The General and the World Cup Referee

The General and the World Cup Referee – Major General (Retired) John Boyne CB MBE and the late Pat Partridge BEM

From Col (Retd) Mike Crabbe

As a former Chairman of the Army Football Association Referees Committee, I have recently had sight of the brochure commemorating 100 years of Army FA Referees in 2020. It brought back some great memories of my time as a referee, as a player with Army Crusaders and also Vice Chairman of REME Football. Not only have REME teams won the Army Cup 15 times but REME have provided the referee 11 times, plus for one replay, and have provided 22 members of the Referees Committee including 6 Chairmen. I thought that one story would be of interest to the readers of The Craftsman.

A Barrack Room inspection of a National Service recruit by a REME Lieutenant in Malvern in 1955 led to a lifelong friendship between two football fans. One went on to referee the FA Cup Final in 1975 and officiate in the World Cup Finals in Argentina in 1978 and the other to became Chairman of the Army Football Association in 1984 and Director General of REME in 1985.

Pat Partridge’s story:

FIFA Referee Pat Partridge retired in 1981 after a distinguished referee career that included refereeing the 1975 FA Cup Final between West Ham United and Fulham. He also took charge of the 1978 League Cup Final and officiated at the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina where he was Linesman in the opening match of the competition where the hosts beat Hungary, and the 1980 European Championships in Italy. He was a Football League official from 1965 to 1981. However, Partridge, who was awarded the BEM in 2014 (the year he sadly passed away), was open and proud about the role that the Army FA played in his refereeing career. In the Winter 1982 edition of the “Army Referee” he said,

“I am never short in my praise of the Army FA for giving me a lot of encouragement and assistance at the beginning of my career which was a help to me when I began to climb that sometimes difficult ladder to the top. I am grateful for the opportunity to thank the Army FA who accepted my Junior Certificate and made me a Class 3 Referee in 1954 as this was the start of my National Service”.

Pat was enlisted into REME and was posted (as a skilled tradesman) to a trade training unit in Malvern in Worcestershire to undertake a conversion course where he commenced a lifelong friendship with a future Army FA Chairman. He continues,

“At the same time I was in Malvern, there was also a Lieutenant named John Boyne, who was a keen footballer and a regular “wing half” in the unit team. Our first meeting was when “Sir” was doing a routine barrack room inspection. Hanging behind my locker was a Referee’s

Maj Gen J Boyne CB MBE

uniform proudly displaying a Referees Association badge which had “Durham County” embroidered on it. Lt Boyne enquired from which part of County Durham I came from and it turned out we were born a mile apart in Billingham, but our paths had never crossed until that day. This was to be the start of a very long-lasting and continuing friendship”.

“To my mind the experience gained in a very short time was due entirely to the Army. From leaving Malvern I had volunteered and

requested an overseas appointment and the place I wanted to go to was the place where I was sentHong Kong. Whilst I was on the island, I was able to referee three and sometimes four games over a weekend and of course midweek games too. It was whilst I was in Hong Kong that I was promoted to Class 2 and the season I returned to Durham County I was promoted to Class 1.

“I was fortunate in doing National Service and this is why I consider the Army FA did me proud.”

Major General (Retired) John Boyne CB MBE remembers Pat Partridge as a referee and a friend. Over the years he was invited to matches as a guest of Pat who was appointed as the referee. As a player and as Army FA Chairman Maj Gen Boyne had an excellent opportunity to watch football at the highest level and at the “grass roots” of Army football and he writes,

One of the highlights of my last few years (of 36+) in the Army was being Chairman of the Army Football Association. I confess that, having retired from military service over 33 years ago, I was unaware that the Army Referees celebrated their centenary in 2020; but I remain keenly aware of the major contribution that Army Referees have made and continue to make to the “good health” of the Soldiers’ Primary Sport.

As for coincidences involved in my initial 1955 meeting with Pat Partridge and the friendship that ensued, I regard myself fortunate to have had Pat as a close friend. Pat’s subsequent refereeing career outlined above clearly went from strength to strength and was indeed “distinguished”. In all of this his success was, in my view, due largely to his unfussy approach to his duties and his ability to deal firmly and fairly with the 22 players.

Pat Partridge BEM

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