Halifax Rugby League Referee Society
The first record of the Halifax Rugby League Referee Society (HRLRS) was from the minutes of the society meeting held at the Upper George on Friday, 4th January 1929 although there was previous mention of the Society dating back to 1913-14.
At the HRLRS 1929 meeting those present were Mr H Smith, Chairman, together with Messrs, S Fowler, B. North, G.A. Priestley, W. Hemmings, E. Ackroyd, E. Townsend, V. Holmes, R. Slater and H. Mitchell.
Minutes of the meeting 19th May 1957 are of particular interest as they record that Henry Mason was “examined” and was successful being admitted to the Society. Henry was not only to become a well know local referee he also became a senior Rugby Football League referee and a key contributor to the development of Rugby League refereeing.
The HRLRS throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s was very active and had a senior referee as early as 1965 when H Pickersgill was a Grade 1 official. Ronne Jackson was a Grade 2 that year being promoted two years later to Grade 1. Others included Trevor Fellows ( a senior touch judge at Wembley in 1964) Jim Shackleton ( Wembley touch judge in 1969) and Gordon Priestley (Wembley touch judge 1974). Not forgetting Colin Morris who joined the HRLRS.
By 1968/69 the HRLRS had about 20 members including senior referees Henry Mason and Gordon Priestley who was secretary and met on a Sunday morning in the Thrum Hall board room.
The HRLRS continued to operate as one of the RFL/BARLA local referees societies providing support to local referees and developing new referees. Meetings were held at Thrum Hall in the boardroom and then in the Taveners’ Bar.
The meetings were well attended and from time to time attracted such luminaries as David Oxley (CEO of RFL 1974-92). Around the table are (L to R) Steve Bithell, Ian Haigh, Brian Wilby, Russel Graydon, Andrew Smith, Trevor Fellows , Henry Mason, Gerry Goodwin, Don Learoy, Jim Smith and Jack Loderck has his elbow on the table.
The referees at the meetings would discuss playing scenarios and each present an incident from a recent game for discussion. There were some lively sessions!
By 1992 there were only 8 referees as members of the HRLRS.
This was not good for the game as at the same time the Halifax & District Rugby League had its highest ever membership with 15 clubs fielding 31 open age teams at the start of the 1990’s.
Some thing had to be done to recruit .. and develop … new match referees. The HRLRS suggested a recruitment drive. This was led by none other than Henry Mason. There was an advertisement in the Halifax Courier and a radio interview on BBC Radio Leeds with Harry Grayson, followed by a taster session at the Shay. Eight sessions were held by the HRLRS with Henry Mason and Ronnie Jackson leading the sessions. Clearly, these sessions were a success as the HRLRS membership doubled and this led to an additional six active referees.
From this point, the numbers of Halifax referees increased to 24 in 1994-95 season peaking in 1999-200 when there were 30 Halifax referees registered. By 2008-09, the number had stabilised at around 25. The HRLRS also ran a junior section around 1999.
In this period there were several referees who took up the whistle after finishing their playing careers.
Phil Downsborough played through the junior age groups at Siddal. He moved up to play open age for Siddal “A” and then briefly for Stainland before ending his playing career at Halifax Terriers. Phil’s wife, Kay, pointed out a Halifax Courier advertisement for a referee course run by Henry Mason. Phil went along and passed become a Halifax referee. After the course it was a steep learning curve.
“It took me two years to learn how to referee,” Phil recalled.
Phil was to spend 20 years refereeing. There were lots of good times, humorous moments and amusing stories. In one game, a player was tackled hard, but fairly, by an opponent. The tackled player jumped up and said, “ You B**ck B*st*rd!.” The referee went for his red card but the lad said “ No ref, it’s been a good game. I’ve been called worse. It’ll be reet! As the game was coming to a close, there’s the first player spark out in back field. As the second player runs past the referee he is heard to say to no-one in particular “I told thee it’ll be reet”
Phil’s time as a referee was full of high points. He refereed a number of international games as the game spread widely in the 1990’s, including Netherlands V Germany, Macedonia v Serbia and France Espoirs v Ukraine.
Bob English, a legend at Ovenden Rugby League Club, took up refereeing after his play for what seems forever! He wanted to put something back into the game he had enjoyed playing for so long. He was Chairman of the HRLRS during the 1990’s.
