Pat Partridge

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For the American military officer, see Earle E. Partridge.

Pat Partridge
BEM
Born (1933-06-30)30 June 1933
Billingham, County Durham, England
Died 31 October 2014(2014-10-31) (aged 81)
Cockfield, County Durham, England [1]
Other occupation Farmer
Domestic
Years League Role
1957-58 North Eastern League Referee
1958-65 Northern League Referee
1965-66
Football League
 Linesman
1966-81 Football League Referee
International
Years League Role
1971-80 FIFA listed Referee

Patrick Partridge

football referee, and former President of the Association of Football League Referees and Linesmen.[2] His occupation outside football was as a farmer.[3]

Early years

He originated from Billingham, County Durham, and had the same name as his father, Patrick Partridge, MBE.

Career

He first became a referee in 1953, with the

Football League linesman for the 1965-66 season
, and progressed to become a Football League referee in the following year.

In his 1979 co-authored biography with John Gibson, he recalled his first ever top-class Football League match as man-in-the-middle, when he awarded three penalty kicks in the game between Manchester City and Leicester City at Maine Road in March 1967, which Leicester won 3–1.[citation needed]

He also recounts a chain of events which led to a major change in the International Laws of Association Football. On 13 May 1967,

dismissible offence. [citation needed
]

He was promoted to the

Panathinaikos at Wembley.‡ Although not chosen to officiate in the 1974 FIFA World Cup Finals, he did handle two friendly matches in Brazil as a precursor to that event. These were Brazil versus Czechoslovakia on 7 April 1974, and Brazil against Austria on 5 May 1974.[4]

His greatest domestic honour was being awarded control of the

Alan Taylor.[5]

As a FIFA referee, he returned to Brazil to referee the

Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, which Hamburg won by 2–0.[7]

1978 was by far Partridge's busiest year. He was appointed to that year's

extra time. The replay was won 1-0 by Forest at Old Trafford from the award of a penalty kick by Partridge against Liverpool's Phil Thompson, Partridge believing Thompson's foul had taken place inside the penalty area, but television replays indicated it had not. After Partridge later compounded this error by disallowing Terry McDermott's equaliser for handball, Liverpool defender Tommy Smith famously remarked that Partridge "should be shot". This is also the match where the same player is attributed with the first use of the phrase "professional foul".[8]

On 12 September 1978, he refereed an infamous meeting between

quarter final of the now-defunct Anglo-Scottish Cup, in which Steve Kindon gave Burnley the lead after 55 minutes. By the 80th minute, the mass of Celtic supporters showed their frustration to such a degree that Partridge led off both sets of players. Only a plea to the crowd from Kindon and Celtic manager Billy McNeill, at the referee's suggestion, allowed the game to resume.[9]
When it did, the score remained the same until the end.

Partridge was chosen as a FIFA representative to officiate during the

1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina. He was linesman for two matches, both in Group A: Argentina v. Hungary, which Argentina won 2–1;[10] and France v. Hungary, which France won 3–1.[11] He refereed just the one match in the Finals, the Second Stage Group B match between Peru and Poland, which finished 1–0 to Poland through a goal by Andrzej Szarmach.[12]

In his book, Partridge remarked at length as to the antics of the

Ramon Quiroga, during that match. Having earlier executed two perfect tackles on outfield players during the match, on or near the halfway line, Quiroga then pulled down Grzegorz Lato in his opponents' half in the second period, earning himself a caution, despite standing and bowing apologetically towards the referee after the misdemeanor. [citation needed
]

The

1980 European Championships in Italy (the last tournament of his career) ended in his officiating in only one match throughout its duration. This was the encounter between Greece and Czechoslovakia on 14 June at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The Greeks lost by 3 goals to 1, finishing bottom of Group A.[13] Partridge should have retired from refereeing directly after the Championships. However, the Football League had decided that the retirement age be raised to forty eight on an experimental basis (since confirmed).† This allowed him one final season (1980–81
) on the List.

