Member of Parliament Chris Heaton-Harris, from Epsom, came up with solution in November 2011 to wear poppys on an armband after FIFA regulations banned the Three Lions from wearing the remembrance symbol on their shirts for a friendly with World Champions Spain.
The Level 5 referee has over 31 years experience of officiating football, qualifying at the age of 14, and despite the demands of his job as MP for Daventry still finds time to pick up the whistle a few times every month.
Ray Lewis, the official at Hillsborough and Surrey County FA President, was the man responsible for getting Chris into refereeing, who once saw him on the pitch and realised although he clearly loved football, he wasn’t the best at actually playing it!
“Ray happened to be my Dad’s best friend at school, and I got taken to games all over the place. One Christmas we went to see West Ham, where it just so happened Ray was refereeing. I remember watching the referee more than the players that game, and was later sent a black book with cards and matchday record cards in.
“One of the most memorable things I ever did as a Referee was to officiate on the South-East Counties League, which had youth teams from lots of professional clubs in it. I was, I'm told, the first person to send off Sol Campbell, in a Fulham v Tottenham game (that was played in Ewell in those days!). It was for taking out an opponent with a flailing elbow!
“I will always remember my first match as a qualified Referee - a youth game up at Hook. I was in the changing room and the Home Club Secretary came in and tried to give me a brown envelope with some cash in it. I thought he was trying to bribe me and I kept on telling him to go away. Eventually I went out to my Dad who told me that Referees get match fees...
“After a couple of years officiating in youth football, I was desperate to referee the Men’s game. The last youth game I formally refereed in Surrey was a County Cup Semi-final over in Wallington. There were dozens of parents watching and as all referees know, this is a mixed blessing. In the second half, a fast break happened and I was charging up the pitch after the break-away. The attacking player was about 10 yards into his opponents' half, dashing down the left-wing, when the last defender came across and committed a pretty terrible foul. He didn't mean to hurt his opponent, but it really did look bad. Unfortunately it happened directly in front of the attacker’s Dad. By the time I got the scene the father had the player who fouled his son by the throat. A few seconds later and every parent around seemed to be on the pitch. It took me ages to calm the whole thing down and I did ensure the game finished, but the incident made up my mind to make the move up into adult football.
“I consider myself very lucky that I get to participate in fantastic games and be right in the heart of it all – an experience no spectator or arm-chair fan will ever get. Yes, you get hard games every now and again, but after such matches I have been well supported by fellow referees and the Referees Association.
“I actually think it’s the games where you come off the pitch and few people shake your hand because you have handed out 7 yellow cards and sent three people off, the games where you'll get the lowest possible marks from the clubs, the games where you come off after both a major physical and mental workout and you've used all your man-management skills – those are the ones where you can look back and know you've done your job well.
“I think the biggest myth (about refereeing) is that you get constant abuse. Well, there is plenty of it flying around, but you determine how much you take. I lay my stall out before the game, either in the changing rooms or before the captains do the the coin toss. I tell the players that I tend to let my cards deal with any verbal abuse. Normally that does the tick and I might just give one or two cautions in a game for a bit of back-chat.
“I control the level of abuse I receive in the game by dealing with it in an appropriate and timely manner. Get rid of the abuse and you are well on the way to having an enjoyable game of football!”
“The RESPECT programme has done a lot of good in youth football but more needs to be done in the men’s game at the lower levels. Other positives I have witnessed over the years are the way I am able to send my reports of cautions, dismissals and misconducts in electronically.
“In the week leading up to the Spain game, ‘Poppygate’ was turning into a major international story. I knew a number of the key people at FIFA from my days as head of the backbench Sports Intergroup in the European Parliament. Like any Ref, I know the laws of the game and that each competition has unique regulations, so checked out the FIFA rules as I was sure I’d seen international games where armbands had been worn. Thus I used Law 19.
"I contacted FIFA and (General Secretary) Jerome Valcke, who said any approach would need to come from the Football Association, so I went through the FA and that was job done!”
If you would like to nominate someone to be the focus of the Surrey Spotlight, contact alex.prior@surreyfa.com