The Two Referee System

Sheffield Independent 15.11.34 

 Whereas nowadays we debate the use of video technology to assist referees the concern in the 1930s was that referees could not keep up with the pace of the modern game. At this time Stanley Rous, inspired by continental referees such as John Langenus, introduced the diagonal method. This now universally adopted system maximized collaboration between  the referee and linesmen.

Segar Bastard

In the 19th century officials (umpires and referees as they were until 1891) were often drawn from among the ranks of the players.
Segar Bastard of Upton Park refereed the 1878 FA Cup Final at the age of 24.
Mr Bastard had the distinction of refereeing an international match before playing in one.

He took charge of the 60 minute match between England and Wales at a snowy Oval in January 1879.
In March 1880 he made his sole international appearance as a player, playing wide on the right in a 5-4 defeat in Glasgow.
Two days later he umpired in the Wales v England match at Wrexham.

In 1881 Mr Bastard oversaw Wales' shock 1-0 over England at Blackburn (again in the snow).

In 1882 he acted as Umpire in England's games with Scotland (a 5-1 defeat) and Wales (a 5-3 defeat).

As a player his greatest successes came in 1882-83 & 1883-84, winning the London Senior Cup with Upton Park. 

Some Famous Referees

In the earliest years of the Football Association referees and umpires were drawn from the ranks of current players. Charles Alcock, for example umpired in international matches before participating as a player. In the 1880s Major Marindin bestrode the world of refereeing like a colossus.  As football's mass appeal burgeoned  the referees themselves became celebrities. As the illustration above shows the favoured uniform was tweed plus fours and a deerstalker.


Arthur Kingscott
From Long Eaton, Mr Kingscott refereed in 3 FA Cup Final matches (1900 and 1901, including the replay). He officiated for 14 seasons in the Football League. There was controversy when he made a call on a goal line incident resulting in a Sheffield United goal when he was distant from the action.

Patrick Harrower
Mr Harrower took charge of the 1905 FA Cup Final. He was a Scottish Rugby Union internationalist. He refereed international matches on the continent.

A. J Barker
Hanley's Mr Barker refereed the 1904 FA Cup Final.
On the opening day of the 1906 season Mr Barker (whose moustache is worthy of note) oversaw a game between Manchester City and Woolwich Arsenal in which 5 City players left the pitch due to the effects of the 32C temperature.

John Adams
In charge at the 1903 FA Cup Final.

John Lewis
In his distinguished career the Prince of Referees took charge of 3 FA Cup Finals (1895,1897 & 1898) and 9 internationals, including  2 Olympic Finals (1908 &1920). The 1920 Final was a shambles and the Czechs, having walked off in the 40th minute, were extremely critical of the performance of the 65 year old Mr Lewis.

Tom Kirkham
Mr Kirkham officiated in 3 internationals and the 1902 FA Cup Final (including the replay). This is the referee pursued by William Foulke in the legendary story.

The Umpire's Whistle 1872

I have read a great number of speculative accounts regarding the introduction of the whistle (logically for use by umpires rather than the referee). The common denominators tend to be the involvement of Nottingham Forest and one of the Sheffield clubs. A date of 1878 is often featured.
The following item from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of 19th March 1872 should lay some of this speculation to rest:

The snippet of information is rather tantalizing. The article refers to a meeting of The Sheffield Football Clubs Association. It's unclear who Mr Brown was? There was a Mr Brown on the committee of the Heeley club, but that's rather tenuous.

In January 1872 Sheffield Norfolk played Forest, winning 5-1. I can find no record of the officials.

The return match on 09.03.72 at Nottingham saw Forest win 1-0. Messrs Pashley and Hussey were the umpires.

Incidentally, the pea whistle came into being in 1884, the legendary Acme Thunderer, so prior to this umpires would have used 'Police' type whistles. 

Here is my grandfather's Acme whistle, which would have seen service in the Swansea area in the 1930s.

Fallen Idols

In the early part of the 20th century the footballing public in what was then the Austo-Hungarian Monarchy held British football in reverential regard.
Willy Meisl wrote of the influence of the touring teams of the 1900s , tours which  his visionary brother Hugo was instrumental in arranging.
Any British team would be enthusiastically greeted, and many ex pros from the British Isles secured coaching positions in central Europe.

The events of the summer of 1929 showed to what extent that idealised view had soured.
Newcastle United had finished 10th in Division 1, Huddersfield Town 16th. 
As reported in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (03.06.29) Huddersfield Town returned from their tour complaining of bad refereeing and hard grounds. The argument was that it was impossible to play with any style against the kick and rush tactics that the continental teams had employed. A club spokesman complained that having lost the opening game of the tour Town were asked to accept reduced fees for the subsequent games (they refused).

