Gordon Kew
| Full name | Gordon Cecil Kew | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
1930 South Shields, England | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1960-1966 | Football League | Linesman | |
| 1966-1977 | Football League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1974-1977 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Gordon Cecil Kew[1] (born 1930) is an English former football referee in the Football League and for FIFA. During his refereeing career he was based in Leeds, Yorkshire, then Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and, for his final season, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire.
Career
Kew reached the Football League linesmen's List in 1960 and was promoted to the referees List in 1966. Five years later he was selected to be senior linesman to Norman Burtenshaw for the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Liverpool.
In 1972-73 he made his mark by sending off seven players, the highest ever total at the time.[2] In March 1974 he took charge of a quite extraordinary and controversial FA Cup quarter-final between Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest (then in the old Division 2). The Midlands side were already 2-1 up when Kew awarded them a penalty and then sent off Newcastle defender Pat Howard for his protests. Forest scored and, shortly afterwards, Newcastle fans invaded the pitch, causing the game to be suspended. Play restarted after a delay and Newcastle fought back, reducing the deficit and then equalising from a penalty before scoring again to apparently win the game 4-3.
That was not the end of the matter, however. Forest protested about events, claiming that the disruption had worked to Newcastle's advantage. Forest manager Allan Brown said: "The crowd and the referee undoubtedly won the game for Newcastle. When we were taken off we were playing brilliant stuff. Newcastle were finished. But after the hold up, with the crowd baying all the time, the referee gave everything to Newcastle." There were also concerns that allowing the result to stand would encourage hooliganism. The FA annulled the result and ordered the tie to be replayed at a neutral venue (Goodison Park). Newcastle eventually won (again) after a replay.[3] Kew was to see Newcastle again in the Final. They met Liverpool, and were beaten 3-0.[4]
He was appointed to the FIFA List for the following season (1974-75).
In his retirement year, one last honour came his way when he was appointed to the 1977 League Cup Final between Aston Villa and Everton at Wembley. This required two replays, at Hillsborough and Old Trafford, before Villa won 3-2. All were refereed by Kew.[5][6][7] It is the only major English Final to require three games to resolve the winners.
References
- Football League Handbooks, 1960–1970
- Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1971–1977
- Gilbert Upton (2005) Football League and Premiership Referees 1888 to 2005, Soccerdata.
- ↑ Middle name confirmation: Weltfußball.de (German) website.
- ↑ Kew's (then) record card count, season 1972-73: Bob Dunning personal website.
- ↑ Newcastle v. Nottingham Forest, FA Cup quarter-final, March 1974: Toonarama website.
- ↑ 1974 FA Cup Final, Liverpool v. Newcastle: RSSSF.com statistical website.
- ↑ League Cup Final 1977: soccerbase.com website.
- ↑ League Cup Final Replay 1977: soccerbase.com website.
- ↑ League Cup Final Second Replay 1977: soccerbase.com website.
External links
| Preceded by Ken Burns |
FA Cup Final Referee 1974 |
Succeeded by Pat Partridge |