| 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 (30 June 1933 – 31 October 2014) was anEnglishfootballreferee, and former President of the Association of Football League Referees and Linesmen.[2] His occupation outside football was as afarmer.[3]
He originated fromBillingham,County Durham, and had the same name as his father, Patrick Partridge,MBE.
He first became a referee in 1953, with theDurham County FA. During his period of compulsoryNational Service (1954–1956), he registered as an Army referee; during a military posting toHong Kong, he was allowed to officiate in that country's Third and Fourth Divisions. Partridge returned to England and, for a short time from 1957, was appointed to referee games in the now-defunct North Eastern League. Following its disbandment in 1958, he moved to theNorthern League to develop his career further. He was accepted as aFootball Leaguelinesman for the1965-66 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 threepenalty kicks in the game betweenManchester City andLeicester City atMaine 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,Stoke City visitedOld Trafford to playManchester United, just after United had been confirmed as the oldDivision One champions.Paddy Crerand of United had an altercation withPeter Dobing of Stoke. Unknown to Partridge, TV cameras picked up Crerand's action of spitting over his shoulder atTony Allen, another Stoke player. Partridge later received a letter fromAlan Hardaker, the thensecretary of the Football League, asking for his observations on the incident, but was unable to respond with conclusive evidence. Nevertheless, the International Board changed the Laws of the Game to put spitting on a par with violent conduct, and therefore adismissible offence.[citation needed]
He was promoted to theFIFA list of referees in 1971, taking the place of the retiringKevin Howley. Howley was another Teesside official who had played a key role in his early career. Just prior to this promotion the pair had run the line toJack Taylor in the1971 European Cup Final betweenAjax andPanathinaikos atWembley.‡ Although not chosen to officiate in the1974 FIFA World Cup Finals, he did handle two friendly matches inBrazil as a precursor to that event. These wereBrazil versusCzechoslovakia on 7 April 1974, and Brazil againstAustria on 5 May 1974.[4]
His greatest domestic honour was being awarded control of the1975 FA Cup Final betweenWest Ham andFulham on 3 May 1975, which West Ham won 2–0, both goals being scored byAlan Taylor.[5]
As a FIFA referee, he returned to Brazil to referee thesecond leg of the1976 Intercontinental Cup inMineirão,Belo Horizonte, betweenCruzeiro andBayern Munich. Bayern led 2-0 from the first leg, and a 0–0 draw in the latter game on 21 December 1976 meant that theGerman side took the Trophy that year.[6] On 11 May 1977, he took charge of theEuropean Cup Winners Cup Final betweenSV Hamburg andAnderlecht in theOlympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, which Hamburg won by 2–0.[7]
1978 was by far Partridge's busiest year. He was appointed to that year'sLeague Cup Final at Wembley betweenNottingham Forest andLiverpool, which ended 0-0 afterextra time. The replay was won 1-0 by Forest at Old Trafford from the award of a penalty kick by Partridge against Liverpool'sPhil 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 disallowingTerry McDermott's equaliser for handball, Liverpool defenderTommy 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 betweenBurnley andCeltic in thequarter final of the now-defunctAnglo-Scottish Cup, in whichSteve 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 managerBilly 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 the1978 World Cup Finals inArgentina. He was linesman for two matches, both in Group A:Argentina v.Hungary, which Argentina won 2–1;[10] andFrance v. Hungary, which France won 3–1.[11] He refereed just the one match in the Finals, the Second Stage Group B match betweenPeru andPoland, which finished 1–0 to Poland through a goal byAndrzej Szarmach.[12]
In his book, Partridge remarked at length as to the antics of thePeruvian goalkeeper,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 downGrzegorz 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]
The1980 European Championships inItaly (the last tournament of his career) ended in his officiating in only one match throughout its duration. This was the encounter betweenGreece andCzechoslovakia on 14 June at theStadio Olimpico inRome. 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.
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 fromThornaby at the time.[14] They married on 11 March 1961, and by 1973 had moved to the farm inCockfield, 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 withpneumonia - 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 theNorthern Premier League match betweenBishop Auckland andPrescot 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 betweenArsenal andLiverpool atHighbury. One of his linesmen tore a muscle and the flag was taken by TV expert, former player and qualified refereeJimmy Hill.
On 11 May 2004, Partridge attended aNorth Riding FA dinner, at which he was honoured for 50 years membership of the Referees' Association.[17]
He was awarded theBritish Empire Medal (BEM) in the2014 Birthday Honours for services to football.[18]
He died on 31 October 2014.[1][19]
 | This sectionlacksISBNs for books it lists. Please helpadd this information or run thecitation bot.(November 2014) |
| Preceded by | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final Referees Final 1977  Pat Partridge | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FA Cup Final Referee 1975 | Succeeded by |