                    Turner (Huddersfield Town) punches in the match with Ferencváros

Whereas Huddersfield Town returned to England with something of a sour taste in their mouths, Newcastle United found themselves embroiled in an international controversy which the Football Association took 4 months to resolve.
In terms of results the tour got off to a positive start- a 1-0 win over Ambrosiana in Milan. It was, however, an inauspicious curtain raiser. Newcastle complained that the ball was much smaller than the standard size and there was some refereeing controversy -Tommy Lang was dismissed after being bitten by an opponent. The players were harassed by a stone throwing crowd as they left the pitch, and these assaults continued on the team bus and even at the airport.
Following a defeat against WAC the Neues Weiner Journal wrote: 10,000 people were deceived of their money. We need no more games with English teams. That is the net result of the game with Newcastle and of most displays given by English teams in Vienna since the war.
In Bratislava Newcastle suffered the indignity of an 8-1 thrashing at the hands of a Slovakian select team, but it was in Budapest that things really got bad. Newcastle faced MTK (reported elsewhere as being a Hungary Select XI). Following the game, which United, reduced to 9 men, were beaten 4-1, the Hungarian press levelled a number of allegations at the tourists. The Newcastle players, they wrote, didn't exert themselves, and adopted rough tactics. It was even claimed that some of the players were drunk during the match. The Hungarian FA withheld Newcastle's share of the gate money (£165) - they sent it to the Football Association, requesting an investigation into the conduct of the Newcastle players The club strenuously denied the allegations. They countered that the refereeing had been extraordinarily bad- at Budapest the referee had operated from the touchline, a fact that did not prevent him from playing a goal-making pass to a Hungarian forward!
Newcastle also put the matter into the hands of the Football Association.  Meanwhile, according to The Yorkshire Evening Post (04.06.29) the Hungarian press were circulating reports calculated to undermine British prestige. These included the opinion that English players on tour:...travel about pompously, earn  high rewards for their play,and behave as if they were missionaries  from the home of football culture who were condescending to honour inferior Colonials with their visit.
The controversy became an issue of discussion by the Hungarian FA and the Football Association. A representative of the Hungarian governing body attended an enquiry held in October 1929.
The FA concluded that the Hungarians had been justified in trying to cancel the contract on the basis of substandard performances by United,  but that the match having being played, they could not withhold the money.The FA were also satisfied that the refereeing had been substandard.

Gallacher

The FA did not comment on the dismissal of Gallacher and Maitland . The referee, Gabriel Boronkay, wrote in his report to the Hungarian FA:

In the 26th minute of the second half-time, I was compelled to send off the field the English (sic) player named Maitland, on account of his having boxed his adversary (Hirzer). In the 28th minute I had to give marching orders to the English (sic) player Gallacher because of his rough foul against Borsanyi. I beg to remark that in this moment I was standing quite close to the player and I am convinced that he was tipsy, and as I heard, he drunk much cognac between the two half-times.

Hugh Gallacher offered this explanation:

It was a boiling hot day so we rinsed our mouths out with a drop of scotch and water.

15.05.29	SC Admira	3	0	Huddersfield Town	Vienna
19.05.29	MTK	4	2	Huddersfield Town	Budapest
20.05.29	Ferencváros	1	1	Huddersfield Town	Budapest
??.05.29	Sparta Prague	3	2	Huddersfield Town	Prague
26.05.29	Leipzig Select	5	3	Huddersfield Town	Leipzig

19.05.29	Ambrosiana	0	1	Newcastle United	Milan
23.05.29	WAC	2	0	Newcastle United	Vienna
26.05.29	Slovakia Select	8	1	Newcastle United	Bratislava
28.05.29	Slavia Prague	1	1	Newcastle United	Prague
30.05.29	MTK*	4	1	Newcastle United	Budapest

* some sources have Hungary XI- but contemporary press reports refer to 'The Hungaria Club' ie. MTK (Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre Budapest Futball Club)

H. Atkinson's Sports Depot

I still have my grandfather's Acme referee's whistle. It's hanging on its 80 odd year old string from the shelf next to where I write this blog. He was born in Swansea in 1903 and was a lifelong Swansea Town fan. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was a customer at Atkinson's. The advertisement is taken from an old Swansea Town programme.

William Pickford-Free Britons have queer ways of enjoying themselves

William Pickford was 17 years old when he watched an Association game between  Blackburn District and Bolton. Formerly a Rugby enthusiast he was captivated by the Asociation game. having relocated from Lancashire to Hampshire he was active in local football administration and also wrote on the  game for the local press. 
Mr Pickford took to refereeing when his playing days with Bournemouth Rovers came to an end.
He was one of the 79 attendees of the March 1893 meeting at which The FA formed the first referees’ society. C.W. Alcock was President and F.J Wall Chairman.
In 1895 the society produced the first edition of The Referees’ Chart, a set of guidelines that elabourated on The Laws of the Game.
Mr Pickford played a leading role in the production of this document.
He held several prominent positions in football; 
He was member of the council of the Football Association, a Vice-President of FIFA and a member of the International Football Association Board. In 1937 he  became president of the Football Association.
How to Referee appeared in 1906. It comnbines an analydis of the Laws of the Game with an outline of the psychological challenges of match control. 
Free Britons have queer ways of enjoying themselves is taken from Mr Pickford's comment advising referees not to be perturbed by the passionate noise of the crowd.

