Former Southampton chairman George Reader the first Englishman to referee World Cup Final (From Daily Echo)
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Former Southampton chairman George Reader the first Englishman to referee World Cup Final
8:30am Saturday 10th July 2010 in
-
- By Adrian Kajumba » Senior Sports Reporter
PLENTY has been made of the fact that Howard Webb will be the first Englishman since Jack Taylor in 1974 to referee a World Cup final.
But there has been no mention of the fact that a former Saints chairman, the late George Reader, was the first Englishman to take charge of the showpiece occasion.
And what an occasion it was.
Reader, who became a Saints director and then chairman in 1963 after hanging up his whistle, refereed the 1950 World Cup final between Brazil and Uruguay at the famous Maracana stadium.
Numerous huge figures for the attendance at the game, which Uruguay won 2-1, have been recorded – between 174,000 and 250,000.
Either way it remains the highest ever attendance at a match in football history.
And with Reader aged 53 years and 236 days on the day of the final, he remains the oldest official to ever take charge of such a game.
It was the final game of a refereeing career for former schoolmaster Reader that began in the 1930s on Southampton Common.
Lawrie McMenemy, who was appointed as Saints manager in 1973 by Reader, said: “He never mentioned the fact he had refereed a World Cup final.
“You have to remember it was 23 years after the final when I arrived.
“He was a good man and a very good chairman to me because at the end of my first season I got relegated.
“But he came to me, him and Sir George Merrick, and we had a meeting and they knew more about the side than I realised.
“They just said ‘get on with it.’ “He was an excellent chairman for me, he didn’t mess around.
“We would only see him on match day.
“He would pop his head in the door and say ‘good luck’ and at the end of the game ‘well done’ or ‘bad luck’.”
McMenemy also backed FIFA’s decision to hand Webb tomorrow’s mouth-watering final Holland and Spain.
“I remember he refereed the Southampton v Portsmouth cup tie last season and I thought at the time that he made it look easy,” McMenemy said.
“He took it in his stride.
“The FA obviously knew there was a lot of tension between the supporters and the clubs and got a man in who could handle it.
“He had a terrific presence and I thought for a while that he might get the World Cup final because that same presence has been apparent in the World Cup, so good luck to him.”
George Reader was still chairman of Saints when they won the FA Cup in 1976, but died two years later.
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Comments(13)
freeroamer
says...
9:29am Sat 10 Jul 10
Ive just checked the Saints OS, and love the plain black with red trim away top! I held back from buying the first team kit,, because its very white and i'm always a nessy pie eater! So on match days I'll look smarter, plus black is very slimming you know! !!!
Starting to get excited now, just need to scrape the final pennies up together for a season ticket and I'll be all ready for the off
derek james
says...
10:01am Sat 10 Jul 10
on a similar vain there was a saints player around in the early 1900's who introduced football into brazil and they still call him the "father of their football" can anyone remember his name? (this was from a daily mail article of 12 years ago
Condor Man
says...
10:02am Sat 10 Jul 10
Southampton Heart
says...
10:40am Sat 10 Jul 10
ing reading too.
Well done Adrian.
Southampton Heart
says...
11:00am Sat 10 Jul 10
Condor Man wrote:Good call Condor Man.
It's a shame there was no space in the stadium for a Saints museum. It would be good to have a space where fans can delve into the history of the club and find out what happened to us before 1976.
Our club has so much history with some World Class Players. I would have thought a project like this it's on a list somewhere?.
The Moog
says...
11:16am Sat 10 Jul 10
derek james wrote:Charles Miller- there is a mural dedicated to him on the inside of the footbridge over the railway at the Northam End.
he lived next door but one to me in hanley road, nice old gent. on a similar vain there was a saints player around in the early 1900's who introduced football into brazil and they still call him the "father of their football" can anyone remember his name? (this was from a daily mail article of 12 years ago
Dave Juson
says...
1:15pm Sat 10 Jul 10
The Moog wrote:There was a ten page feature on the Saints’ Brazilian links, including two pages on the role played by Exeter City on the development in Brazil’s national side, in the Boxing Day programme last season.
derek james wrote: he lived next door but one to me in hanley road, nice old gent. on a similar vain there was a saints player around in the early 1900's who introduced football into brazil and they still call him the "father of their football" can anyone remember his name? (this was from a daily mail article of 12 years agoCharles Miller- there is a mural dedicated to him on the inside of the footbridge over the railway at the Northam End.
