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Author Topic: Radio programme on AJ (Jimmy) Jewell - FA Cup Final Referee and Radio Commentator  (Read 242 times)

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Left Field

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While the name "Jimmy Jewell" probably initially conjures up images of the comic actor it was also the name of A.J Jewell - referee of the 1938 FA Cup Final in which Preston beat Huddersfield with a penalty awarded in the last minute of extra time. However - not uncommonly with pre-war referees - Mr. Jewell had a very eventful life. He served as an RAF pilot and after leaving refereeing actually briefly managed Norwich City and later became the BBC's first regular radio football commentator. Inconceivable these days that a referee (or anyone who hadn't been a professional player) could ever manage a professional club but a sign of very different footballing times. A recent radio programme about him - "Jimmy Jewell - the Lost Voice of Football" - can be heard at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07kdtg0

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jad

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I first encountered Mr Jewell's name on a Russian web-site that I came across earlier this year:http://footballfacts.ru/referees
This is a vast data-base with a wealth of information about match officials, although you may wish to note that the site is Russian (but with the possibility of searching for names in either the Cyrillic or the Latin alphabets) and is not particularly easy to use.  Not surprisingly the coverage of Russian and Soviet football at both national and local levels is the most comprehensive: I first discovered the site when I was looking for information about the Moscow city championship in the 1930s (please don't ask why), while that of British domestic football is distinctly patchy.  There are, however, two positive features about the site: the first is that more often than not information is given about linesmen, as well as match referees, while the second is the inclusion of a considerable information about international fixtures, some of them quite obscure.

For Mr Jewell the site currently lists 18 fixtures in which he was involved either as referee or as linesman.  The only domestic fixture is the 1938 F.A. Cup Final; among the international fixtures are the 1938 friendly between England and Europe and the matches at which he officiated during the 1936 Olympics (as mentioned in the radio programme), but there are also Home International games, as well as various other international fixtures, both competitive and friendly and even two games in the Mitropa Cup (which for those who have temporarily forgotten was a club competition involving teams mainly in Central Europe).     

By following random links it is possible to stumble across a remarkable amount of extremely arcane information.  Whether the site will provide the answers to questions that people are asking still remains to be tested.
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olddeagle

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Many thanks to Left Field for the link to this fascinating programme. It prompted me to look at the Youtube film of the 1938 Cup Final where you can see Bill Shankly meeting George VI and note that all three officials have different sock designs. Mr Jewell's look as though they have black legs and either red/white or blue/white tops. Wouldn't be tolerated now of course. It also looks as though his last second penalty decision wouldn't have been overturned by VAR.

He wasn't the only ex FL referee to manage a league club although he may well have been the last to do so. There was David Ashworth (Liverpool 1920-23, Oldham 1923-4, Man City 1924/5, on the FL list 1904-6) and Fred Kirkham (Spurs 1907-8, on the FL list 1897-1906), and Herbert Bamlett (Oldham 1914-21, Wigan 1921-3, Middleborough 1923-6 and Man Utd 1927-31). Ashworth took Liverpool to the First Division title in 1921/2;  Bamlett had done the 1914 final and Kirkham managed Spurs before they joined the FL but he had done the 1906 Cup Final. I imagine all of them were more like CEOs today rather than coaches. There is some interesting contemporary material about Bamlett at https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterunitedman1/47960291527/in/photostream/ . Does anyone know if there were any more?
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mutn3

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I don't have the book to hand on previous Derbyshire FL Officials, though you'd think I might remember, but to the list of Referees turned Managers you can certainly add Gilbert Gillies (1904).  He managed Leeds City, Bradford Park Ave and Chesterfield, all in their inaugural seasons in the Football League. There may be others, I'll have to re-read .