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As was the tradition, as referee he had to go to the FA offices
on the day of the match and pick three balls for the game from
several placed in a room for him to make his choice.
He recalls being presented to the Queen and Prince Philip.
When Philip heard Jim was from Hereford he said "I was
there last week", to which Jim replied: "I know Sir you
were at the Bulmer's cider factory."
Jim recalls one of the better memories of soccer that his
final was one in which there were no bookings and neither
side had to send a trainer on for an injury at any time during
the match.
He was also in charge of the Bobby Moore testimonial
match, and the former England captain gave everyone
involved a lighter in the shape of the FA Cup one of Jim's
prized possessions.
Jim Finney was also the only referee to abandon a home
international Scotland v Austria at Hampden Park in 1963
because, says Jim, the Austrians "were bringing the game into
disrepute" including one of the team spitting at him.
Another notable "first" for one of the five fell to Peter
Willis, whose Lodge meets at Willington. During the 1985
Manchester United-Everton match, Peter had the distinction
of being the only referee ever to send a player off in an F A
Cup final, when he sent United's Kevin Moran off. Peter
recalls: "We were into extra time, and having sent a player
off I thought, hell, we have a replay next week. Then
Norman Whiteside scored one of the best goals ever in
a final. The sending off spoilt it all and I would rather it
hadn't happened. But to me it was straightforward. It happened and you make a judgment and act accordingly."
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Peter Willis surrounded by Manchester
United players as he sends off Kevin
Moran in the 1985 final against Everton
Above
Pat Partridge prepares to start the
all-London 1975 final between Fulham
and West Ham
© Getty Images
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When the last final had been played at the old Wembley
Stadium, Peter was sent a photo of the sending off (it is
reproduced in this article).
George Courtney was in charge at the all-London derby
when West Ham scored the only goal of the match to beat
Arsenal in 1980. He recalls: "It was not a quality match.
It was an extremely hot day around 90 degrees and
the heat sapped the energy of the players."
However, the match does remain in his memory for incident. "West Ham's Paul Allen was brought down by Arsenal's
centre-half Willie Young and I gave him a yellow card.
Today it would be a sending off. However, the incident
began the debate about the professional foul."
He adds: "I have often been asked if I was nervous. The
answer is that you only get to referee the Cup Final once,
and I had been a referee for 18 years. It is a bit like the Craft
you take a step when you are ready.
A Wembley final, he says, is a "great occasion" and he
was introduced to the guest of honour, the Duchess of Kent.
Now Director of Community Projects at Premiership
side Middlesbrough, he still referees for youngsters.
Jeff Winter, last year's final referee, commented: "The final
was the last professional game of my career and throughout my
25 years as a referee I thought I had experienced most events,
but the atmosphere and the stadium were something else."
He added that having been a fourth official at the 198889
final he thought he would have been aware of the very big
match occasion, but Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium
"was like one I have never experienced before."
He said: "It was difficult for the players to hear you such
was noise and the atmosphere. I have always believed the
game was about the players and not referees, and I was able
to bow out without controversy.
"Other than a mild occurrence where Dennis Wise tried
to take control of the match briefly, I felt that the game passed
without incident and there was only one yellow card. People
left the game talking about the match rather than the referee,
and that's the way it should be."
No doubt when the new Wembley Stadium is complete
more Masons will be taking charge of FA Cup Finals. They
will probably come from Durham, too.
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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