Wilf George is best remembered for his achievements with the Halifax team that won the Rugby League Challenge Cup
in 1987 but he also spent several years as referee after his playing career came to a close. With his son playing at Brighouse, Wilf was persuaded to referee half a game which was what happened at junior games in the era.
“I reluctantly agreed and did half a game. I enjoyed it.” Wilf explained.
He then took the Laws of the Game examination and joined the HRLRS. His first game was down at Dodworth “A” when he was mentored by Bob English. After the start, Wilf went on to referee open age on a Saturday and juniors on a Sunday morning. Wilf was eventually handling Division 1 and Premier Division games in the Pennine League.
He refereed for 11 years and states “ I am still in contact with the players I sent off!”
Wilf remembers the HRLRS as a very supportive group which promoted not only good refereeing but allowed for good banter between the referees.
Mark Sutcliffe was a player of some stature with Ovenden and Siddal. Mark put a lot into amateur Rugby League as he became not only a referee but was on the Halifax & District and Pennine league Committees. Mark officiated in several Halifax finals and was always a popular sight with the whistle.
Phil Huck is probably one of the small group of referees who did not play amateur Rugby League as he was a footballer. He went directly to play for Halifax Colts and then for the professional side in Huddersfield. Phil went straight from the professional game to refereeing. He was a member of the HRLRS. Phil confirmed that for him.
“in the Pennine League Divisions 2 and 3 were always the hardest as there were players on the down and younger players on the way up in their playing careers. “
Alan Rivers took up refereeing after playing for Cooke St Rams/Sowerby Bridge Robins and recalls his first season in 6th and 7th Divisions. Alan tells some great stories and clearly enjoyed his time refereeing.
“I enjoyed the start of seasons as there was a chance to go to different club, especially when refereeing in Yorkshire Cup.”
He also tells of the phone calls from Dougie Booth who would start with “ could you just…” which meant the game was a local derby!
Over in Keighley, Alan was refereeing a Pennine League game. Little scum half took out the opposition kicker. Alan called him over. The conversation was short.
“You know what you’ve done!”
“Yes. And I know where I am going!”
Alan refereed for 14 seasons and at 55 decided to call it a day. He had refereed or been touch judge in every Halifax, Huddersfield and Pennine final.
Perhaps in the last few decades no referee has been around so long and dedicated so much of his time and energy to refereeing than Dougie Booth.
Dougie Booth took to the whistle after a short playing career and was a well-known and respected referee refereeing from 1979 to 2010. Dougie took up the position of HRLRS secretary in 1990 and the following year also became Referee appointments secretary for Pennine League. Dougie held this position until 2016. Dougie was referee and touch judge for several finals including the 1992 Halifax Cup Final at Thrum Hall where Illingworth played Ovenden. He also ran the line in Yorkshire Cup Final between Hull and Hull KR.
Ian Haigh was a Halifax referee for over 20 years although he started his career in the Bradford Society. A schoolteacher, he was a popular referee who went about refereeing without fuss and talked to players all the time. He also ran the line for many major professional games and appeared frequently on television games.
Andrew Bennett, the ex-Greetland forward, was a well-known referee for 18 years who always refereed with humour. Sadly, illness curtailed his officiating. He was also fixture secretary for the Pennine League for many seasons: a task he took very seriously. Andrew’s contribution to amateur Rugby League was recognised when he passed as the Pennine League renamed their Supplementary Cup the Andrew Bennett Memorial Trophy.
Martin Crouch turned to refereeing after a playing career at Illingworth, mainly as he admits in the “A” team but which started in the Under 18’s.
“Great trips and rides out in those days” he quipped.
A broken ankle in a game at the age of 28 put an end to Martin playing. It was mark Toolin who was in the U 17’s at Illingworth who persuaded Martin to referee half agame when they were short of a ref. Martin then took the referee exam under the always watchful eye of Henry Mason. Martin’s first open age game was over at Slaithwaite. Martin was a popular referee around the Pennine League.
He was able to get involved in refereeing colleges and university games and did so up to the Covid pandemic. He also refereed a couple of games in the Yorkshire Mens League but quickly became disillusioned as so many games were called off.
Martin explained that he enjoyed refereeing and for him it was about…
“concentration for 80 minutes, thinking about nothing else and making the right decision for the right reason”. It’s about being involved in the game.” He added. 