Kevin Howley (17 May 1924 – 22 July 1997) was an English football
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
from
Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its ...
Howley became a Football League referee in 1954 at the age of 30 and four years later reached the FIFA List. While 35 years of age he took charge of the
1960 FA Cup Final
The 1960 FA Cup Final was the 79th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. It took place on 7 May 1960 at Wembley Stadium in London. The match was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Wo ...
between
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...
and
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
, at the time the youngest ever referee to do so. A newspaper of the time christened this "The Dustbin Final", because Blackburn supporters, enraged by incidents during the game, threw rubbish at the Wolves players and their manager,
Stan Cullis
Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...
, as they were leaving the arena.
Dave Whelan
David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...
also suffered a broken leg during the first half.
He was involved in a remarkable incident at the end of an FA Cup tie between Crystal Palace and Mansfield Town on 24 November 1962. Palace equalised with a late penalty and Mansfield's outfield players, annoyed at his handling of the match, sarcastically applauded him at the end of the game. As a result, Howley reported all ten Mansfield outfield players to the FA for their conduct. He took charge of the replay two days later which the midland team won resoundingly 7–2.
Howley had the distinction on 22 August 1964 of refereeing the first ever match televised on the BBC's Match of the Day programme in which Liverpool beat Arsenal 3–2. Prior to this he represented England in the 1964 European Nations' Cup Preliminary round, when
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
defeated
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
by 6–0 on 1 November 1962, and also two matches in the qualifying rounds of the renamed competition in 1968, the European Championship. He was selected for the 1966
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, acting as a linesman throughout the tournament, notably for referee
Ken Dagnall
Kenneth Dagnall (30 January 1921 – March 1995 and latter place of residence: article at the ''ChorleyCi ...
in the third place play-off match between
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
.
In his final series of 1970-1971 he refereed the European Cup match between U.T. Arad and Red Star Belgrade and a Fairs Cup match between Coleraine and Kilmarnock. The final League match of Howley's career was the match between
Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...
and
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
at
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition ...
on 3 May 1971; Arsenal won the game 1-0 and with it the First Division title, which formed the first part of
the Double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
they achieved that season.† He closed his officiating career by serving as linesman to Jack Taylor in the 1971 European Cup Final at Wembley, his counterpart on the line being fellow Teessider
Pat Partridge
Patrick Partridge BEM (30 June 1933 – 31 October 2014) was an English football referee, and former President of the Association of Football League Referees and Linesmen. His occupation outside football was as a farmer.Hamlyn 2005 (p. 115),