RateTheRef

The list below may be of interest. It shows those referees who were named on the official lists but actually refereed no League matches during their final season (indicated next to their name, 1980 onwards). In most cases their final match had come the previous season but in some instances it occurred two or even three seasons earlier – this is indicated by the span of seasons in which they did not officiate, e.g. 2014-2016.

Barry, Neale   2005-2006
Bates, Steve   1983-1984
Bennett, Steve   2010-2011
Berry, Carl           2015-2016
Booth, Russell   2011-2013
Bratt, Steve    2014-2016
Butcher, Keith   1979-1980
Butler, Noel*   1989-1990
Cooper, Keith A   1995-1996
Cowburn, Mark   2005-2007
Deadman,
Darren              2017-2018
Desmond, Bob   2006-2007
Dorr, Steve    2006-2009
Dowd, Phil           2015-2016
Dunn, Steve   2005-2006
Finch, Carl           1998-1999
Foster, Dave   2011-2012
Hall, Andy           2010-2012
Haywood, Mark   2017-2018
Hegley, Grant   2011-2012
Hill, Keith           2016-2017
Jones, Trevor   2001-2002
Laws, David   2001-2003
Laws, Graham   2009-2010
Lewis, Gary   2007-2008
Madley, Robert   2018-2019
Miller, Nigel   2017-2018
Mohareb, Dean   2013-2016
Moules, John   1992-1993
Naylor, Michael   2014-2016
Oliver, Clive   2009-2011
Parkes, Trevor   2006-2007
Penn, Andy   2011-2012
Prosser, Phil   2005-2007
Quinn, Peter   2011-2012
Rennie, Uriah   2008-2009
Riley, Mike           2008-2009
Russell, Mike   2015-2017
Ryan, Mike   2005-2006
Salmon, Ken   1984-1985
Sheldrake,
Darren              2015-2016
Shoebridge,
Rob                   2011-2014
Simmons, Alan   1990-1991
Smith, Jeff           1991-1992
Sutton, Gary   2016-2017
Tanner, Steve   2012-2013
Thorpe, Mike   2009-2010
Waugh, Jock   2012-2014
White, Clive   1982-1983
Wiley, Alan   2010-2011
Willard, Gary   1999-2000
Wright, Kevin    2016-2017

* Only one match the previous season

Injury and resignation before the season commences (sometimes to take up a new post in refereeing) account for the vast majority of these cases. One of the most striking things is how much more common they have become. Up until 2000 there was only around one referee every few seasons who didn’t referee any matches in his final season but now it happens to maybe a couple of referees each year. Now the compulsory retirement age has passed injury and resignation are generally the predominant reasons for referees leaving the List at any point but all the same it is notable how many more referees have not officiated in their final season.

Yes, an interesting list, thank you LF. I suspect the fact that it is more common now than in earlier times is all about the authorities wanting to be seen to be fair now to those refs unfortunate enough to sustain a serious injury. Michael Naylor is a case in point. One hopes that the likes of James Adcock doesn't join the list. A curious case imo is Rob Shoebridge who stayed on the list for three seasons without refereeing a game. What was that all about I wonder? Also Dean Mohareb although the reasons for that are more clear-cut. I wonder whether a few refs decided to carry on as long as they passed the fitness tests but then retired after failing them, and this would have been after the list of refs for the season had been published. Nigel Miller might come into this category although I cannot confirm this.

Looking further back, I note that one of England's best refs, Ken Dagnall, is shown in Upton's as being on the list in 1968/9, although I always thought he retired after refereeing the 1967 FA Cup Final. 

Looking further at the reasons I think a major factor is the changing employment status of referees. Up until the 2000s they were considered very much as contractors rather than employees and it was largely at the League's discretion whether to re-engage a referee for the following season. There were certainly many more departures in those earlier times for all sorts of reasons. Referees are now considered essentially as employees with all the rights that term implies. Therefore if a referee has fitness problems he will have a right to more time to see if they can be solved. In some instances that isn't possible but then there will be a requirement to see if another role in refereeing can be found for him such as in coaching or administration. Linked to that there do also now seem to be many more posts in those "support" roles so an increasing number of referees make that "transfer".

Referees on the List missing an entire season but then returning is another new phenomenon of the 2000s. Paul Robinson of Hull was the first example - missing the 2001-2002 season before returning for 2002-2003 - but there have been quite a few (such as Phil Crossley) since.

Indeed. If the Appointing Powers believe a referee is worthy of the ultimate accolade of the FA Cup Final then it was folly, in the old practice, to often award it as a reward for the completion of service at the end of the referee's last season on the List because then the poor referee becomes a hostage to fortune of geography. This would be particularly pertinent for referees from Lancashire when County was the determining factor and so many clubs, of the old Lancashire County boundary, made it to the Final.

I think I'm right in saying that the unfortunate Jeff Smith never refereed a League match and I seem to think Bob Desmond only refereed a handful of games.