Referee blows final whistle on 50-year career

An amateur football referee has hung up his whistle after a 50-year career, during which he oversaw nearly 3,500 games.

Jim Wilson, 75, blew time on his final men's match at Middleham in April, with players from both teams forming a guard of honour before kick-off in tribute.

Fittingly, his final game between AFC Middleham Town and Northallerton's Oddies was at the same venue as his first, where in March 1976 he officiated between Middleham and Carperby.

Speaking afterwards he said: "I wanted to get out while I still had a bit of street cred. I didn't want to get to the situation where I couldn't keep up with play."

The retired Wensleydale School history teacher said his final match, which ended in a 3-3 draw, went off without incident, but he said he knew "it was time to call it a day", following some recent narrow misses.

"There were a couple of times this last season I've given a couple of penalties from the halfway line.

"Luckily they were right, because there were no complaints, but I knew I should have been much nearer play than I actually was."

Wilson said he was seen off in style after his last match.

"It was absolutely fantastic. I got a presentation from the league and the Wensleydale League and a beer tankard and some beer from the Middleham Town club.

"There was lots of friends and family and six of my grandkids were there, so it was a bit of a celebration."

He said his move into refereeing came about after being asked as a young teacher in Birmingham to set up a school football team.

"So I just refereed school matches for the first couple of years and then, when I moved back to North Yorkshire, I qualified as a referee in 1976, started in the Wensleydale League and worked my way up through."

As well as overseeing 3,460 games, he has also run the line on 101 occasions, and served as a fourth official 42 times, eventually moving down the leagues as the years progressed.

However, his refereeing retirement is not quite complete.

"I've called a stop to refereeing in men's football, but I'll continue to do junior and women's football - until the legs finally give out," he said.

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