Rudolf Kreitlein (14 November 1919 – 31 July 2012) was a German international football referee which was active in the 1960s.

England v Argentina, 1966 World Cup

Kreitlein is perhaps best known for having refereed the

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final to win their first ever ...

quarter-final match between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in which he dismissed Antonio Rattín from the field of play in the 35th minute of the game for a second caution - dissent. Rattín initially refused to leave the pitch, arguing furiously with Kreitlein (even though neither man understood each other's native language) and the game was held up for several minutes until Rattín reluctantly departed. It was also during that game that

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

was cautioned, only to discover the fact the next day from the newspaper report. As a result of this incident, Kreitlein and

Ken Aston Kenneth George Aston, MBE (1 September 1915 – 23 October 2001) was an English teacher, soldier, and football referee, who was responsible for many important developments in football refereeing - including the yellow and red penalty card sy ...

developed the idea of yellow cards and red cards to aid on-field communication in football. Kreitlein, who had never seen the match, requested a copy of the game from

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

in 2006. Kreitlein retired from international competition in 1967.

Career

Kreitlein began his refereeing career at the age of 17, and soon moved to the US to train referees. He subsequently returned to Germany, where he tried to become a professional footballer. However, a serious knee injury ended this aspiration, and he concentrated on refereeing instead. Kreitlein's rise to prominence within the European game was evident prior to the World Cup. He had been appointed as one of the German representatives for the

1963 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1963 Final Tournament was held in England. It was considered to be the 16th International Youth Football Tournament. It was hosted by England as part of the Football Association's centenary celebration. Qu ...

, refereeing the final between

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

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 the London Borou ...

(his assistants were the Hungarian orchestral conductor and referee

István Zsolt István Zsolt (28 June 1921, Budapest – 7 May 1991) was a Hungarian international football referee. He officiated at the 1954, 1958 and 1966 World Cup tournaments and the Olympic Games of 1952 Events January–February * Janu ...

and the Belgian Mark Raemaekers). Kreitlein had been a

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

referee from its inauguration in 1963 but had only refereed 36 matches at national level before being appointed referee (in May 1966) to the European Cup final, where he took charge of the game between

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Personal life

Kreitlein worked as a tailor. He was married, but had no children. His wife died in 2008.

References

External links

Profile
at worldfootball.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreitlein, Rudolf 1919 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Fürth Sportspeople from Stuttgart German football referees 1966 FIFA World Cup referees West German sportsmen