So close, but not quite close enough is the agonising position a local football referee finds himself in after his name was submitted for possible entry into the Guinness Book of Records, writes Leon Prynn.
Bill Trethewey, who at the age of 83 still turns out and referees each Saturday in the Kernow Stone St Piran Football League, kicked off his 56th successive year as a referee in 2024.
Realising what a terrific achievement this was, a request was submitted by myself to the publishers of the world-famous book to see if this is could be a record for England or, perhaps, the UK.
Bill, who was unaware of the record-breaking possibility, didn’t know about the check until I broke the news to him on Boxing Day.
The oldest-known active referee in England is Frank Foster of Sheffield who is 89, but Frank has only been refereeing since 1980 which is a few years short of Bill’s amazing total.
Bill has never missed a season as the man in the middle since first passing his exam in 1968 and that makes him one of the longest-serving referees in the country and certainly the longest serving in Cornwall.
Disappointingly for Bill, who lives in Camborne, he could still hold the record for the longest-serving referee in the country, but unfortunately the Guinness Book of Records do not publish records country by country, only world records.
Whilst that is not ideal news for Bill, there is still a chance he may yet achieve the accolade of the world’s longest-serving referee.
Guinness PR executive Alina Polianskaya commented: “We’ve looked into it and while this is an impressive achievement by Bill, it would not beat the current world record just yet for the longest career for a football (soccer) referee.
"The most durable football referee is Csernyi Géza (born March 25, 1932; Hungary), who was an active referee for 57 years.
“He gained his refereeing qualification on June 7, 1950 and officiated his last match in Hungary, in February 2007.
“I’m afraid we don’t subcategorise this record title by country so would not be able to confirm this for England or the UK.”
Bill is well known for not being a records man and was unruffled by the news, but being so close to having a world record attached to his name has certainly encouraged him to continue refereeing.
You can read more about his referee career to date here: Guinness Book of Records bid for Bill as longest ever serving referee at 83
“People who know me are aware that I am not interested in records, but I can see that I am very close not only for an official England and UK record but for the world record set by Csernyi Geza," he said.
"If I can continue to referee until 2026 I would imagine that at that time it may be a world record, but that’s only if there isn’t someone else who began refereeing a couple of years before me and is still going.
“I won’t be refereeing with the record in mind. As always I will go out and referee for as long as I am fit enough to do it and I enjoy it and If that happens any record would be a bonus.”
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