RateTheRef

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The circumstances surrounding Jack Husband's death are described in Gordon Banks's autobiography.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WAnD4ck54yUC&pg=PT107&lpg=PT107&dq=jack+husband+referee&source=bl&ots=sDt_z6_f1X&sig=Zy1LmB-8pA0Ec7lM2jaD5mMOIAw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjng_nxqeXeAhXJIMAKHX75Av8Q6AEwDXoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=jack%20husband%20referee&f=false

Similarly Ted McDougall, who was then playing for York City, mentions Roy Harper's demise:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8lAGDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT24&dq=roy+harper+referee&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY5I-uquXeAhVBKcAKHRDICXQQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=roy%20harper%20referee&f=false

I notice WE Haynes on the list.
Can't remember him being mentioned on ISOR.I think he was William/can't remember what the E represented.He also was a referee who came from an unusual location-Newburgh,near Wigan.I saw him at least twice at Bradford PA and nothing outstanding comes to mind.Dark hair and smallish-sorry-can't do any better!

I have referred to this some time ago-I was lucky to see a vastly entertaining match.I can still see JH now-pacing out the distance to the penalty spot for the groundsman to paint the spot!