Major Marindin on the Association game

MAJOR MARINDIN ON THE ASSOCIATION GAME

A reporter has had an interview with Major Marindin, the president of the football association, who said at first he was opposed to the introduction of professionals, but he admits the result has been most satisfactory, for bona fide professionals it has been found do not play by any means so rough a game as do many so called amateurs. Many of them earn as much as £2 a week all the year round and their brilliant playing has certainly  done not a little for the game as a whole.  “The great curse of Association football at the present moment is the rough game adopted by a large number of clubs. We are determined to put this down.  Our rules are strong enough, but our difficulty is to get umpires with sufficient moral courage to stop rough play.  In any case I may remark that the Association is not so dangerous a game as Rugby. We get fractures and broken limbs, but we don’t get injuries to the neck and back that prove so fatal to the Rugby players.  As to betting at football, it is undoubtedly a great evil. It hardly exists in the South to such an extent as one finds it in the North.  There books are made on every great match, and a large amount of money without question changes hands.” “Is it for this reason” the Reporter asked “that such huge gates follow on great football matches?” “Hardly” replied the Major. “Football is rapidly becoming such a popular game that it is drawing even larger crowds than cricket. At the same time, I don’t think our clubs are making as much money as the public think.  You see they have to keep 11 or 15 players in service all the year round, and the travelling expenses of these are very large.  

Lancashire Evening Post, 20.11.88

Referees and Umpires- England v Scotland

Deerstalkers were popular with referees.

When the Football Association’s Laws of the Game were drawn up in 1863 there was no mention to referees, umpires or any arbiters. However, by the 1870s it was common for association matches to be overseen by two umpires and a referee. This practice is traditionally ascribed to the advent of competitive football with the introduction of the FA Cup in 1871. Of course most football was still played by the class of men who would never knowingly seek to gain unfair advantage or deliberately transgress.
In the Alcock Internationals we see the casual approach to officialdom in keeping with the 'scratch' nature of the matches, the personnel being:
Match 1-No mention  made of Umpires and Referees, the assumption being that disputes were settled by the captains.
Match 2-Umpires - Morton Peto Betts (England) and Alexander Morten (Scotland)
Match 3-Umpires - Robert Barker (Hertfordshire Rangers, England) and William Wallace. (Wanderers, for Scotland) Referee - Charles Mansfield Tebbut (Wanderers).
Match  4- Umpires - Alfred Stair (Upton Park, England) and Gilbert Kennedy (Wanderers, for Scotland).
Match 5-Only one Umpire known - Alexander Morten  (taken from Andy Mitchell's First Elevens).

  In practice each side would nominate an Umpire to whom the captains could appeal regarding any situation that arose during play. This situation was usually adequate, although the Umpires were later described in the press as 12th men on each side who could harass the Referee with pleas and arguments.
One Umpire operated in each half of the field (or more accurately each side of the field- for this purpose the field was divided lengthwise). The Referee could operate from the sidelines, but was often to be found on the field of play.

If we look at the officials involved in the England  vs Scotland internationals during the Umpire / Referee era we see a veritable Who's Who of Victorian football.  Prominent football administrators and international players past, present and future fulfilled the roles.

