Former Southampton chairman George Reader the first Englishman to referee 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.