Former referees go on whistle-stop tour with Football Memories dementia charity

Football is often described as working-class theatre but unfortunately for referees that means the men in black are at times regarded as the pantomime villains.

Whether it’s a soft penalty in stoppage time or a generous interpretation of a VAR review, fans, pundits and managers seem to enjoy giving the beautiful game’s referees generous feedback on their performance.

And, sadly for the men in the middle, football fans have incredibly long memories, as former referee Douglas Yeats can testify. It sounds like the set up to a football gag, but Douglas, who officiated at more than 500 professional and junior games in Scotland for more than 20 years, explains an encounter he had during a recent trip to his optician.

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Douglas, who retired in 1992, said: “You go around grounds and some people like you, and some people don’t. For some reason, I could never get on with Dundee, I don’t know why.

“I remember going to my optician about two years ago, and as I walked out an old guy was coming up. And the optician, who is a family friend, phoned me later. He said: ‘Remember that old guy you passed? He said to me: ‘Was that the boy Yeats? Was he a referee? I’m a Dundee supporter, and every time we had him, he gave us absolutely nothing’. This was 30 years after I retired, but this man remembered me!”

Luckily the men in black take it in their stride… for the most part.

Football Memories

Football Memories, a charity which supports those living with dementia, memory problems and loneliness have teamed up with some of Scotland’s most renowned whistleblowers for a tour which shares some of their favourite anecdotes – good and bad – about their time officiating, and sometimes being on the wrong end of the infamous hairdryer treatment.

Douglas, who is now 82, remembers a run-in with Rangers captain Richard Gough.

He said: “When Richard was playing for Dundee United, I got on great with him. When he moved to Rangers I gave a decision against him, and he cursed quite volubly at me. I called him to me, and all the other boys were saying to him: ‘Dinnae say anything!’. And I said: ‘Richard, is that the best you can do?’ and laughed.

“The situation completely dissolved, I didn’t take any action or anything, and the free-kick happened without any bother.”

John Rowbotham, another speaker on the tour, had 25 years of experience refereeing at the highest levels of the game, including domestic cup finals and international fixtures, so he has seen almost all there is to see on the pitch.

When asked if the best referees have any shared qualities, he quipped: “Yes, a thick skin!”

Sometimes the pelters were coming from some of his closest friends. He added: “I remember my first time at one of the bigger clubs in Scotland, and I was coming off at half-time. I knew where my pals were sitting in the stadium, and I could hear them shouting: ‘Hey, big man! Remember, we know where you stay!”

John often experienced a cheeky comment from players, although he would always give as good as he got.

He said: “The common one players used to say to me was: ‘God, you’re having a bad game, ref’.

“I’d look at them and say, ‘I’m having a bad game? You just missed an open goal and a penalty!’ It was just wee human moments of banter like that, it was good.”

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Both Douglas and John experienced those big, emotional moments that only football brings.

For Douglas, it was a Rangers/Hibs game at Ibrox, just after the club extended their main stand. Douglas said: “They opened the top tier and it was 50,000 capacity. It was a great game, absolutely brilliant – it had good goals, everything. Rangers won 3-2, and when they scored that final goal, it was like a wall of noise came from one side, hit the other, and reverberated back. Just the constant, constant noise of fans celebrating. It was a great experience.”

For John, it was his final game as a referee before he retired.

He recalled: “My last ever game was the 2005 Scottish Cup final, and that was quite emotional because when I blew my whistle, I knew that was it, my career was over. Willie Young was the fourth official that day and he was also retiring, so we were retiring together. It was like, ‘Wow, I’ve had a great time’. It was emotional.”

Brought together by beautiful game

Football Memories Scotland, now runs over 600 groups across the country, bringing communities together to reminisce about their experiences of the beautiful game.

As part of his work, Douglas has enjoyed meeting with Football Memories Groups and seeing first-hand the difference the gathering makes to people’s lives.

He said, “I took photographs with me, and the people there pored over them, and some were saying, ‘I remember that’. And they were prompting each other and helping each other remember. It was enlightening to see.”

Long-term memory is often triggered by visual stimuli, such as images, videos and newspaper cuttings. Specsavers, who are sponsoring the tour, has provided funding for memory boxes filled with football-related items to help bring happy memories back to the surface.

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For both referees, Football Memories Scotland allows them to revisit their careers, but also create new football memories too. At a Football Memories event in Perth, one of the attendees was an old classmate of Douglas’.

He said: “He took a while to place me, but he eventually said, ‘I do remember you’. To do that, and to generate a response from him and the other attendees and get them talking about their memories, it makes it all worthwhile. It’s fantastic.”

Ursula McFarlane, a spokesperson for Football Memories Scotland said: “We’re always overwhelmed by the support we receive as a charitable project from those that have played at a high level and those that have worked in the game.

“It’s fantastic when referees work with us as they want to give back.”