Society member, Dean John, will refeee his final league game this weekend when he officiates the JD Premier Play Off Conference tie between Haverfordwest County and Cardiff Met University.

That will not, however, be his last game as he will also have the honour of refereeing the inaugural West Wales Premier League Cup Final on Saturday 30th April.

He will then embark on a new career as a referee observer

This Saturday, Welsh Refereeing loses another one of its legends.Dean John, a highly respected figure in refereeing circles, hangs up his whistle for the final time after a highly decorated career which saw him referee the Welsh Cup Final on two separate occasions.

Dean played in the Swansea Senior League until he unfortunately snapped his cruciate ligament in 1997 which signalled the end of his playing days. In order to remain involved in the game he loved, Dean started refereeing in the Swansea Senior League in 1999 and in little under 3 years reached the Cymru Premier League as an Assistant Referee in 2002 (long before any dedicated pathways were created) and then became a Cymru Premier referee in 2005.

His highest domestic accolades are of course refereeing the Welsh Cup final on two occasions, which came in 2010 and 2016. Many people within the upper echelons of Welsh Refereeing believe that Dean was probably the best ever Welsh Referee not to reach FIFA status but that didnt stop Dean travelling Europe for European competition matches and was regularly officiating in the Europa League group stages alongside current Referee’s manager, Lee Evans.