Clive Thomas (football)

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Clive Thomas
Full name Clive Thomas
Born (1936-06-27) 27 June 1936 (age 87)
Treorchy, Wales
Domestic
YearsLeagueRole
?–1984 The Football League Referee
International
YearsLeagueRole
1971–1980 FIFA listed Referee

Clive Thomas (born 27 June 1936) [1] is a Welsh former football referee, who operated in the English Football League and for FIFA during his career. He came from Treorchy in the Rhondda Valley. [2]

Contents

Career

Early career

Thomas's original ambition was to be a professional footballer. He achieved a place on the ground staff at Norwich City, playing as an inside forward. However an ankle injury forced him to give up playing. [3] He was then persuaded to take up refereeing at the age of sixteen. He made rapid progress, reaching the Welsh League and in 1964 became a Football League linesman. Two years later aged only thirty he became a Football League referee, one of the youngest referees of the time.[ citation needed ]

Professional career

In February 1973, Thomas became the first and only referee to send off the notorious Liverpool hard man Tommy Smith, although this was for speaking out of turn rather than foul play. [4]

During a long and sometimes controversial career as a referee in the old English First Division, he was known as "The Book" due to his strict interpretation of the laws of the game. [5] [6] His biggest occasion in domestic football came in 1976 when he took charge of the FA Cup final between Southampton and Manchester United. Thomas later admitted that he thought the only goal of the game scored by Bobby Stokes was "offside at the time" but was behind play and had to rely upon the linesman who deemed Stokes to be onside. [7]

Thomas was involved in another controversy when refereeing the semi-final of the FA Cup in 1977 between local rivals Liverpool and Everton. With the game locked at 2–2 in the closing stages, Thomas disallowed what appeared to be a winning goal from Everton's Bryan Hamilton for handball. [8] Liverpool went on to win the replay. Coincidentally, Thomas had also refereed the replay of a semi-final of the FA Cup in 1975 in which he had disallowed efforts by the same player while playing for Ipswich Town against West Ham United, West Ham winning the tie.

Thomas refereed the 1981 Football League Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham United and was labelled a "cheat" by West Ham manager John Lyall after allowing a late goal from Alan Kennedy to stand, despite the prone Sammy Lee lying on the grass in an offside position. [9] Thomas declared that Lee was "not interfering with play". This incident occurred just two minutes before the end of extra time and looked likely to give Liverpool a 1–0 win, only for West Ham to equalise with a penalty in the final minute. Thomas also refereed the replay, which Liverpool won 2–1.

In the same season, he officiated an FA Cup semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves and gave a controversial late penalty to Wolves, which was scored by Willie Carr and took the game to a replay. [10] Wolves manager John Barnwell later admitted it was a tactical move as the game neared its end for Wolves players to drive into the box with the ball and fall at the merest touch, in case Thomas was "in one his moods".[ citation needed ]

Thomas retired as a referee in 1984. [8]

International matches

Thomas officiated in both the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, and in the 1976 European Championship.

During the 1976 European Championships in Yugoslavia, Thomas was the referee of the semi-final between Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands. In the extra time of that match, he missed a rough foul by Antonín Panenka on Johan Cruyff, after which Zdenek Nehoda was able to counter and score to give Czechoslovakia the lead. [11] Willem van Hanegem received a red card after the incident for dissent. [11] [12] In a 2008 documentary by the Dutch TV program Andere Tijden Sport, Thomas admitted he made a mistake by not noticing the foul. He apologised to Cruyff and to the Dutch national team. [13]

At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, he officiated the Round 1 match between Brazil and Sweden, in which he infamously blew the whistle for full time during a play from a corner kick, thus disallowing the late goal Zico scored moments later, which would have given Brazil a 2–1 win. [8]

Post-career

In 1984, he published his autobiography, By the Book. [14]

In 2004, he was elected to the largely ceremonial position of High Sheriff of Mid Glamorgan for 2005. [15] He lives in Porthcawl, Wales.[ citation needed ]

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References

Print

  • Clive Thomas (1984) By the Book, Collins Willow, ISBN   0-00-218083-9

Internet

  1. ↑ Clive Thomas (1984) By the Book, Collins Willow, p3
  2. ↑ Confirmation of place of residence Archived 2 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine during career: example from Welsh Football Data Archive website.
  3. ↑ "Ex-ref Clive to help the disaffected young". Wales Online. 24 March 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "Tommy Smith, Liverpool captain whose hard-man reputation belied considerable skill – obituary" . The Telegraph. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "For whom the whistle blows". BBC Sport. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  6. ↑ Fay, Richard (28 October 2023). "'Break his legs' - The derby day altercation that saw police called to Manchester United and Man City dressing rooms". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Clive Thomas: Doc still gives me grief about Bobby Stokes goal". Wales Online. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Burnton, Simon (24 April 2018). "World Cup stunning moments: Clive Thomas denies Zico and Brazil". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "Boos and whistles". When Saturday Comes. 14 October 1999. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  10. ↑ Berry, Paul (9 February 2022). "Wolves Molineux Kings look back at key capital clashes". Shropshire Star. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  11. 1 2 Murray, Scott; Smyth, Rob (22 June 2012). "The Joy of Six: European Championship controversies". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  12. ↑ Scragg, Steven (15 May 2019). "Czechoslovakia, the birth of the Panenka and unlikely glory at Euro 1976". These Football Times. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Clive Thomas: "Mijn fout kostte Oranje EK-goud" Archived 25 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
  14. ↑ Autobiography, "By the Book": TMWMTT.com website.
  15. ↑ High Sheriff of Mid Glamorgan, 2004: BBC.co.uk website.
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