About Us

Originally known as the North Bucks & District R.A. We are 90 years old this year.

Arthur Harrap wrote an article for the referee’s newsletter in July ‘77 where he quoted 1926 as being the year of our formation. Meetings in 1934 were held at the North Western Hotel in Wolverton. Although we consider some of our meetings to be low in numbers the April 1935 meeting was cancelled as only 2 people attended. The membership fee in those days was a shilling! In Nov ’37 concerning the shortage of referees expressed as well as the fact that the North Bucks League were criticised for not notifying referees of cancelled matches. It is hard to imagine how this would be communicated without today’s variety & speed of technological communication devices. In Jun ’39 R Mills was elected Chairman until his replacement in 58.
 

Between Oct 1940 and June 1946 (the War years) there are no records available. In Oct of ’46 match fees were agreed at 3/6d plus travelling. One of our early plum appointments in Dec ’47 was that of Mr Alderman appointed as linesman in the English Cup. In March ’48 a Mr Canvin reported an incident involving his cycle lamps following a game at Towcester. No doubt he’d upset the local crowd so had to travel home in the dark. It was not until Nov ’48 when membership stood at 16 that a proposal was made to have regular monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month, a tradition that still continues. Quiz nights were still popular in Nov ’49.
 

In Nov ’50 questions were made about the rapid promotion schemes in operation in other counties. Seems ours has always been far behind a lot of others then even in those days! Raffle prizes had “popular” prizes in those days – 20 Players cigarettes in June ’51. In October of that same year the meeting selected a “Watch Committee” to watch referees for promotion. At 1952’s AGM a record membership of 34 was recorded. In Jan ’56 an announcement was made at Wolverton Park appealing for people to become referees. Perhaps that’s where I decided to take up the challenge. I was only two then but Dad used to take us down the park in the twin pram, the Dam Buster’s March played to herald the players entry onto the pitch. In April ’56 the branch was told it was to receive an F.A. Cup Final ticket priced 3/6d and not to violate County rules re this. In Dec 1956 Arthur Harrap (One of our trophies is named in his honour) resigned and replaced by S Atkins. 1958 W Alderman elected Chairman.
 

In Oct ’60 it appeared that the branch moved its venue to The Morning Star in New Bradwell where it was commented “It was splendid to have a warm fire as compared to their old facilities.” In Feb ’61 Mr Dave Bowen of Northampton Town FC gave a talk to us and members of New Bradwell St Peters FC. In Oct of that year Mr Sykes, a regular speaker talked about player’s enthusiasms and obscene language. He compared us to foreign players and wondered whether “the temperament of the foreigners was unsuited to the game!” Heavy snows in Feb ’63 caused terrible fixture backlog with over 120 games now lost to terrible weather conditions. I remember the awful snow clearly. Assessors were clearly overworked in ‘63 as their overload was discussed. Comments about refereeing standards were the subject of a talk in Nov of that year. Mr Matthews (not Stan) commented that “standards were not as good as in his day.” He also expressed concerns about a worrying new trend – hooliganism” In 1963 we moved to a new home at the Progressive Club in New Bradwell.

 

In Dec ’64 the R.A.s Annual Dinner dance was held at our HQ. In May the following year the annual dinner was reported as a fiasco with a loss of £4-15-00. No surprise then that subscriptions were raised to 15 shillings! In September of that year a sub committee was formed to formulate a set of rules for the association. Although modified and altered along the way these still exist. June ’67 Peter Sawyer elected Chairman. In June ’68 Mr Brian Smith proposed a change of rule at the AGM to make the committee 8 strong and to hold meetings consecutively between Bletchley and New Bradwell. In October ’68 Mr Norman Hillier stated that “televised incidents are detrimental to the game.” June ’69 saw the election of our first training officer – Ralph Purcell?