	Referee	Umpires
		England	Scotland
1872	William Keay (S) (Hon. Treasurer- Queen's Park)	C.W. Alcock* (Wanderers & Hon. Secretary FA)	H.N. Smith (President - Queen's Park)
1873	Theodore Lloyd (E) (Crystal Palace)	C.W. Alcock* (Wanderers & Hon. Secretary FA)	Archibald Rae (Queen's Park)
1874	Archibald Rae (S) (Queen's Park)	Alexander Morton* (Crystal Palace)	William Keay (Queen's Park)
1875	Alfred Stair (E) (Upton Park)	Major Francis Marindin (President - FA)	J.C. Mackay (Hon. Sec.- SFA)
1876	William C Mitchell (S) (Queen's Park)	J. Turner (Swifts)	Robert Gardner* (Clydesdale)
1877	Robert A.M.M Ogilvie (E)* (Clapham Rovers)	Hubert Heron* (Wanderers)	William Dick (Hon. Sec.- SFA)
1878	William A Dick (S) (Hon. Sec.- SFA)	G. Turner (Edinburgh University)	R.B. Colquhon (Vice-President- SFA)
1879	Charles Wollaston (E)* (Wanderers)	A. F. Kinnaird* (Treasurer- FA)	R.B. Colquhon (Vice-President- SFA)
1880	Capt. Donald Hamilton (S) (Vice-President- SFA)	W. Pierce-Dix (Hon. Sec.- Sheffield FA)	J. Nicholson (Vale of Leven)
1881	Major Francis Marindin (E) (President-FA)	E.H. Bambridge* (Swifts)	Capt. Donald Hamilton (Vice-President- SFA)
1882	John Wallace (S) (Vice-President- SFA)	Segar  Bastard* (Upton Park)	Thomas Anderson (Renfrew)
1883	John Sinclair (I)* (Hon. Treasurer- Irish FA )	J.C. Clegg*  (President -Sheffield FA)	Thomas  Lawrie  (President- SFA)
1884	John Sinclair (I)* (Hon. Treasurer- Irish FA )	Major Francis Marindin (President-FA)	Thomas Lawrie (Vice-President -SFA)
1885	John Sinclair (I)* (Irish FA)	M.P. Betts* (Old Harrovians)	J. E. McKillop (Scottish FA)
1886	Alexander Hunter (W)* (Secretary-Welsh FA)	N.L. Jackson (Corinthians & Hon. Sec.- FA)	Alexander Stuart (Vice-President- SFA)
1887	John Sinclair (I)* (Irish FA)	R.P. Gregson (Sec- Lancashire FA)	R. Browne (Queen's Park FC)
1888	John Sinclair (I)* (Irish FA)	M.P. Betts* (Old Harrovians)	A Mc Kennedy (President- SFA)
1889	John Sinclair (I)* (Irish FA)	J.C. Clegg*  (President -Sheffield FA)	J.A. Crerar (Third Lanark FC & President -SFA)
1890	John Reid (I)* (Irish FA)	R.P. Gregson (Sec- Lancashire FA)	Charles Campbell* (President- SFA)
1891	William J Morrow  (I) (President- Irish FA)	S.W. Widdowson* (Nottingham Forest)	T.R. Park (SFA)

*denotes an international player.

The inauguration of the British Home Championship in 1883 saw the introduction of neutral referees.
The 1891-92 season saw the Umpires rendered obsolete- replaced by linesmen whose powers were relatively limited, the Referee, by now, having become at least in theory, omnipotent.

The Good Old Days...

Yorkshire Evening Post - 07.05.28

Old Carthusians 1903

The Dunn Cup was introduced in 1903 for clubs for former Public Schoolboys, and  Old Carthusians enjoyed a good run of success (they were winners  in 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910).

This line up features 3 'full ' internationalists (G.O Smith, Maurice Stanborough and Charles Wreford-Brown), as well as a couple of amateur internationals (Rowlandson, Timmis).
Captain William Simpson was a leading referee (he had taken charge of the 1896 FA Cup Final).  
Haig-Brown, O.E Wreford-Brown and Rowlandson were killed in the 1914-18 War.

The Rev. Frank Marshall

The Rev. Frank Marshall was a clergyman and the headmaster of Almondbury Grammar School, Huddersfield. He was the co-author of Football; the Rugby Union game (1895). Rev Marshall was a referee and president of  the Yorkshire RFU.
In the 1880s and 1890s he was at the centre of a crusade against 'broken time payments' in Rugby football. Rev. Marshall believed that for anyone to receive payments in any form for playing football was morally reprehensible. His zeal for preserving amateurism knew no bounds. He was a committee member at Huddersfield FC, but this didn't prevent him for reporting them for professionalism, leading to a ban. 
Rev. Marshall's activities ultimately led to what is known as The Great Schism. In 1895 clubs who favoured 'broken time payments' to compensate their working class players for wages lost when they were playing football, broke away from the Rugby Union and formed the Northern Union. These clubs developed a different code that created a faster, more exciting game that we now know as Rugby League. 
So, what has this got to do with us, concerned as we are with the history of the Association game?

The  FA Cup 4th round tie played between Preston North End and the London club Upton Park on January 19th 1884 can be considered one of the most significant games in the history of Association football. The controversy following this game (which will be dealt with in more detail in a later post) led directly to the Football Association's acceptance of professionalism.

Liverpool Mercury 21.01.84

Was this the same Rev. F. Marshall?
It has never been made clear who provided the catalyst that inspired  Upton Park, in the person of the Secretary- Mr Barnett, to report Preston to the FA. Their local rivals Blackburn Olympic denied any involvement. Indeed, the press commented that none of the leading Lancashire clubs would be able to defend themselves against charges of professionalism.
I can find no other references to Rev F Marshall as a referee of Association games, and he seems to have had no input into the debate that raged on into the summer of 1885 regarding professionalism in football.