Kevin Howley

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Kevin Howley (b. 1926 - d. ?) was a football referee from Billingham, Middlesbrough who officiated in the 1950s and 1960s and was one of the youngest men ever to referee the FA Cup Final.

Howley was 34 years of age when he took charge of the 1960 FA Cup Final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. This final came to be called 'The Dustbin Final' on account of the fact that Blackburn supporters, enraged by incidents during the game, threw rubbish at the Wolves players and manager, Stan Cullis as they were leaving the arena. Howley came in for certain criticism for his handling of the game; a dubious goal was allowed to stand for Wolves and Dave Whelan had his leg broken during the first half. [1] (Whelan, later, went on to set up the JJB Sports retailing company and fund Wigan Athletic's rise).

Howley represented England in the 1964 and 1968 European Championships (within the qualifying tournaments) and was selected for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, acting as an Assistant Referee through out the tournament, and running the line to Ken Dagnall in the third place play-off match between Portugal and the Soviet Union at Wembley.

The final League match of Howley's career was the match between Tottenham and Arsenal at White Hart Lane on May 3, 1971; Arsenal won the game 1-0 and with it the First Division title, which formed the first part of the Double they won that season.^[1]