ONE of West Cornwall’s most respected football referees, Bill Trethewey, has never sought the limelight, but he may find it difficult to avoid if he becomes a Guinness Book world record breaker in the New Year, writes Leon Prynn.

The unassuming official, who is 83 years of age, will kick off his 56th successive year as a referee in 2024 and a request has been submitted to the publishers of the world-famous book to see if this is a record.

The oldest 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, who was unaware of the record-breaking possibility until he was told on Boxing Day, has never missed a season as the man in the middle since first passing his exam.

It makes him one of the longest-serving referees in the country and certainly the longest serving in Cornwall.

A former BT cabling engineer, Bill has lived in Camborne for 43 years with his wife, Ruby. She has always urged him to continue refereeing for as long as he could, but whether she thought it would go on this long is another matter!

When most people reach retirement age it’s generally thought that it’s time to put up one’s feet and take life easy, but Bill looks as trim and fit as when he began his refereeing career over half a century earlier and that way of life just couldn’t be further from his thoughts.

Bill can regularly be seen on West Cornwall’s football pitches each Saturday and Sunday keeping control of players who are well over 60 years younger than himself.

It is a career that began in the late 1960s. Bill had moved from his village club Trispen to Heathcoats where he then suffered a bad knee injury. The consultant told him he would have to give up playing or face the prospect of a serious operation. For Bill, that was not something he wanted to contemplate.

“There was no way I was going to have an operation and I happened to see Freddie Caddy at Heathcoats, himself a referee, who asked me if I had thought of refereeing.

“One thing led to another” continued Bill “and after speaking with Jack Taylor and Bill Cheshire I took the exam, answered a few questions, ticked a few boxes and was asked by Jack if I was available to referee the following Saturday!”

It has to be said that Bill is not a “records” man and has no idea of the number of games he has refereed, what finals or semi-finals he has been involved with or even when he actually started although something tells him his first game may have involved St Day when they played on a field in Chacewater.

“I’m not a records man,” said Bill. “I never have been, the only important thing to me was to go out each Saturday and referee the game. I love the game and everything that is involved with it, so records don’t mean that much to me.”

Over the years Bill has seen many changes to the laws and he has not always been enamoured with the changes that have been made. He cites the current offside rule as making it very difficult for referees and assistant referees outside the elite game and what he describes as generally “just messing around” with the laws such as passing the ball back from kick-off and the goal kick. “Can anyone say that those rules have improved football,” said Bill. He certainly has a point.

He also thinks that abuse of referees and abuse of opponents has been on the increase: “The whole attitude of the game has altered. In my early days there were more local sides and the players tended to be one-club players – you would see them season after season and you would have their full respect.

“Today, If a player went in and made a clumsy tackle their opponent would go down and roll over and over and try to get a player booked. Back in my early days players had more respect for each other.

“Abuse is certainly worse today than when I started without a doubt, but referees have the tools to deal with it. Referees have the authority to control any situation that arises. If you don’t like what the players are saying you have red and yellow cards, fines and suspensions to deal with it,” said Bill.

“I think it is all down to the kind of world we are living in today, but I think the question definitely needs some answers but I personally don’t have an answer.”

For Bill, it is his opinion that the lack of respect shown by the players in the premier league definitely filters its way down through the pyramid and if the authorities are serious about players and managers showing respect to referees then that is where the ball should start rolling. “If players down at the bottom of the pyramid see the top players being taken to task for their behaviour then that will filter through to them,” said Bill.

Bill also thinks that players do not recognise the amount of work that goes on in the background to get a game of football played.

“The game wouldn’t survive if it wasn’t for the people that make it happen every week. If you never had the FA and the people underneath them doing all the work where would I and everyone else be? The secretary who appoints referees, the secretary who makes the fixtures, you’ve got club secretaries, people who mark out the grounds each week, the list goes on. The players turn up and put on their shirt and boots, play a game of football and then go home oblivious to the work that’s gone on to get that match played.

“If you didn’t have those backroom boys football wouldn’t exist. You can’t argue with that.”

As with the majority of Bill’s generation the art of communication via the internet is not something that they are interested in and Bill is no different: “Years ago communication was just by post or phone, we just didn’t have that sort of thing around then. Luckily, my wife Ruby knows a little about it and helps me get by.

"The County Referees’ Association have been very good about it with all the changes that are now required on-line and Luke Wilkes has been extremely helpful – good as gold – and is always available on the end of the phone.”

To still be refereeing every Saturday at 83 years of age is no mean feat, but it’s no surprise to Bill who has always been extremely fit. He’s run many marathons and half marathons and has twice competed in the London Marathon and finished in a time of 4 hours 24 minutes.

Amazingly, Bill featured on national TV several times during the day before one race and even more remarkably his son Paul, a soldier serving in Germany at the time who was watching TV with his mates, was stunned to see his father in the clips.

Bill has often been asked why he continues to referee and – whilst quickly looking over his shoulder – he wickedly replied: “For an hour and a half on a Saturday it’s the only time in the whole week that I have any authority!”

I expect Ruby would have something to say about that, but what we do know is that Ruby and the clubs he visits will be fully supporting Bill when he turns up to referee their match.