Stephen reflects on half-a-century as a football referee

After Stephen King (64) clocked up 50 years with the whistle he was presented with a special long service award by current Premier League ref, Craig Pawson, at a Leicestershire Football Association conference at the Grace Road county cricket ground in Leicester.

He started out running junior matches as a 14-year-old and his career has taken him to the heights of running the line in the Southern League Premier Division, which at the time was one step from the Football League.

Stephen told the Melton Times: “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been doing it 50 years.

"I would recommend others take it up because it’s been a good career.”

He got the bug for being a match official after taking a refereeing course with a family friend when he was still at school.

It was a busy time for Stephen when started officiating junior games on Sunday afternoons because he was also playing two games a week, for clubs at Clawson and Hose.

He married Gill in 1985 and she asked him to either give up playing or refereeing because of the time it was taking up each weekend.

Stephen was refereeing in the Melton League on Saturdays in the late 1980s and got promoted to Leicestershire Senior League matches and then the Southern League.

“I often refereed in front of big crowds – I remember one local derby involving Burton Albion when there were 10,000 in the ground,” he recalled.

“A lot of top players were managing in those days – there was Nigel Clough at Burton, Martin O’Neil was manager of Grantham Town and Garry Birtles at Gresley.”

He was grateful for the support of his employers, the old Jeld-WEN factory in the town, in giving him time off to officiate in Southern League fixtures and afternoon reserve team games at the likes of Leicester, Derby and Forest.

One of his biggest thrills, as a Nottingham Forest fan, was meeting Brian Clough in the board room after being a official at Burton Albion game: “I was excited to meet him, and he said ‘now then young man, you had a good game tonight’. I had jelly legs because it was quite a moment.”

On the difference between the modern game compared to his early days, Stephen commented: “The game has completely changed.

"It’s quicker and less physical because physicality is not allowed now.

“And the conditions of 90 per cent of the pitches are a lot superior to my early days.”

He added: “There used to be a lot more verbals between the players and the referee.

“You could have a run in with the centre forward or the centre half through the match but at the final whistle they would come and shake your hand and say ‘come and have a pint’. Today it’s not the same.”

A father-of-two, Stephen says he has been indebted to the support of Gill: “She has washed my kit for 40 years, she says she should get an award too.

“To be fair, she washes my kit and puts it in my bag so it is ready before every game. I couldn’t do it without her.”