That was the intriguing question raised by ITV News recently when they interviewed Society Life Member, Ken Wright, regarding his career.
The ITV News article is reproduced below:
Ken Wright was 16 when a school teacher told him he’d “never make it as a footballer”.
It was that reprimand which sent Ken on a lifelong journey of officiating. Sixty years on, the 77-year-old from Swansea is still lacing his boots and putting the whistle to his mouth each Saturday.
“I refereed my first game when I was in school,” Ken told ITV News. “My PE teacher told me straight, he said ‘Wrighty, you’ll never make it as a footballer so why don’t you take up refereeing’. “I can remember my first official game quite clearly. It was at Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea and it was a horrendous day, pouring down with rain, I got drowned before I got to the ground." “I had a nightmare,” Ken recalls. “Allegedly, I missed penalties and gave offside goals, everything a referee shouldn’t do, I did. I walked home from the game soaked and said to myself ‘What am I doing here?’. But, the following Saturday I was back out again.”
Ken, who began refereeing in 1964, says he’s taken charge of over 5,000 games throughout his career. A member of the West Wales Football Association, Ken is currently a referee in the Swansea Senior League officiating each Saturday. He’s been the man in the middle for Welsh League games throughout his six decades as a ref, while also taking the whistle for West Wales Premier League matches and university fixtures.
During the 1970s and 80s, Ken officiated in games involving Arsenal at Highbury, Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. He was also appointed to Swansea City games at the old Vetch Field against European heavyweights Paris Saint Germain and Manchester United. “It was one of the best nights of my career,” Ken said of being chosen as an assistant referee for the visit of United. “There were 28,000 fans inside the Vetch Field and as a local lad running the line in front of the North Bank, there were a lot of people who knew me. I had some abuse that night! “When I went to Arsenal it was a great occasion, but the best ground I have ever been to is the old White Hart Lane when I refereed Tottenham Hotspur. It was a fantastic place from a refereeing point of view with great facilities.”
This year marks Ken’s 60th season as a referee and he is now bidding to be recognised as the world’s longest-serving football referee. The official Guinness World Record belongs to Hungarian referee Csernyi Geza who started officiating in 1950 and retired in 2007, serving 57 years as a referee.
A referee from Cornwall, 83-year-old Bill Trethewey, made an application to be recognised as the world's longest-serving referee last year. However, after picking up his whistle in the late 1960’s it was confirmed Bill’s service had only totalled 56 years, one short of the current record holder.
“We have been so lucky to have Ken,” said Viv Nedin, Vice Chairman of the Swansea Referee Society.
“Over the years Ken must have taken charge of all the cup finals in the Swansea Senior League on many occasions. I hope the record comes his way.”
On potentially being the referee with the longest career in world football, Ken says: “It’s a nice thought, possibly my 60 years will surpass the current record. “I don’t referee for the records, I referee for the love of the game and the benefit of local football.”
A spokesperson for Guinness World Records said: “We would encourage Ken to make an application and we look forward to receiving the evidence for our Records Management Team to review.”
Ken says he has no plans to retire from the game despite refereeing before England's Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup and before the Scottish hand of Joe Jordan broke Welsh hearts during World Cup qualifying. “You can’t have football without referees,” Ken said. “As long as I am capable and fit enough to carry on doing it, I will. I feel almost as good now as I did 30 years ago but obviously, I am not physically. I will just keep going until the body tells me I can’t.”