The feature also devoted two pages on Charles Miller’s activities in Southampton and his native São Paulo, and a page was devoted to George Reader’s adventures in Brazil: with the Saints’ touring party in 1948, and in the World Cup Finals in 1950.
The Echo could have had an original, locally researched story on Miller as far back as 1994, but have repeatedly declined to do a proper article on him. I have no idea what their problem with Miller is, but it certainly appears born of a deep neurosis.
The most recent story on Miller appeared on the official Saints website on Wednesday 16 June, and there’s a link to the Boxing Day programme feature at the very bottom of the article.
This link (if you can copy it?) should take you to it.
http://www.saintsfc.
co.uk/page/NewsDetai
l/0,,10280~2072034,0
0.html
gosportsaint
says...
1:18pm Sat 10 Jul 10
Love the new away kit, hope we are as successful as those other All Blacks
COY Sashes and Blacks
puppy saint
says...
1:26pm Sat 10 Jul 10
freeroamer wrote:nessy pie? When did they catch the beastie? What goes with that? I'm thinking battered peas with deep fried gravy!
Yes, very interesting morning read, its a part of our past hat I wasn't aware of!
Ive just checked the Saints OS, and love the plain black with red trim away top! I held back from buying the first team kit,, because its very white and i'm always a nessy pie eater! So on match days I'll look smarter, plus black is very slimming you know! !!!
Starting to get excited now, just need to scrape the final pennies up together for a season ticket and I'll be all ready for the off
leosaint
says...
1:29pm Sat 10 Jul 10
Dave Juson wrote:the story of Charles millers life, a very good history of Saints early days, is in a book named God is Brazilian by Josh Lacey,anyone who wants to know Saints early history and how football was introduced into Brasil should not miss reading this book. i got my copy in West Quay.-
The Moog wrote:There was a ten page feature on the Saints’ Brazilian links, including two pages on the role played by Exeter City on the development in Brazil’s national side, in the Boxing Day programme last season. The feature also devoted two pages on Charles Miller’s activities in Southampton and his native São Paulo, and a page was devoted to George Reader’s adventures in Brazil: with the Saints’ touring party in 1948, and in the World Cup Finals in 1950. The Echo could have had an original, locally researched story on Miller as far back as 1994, but have repeatedly declined to do a proper article on him. I have no idea what their problem with Miller is, but it certainly appears born of a deep neurosis. The most recent story on Miller appeared on the official Saints website on Wednesday 16 June, and there’s a link to the Boxing Day programme feature at the very bottom of the article. This link (if you can copy it?) should take you to it. http://www.saintsfc. co.uk/page/NewsDetai l/0,,10280~2072034,0 0.htmlderek james wrote: he lived next door but one to me in hanley road, nice old gent. on a similar vain there was a saints player around in the early 1900's who introduced football into brazil and they still call him the "father of their football" can anyone remember his name? (this was from a daily mail article of 12 years agoCharles Miller- there is a mural dedicated to him on the inside of the footbridge over the railway at the Northam End.
Brite Spark
says...
11:19am Sun 11 Jul 10
Maybe Saints will do the 'Hakka' before kick off at away games now, that might scare the opposition ;-)
LovelySaint
says...
7:08pm Sun 11 Jul 10
puppy saint wrote:Or maybe some neeps and tatties.... :o)
freeroamer wrote: Yes, very interesting morning read, its a part of our past hat I wasn't aware of! Ive just checked the Saints OS, and love the plain black with red trim away top! I held back from buying the first team kit,, because its very white and i'm always a nessy pie eater! So on match days I'll look smarter, plus black is very slimming you know! !!! Starting to get excited now, just need to scrape the final pennies up together for a season ticket and I'll be all ready for the offnessy pie? When did they catch the beastie? What goes with that? I'm thinking battered peas with deep fried gravy!
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George Reader (left) and Terry Paine
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Brite Spark says...
8:54am Sat 10 Jul 10
I like the new Saints away kit, all black with red trim, not sure about the round collar hope it doesnt hang loose like the last shirt.