whining and extreme attention paid to football these days, especially in the run-up to a World Cup, they’d be surprised to learn it was not much different 40 years ago. […]
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Soccer Refereeing. A Personal View – Jack Taylor
Outline John Keith Taylor, better known as Jack Taylor, is best known for officiating the 1974 World Cup final during which he awarded a penalty in the very first minute of play, creating World Cup history, as it was the first penalty kick ever awarded in a World Cup final. He also, famously, yellow-carded Johan […]
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Soccer Referee: A guide to fitness & technique – Clive Thomas
Outline Known as “The Book” for his strict interpretation of the laws of the game, Clive Thomas is one of the better known British referees from the 1970s and 1980s. My Dutch readers may remember him as the somewhat high-handed referee who sent off Willem van Hanegem at the 1976 European Championships or the referee […]
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Whose Side Are You On, Ref? – Norman Burtenshaw
Brief outline Not the best-known British referee from his time, Norman Burtenshaw still spent 11 years reffing at football’s top level and was awarded the 1971 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Liverpool. It shows he must have been quite capable after all. His memoirs mark him out as a rather strait-laced person, not atypical […]
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Referees’ Charts
Who do you turn to when you need to know about the laws of association football? Pundits and commentators on the telly? Don’t make me laugh! Of course, you can always go online (or tweet me!). But the standard reference book for the Laws of the Game is the Referees’ Chart and Players’ Guide to […]
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Latest acquisitions
Here are the latest acquisitions I got in the mail recently: You Are The Ref 3 by Paul Trevillion (artwork) and Keith Hackett (text) The Referee’s a W*nker by Chris Turner Referees’ Chart and Players’ Guide to the Laws of Association Football 1974-1975 And last but not least: Added Time by Mark Halsey I’ve just started reading Mark […]
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Oh, Ref! – Pat Partridge
Brief outline On 31 October 2014, Pat Partridge, 81 years of age, passed away. His career in English and international top football spanned a period between 1966 and 1981, during which the Northerner with the impressive sideburns and easy-going, talkative manner lived through an age of remarkable changes, to which he added a few himself. […]
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