Life outside football

Before

Upon leaving school, he had started his professional life as an electrician, meeting his future wife Margaret at the one firm he worked for in that capacity, Head Wrightson Ltd, which operated from

Thornaby at the time.[14] They married on 11 March 1961, and by 1973 had moved to the farm in Cockfield, County Durham, which was run by Margaret's father. He and Margaret then took a full role in the running of the farm. In time, they renamed the farmhouse "Law One". [citation needed
]

He was able to devote much more of his time to the farm business after being compulsorily required to end his involvement in football at the age of 48.[3] He became Chairman of the Referees' Association and of the Association of Football League Referees and Linesmen, eventually taking up the position of President for the latter organisation.[citation needed]

He was able to concentrate on his golf as a major hobby, and joined the Celebrity Golf Tour to help raise money for charity. He also became a local magistrate and prison visitor after his refereeing career ended.

In December 2002, however, he was stricken with pneumonia - a potentially fatal condition at the age of 69.[15] Fortunately for him, he was able to fully recover. Enough, in fact, to come out of football retirement on 19 October 2003.[citation needed]

As a spectator at the Northern Premier League match between Bishop Auckland and Prescot Cables, he watched as the match referee suffered an injury, causing one of his assistants to take his place in the middle. The replacement with the flag was deemed not up to the league standard, putting the future of the game in jeopardy. Having overheard all this, Partridge put himself forward to fulfill the assistant referee's duties as he had done many years ago, and ran the line in a 1–1 draw, at the age of 70 years and 4 months.[16] This curiously mirrored the occasion in September 1972 when he refereed a match between Arsenal and Liverpool at Highbury. One of his linesmen tore a muscle and the flag was taken by TV expert, former player and qualified referee Jimmy Hill.

Honours

On 11 May 2004, Partridge attended a

North Riding FA dinner, at which he was honoured for 50 years membership of the Referees' Association.[17]

He was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to football.[18]

Death

He died on 31 October 2014.[1][19]

References

Print

  • Football League Handbooks
  • Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1970–1981
  • ‡Rothmans Football Yearbook, 1971, Queen Anne Press, p. 469
  • Rothmans Football Yearbook, 1973, Queen Anne Press, p. 29
  • †Rothmans Football Yearbook, 1980, Queen Anne Press, p. 15
  • Oh, Ref!, by Pat Partridge & John Gibson, (Souvenir Press Ltd 1979);
    ISBN 0-285-62423-7

Internet

  1. ^ a b Shaw, Phil (12 November 2014). "Pat Partridge: Referee who gave football's first 'professional foul' and was one of the first high-profile officials of the game's TV age". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  2. ^ Confirmation Archived 21 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine of Presidency of the AFLRL: Parker Entertainments website.
  3. ^ a b "Farmer Pat", in Cockfield, County Durham: Darlington And Stockton Times online.
  4. ^ Friendly internationals Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine in Brazil, 1974: Barrie Courtney.
  5. ^ 1975 FA Cup Final: TheFA.com website.
  6. ^ World Club Championship Final, second leg, 1976: Channel4.com website.
  7. ^ 1977 Cup Winners Cup Final Archived 24 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Amsterdam; SportingChronicle.com; accessed 12 November 2014.
  8. BBC.co.uk
    website.
  9. ^ Anglo-Scottish Cup Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine trouble in 1978: ThisIsLancashire.co.uk website.
  10. ^ Argentina v. Hungary, 1978 World Cup Finals: PlanetWorldCup website.
  11. ^ France v. Hungary, 1978 World Cup Finals: PlanetWorldCup website.
  12. ^ Peru v. Poland, 1978 World Cup Finals], planetworldcup.com; 12 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Euro 80" statistics: The Recreational Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation website.
  14. University of Durham
    Press Release, dur.ac.uk; accessed 12 November 2014.
  15. ^ Pneumonia strikes at age 69: TheNorthernEcho.co.uk website.
  16. ^ Running the line at age 70: Darlington And Stockton Times online.
  17. ^ Further biography for Pat Partridge: TheNorthernEcho.co.uk website.
  18. ^ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b32.
  19. ^ BBC News, "Pat Partridge: Former World Cup referee passes away", 31 October 2014
Preceded by
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final 1976
France Robert Wurtz
Final 1977
England
Pat Partridge 		Succeeded by
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final 1978
West Germany Heinz Aldinger
Preceded by
1975
 Succeeded by
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