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Alan Dicks

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I had a lot of time for JW.

Many years ago I used to officiate. Was on the line at a pre-season friendly at Keynsham when JW put out a full strength side.

Mildly controversial incident and JW says to me “this’ll be interesting….”

We chatted about it and he said “fair enough, I’m inclined to agree with you but thought I’d ask”.

Compare that to the arrogance of Russell Don’t you know who I am Osman. A complete and utter buffoon….

Anyway @Alan Dicks I’d love to have it. For the boy’s collection. Up there with the framed Umbro shirts from 77.

And the wooden seats and turnstile from The Williams.

He’s a lucky lad is Toby ?

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11 hours ago, BigAl&Toby said:

I had a lot of time for JW.

Many years ago I used to officiate. Was on the line at a pre-season friendly at Keynsham when JW put out a full strength side.

You have mentioned before that you were originally from Bromley Heath, so perhaps you could remind of the name of the former referee who used to run Quakers Road Post Office.

He was a really nice, friendly chap and, in addition, a good referee - I had him a few times and I seem to recall he was often available to help out for local children’s matches.

Unfortunately, I seem to also recall that he retired early as he was so disillusioned with crowd violence.

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5 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

You have mentioned before that you were originally from Bromley Heath, so perhaps you could remind of the name of the former referee who used to run Quakers Road Post Office.

He was a really nice, friendly chap and, in addition, a good referee - I had him a few times and I seem to recall he was often available to help out for local children’s matches.

Unfortunately, I seem to also recall that he retired early as he was so disillusioned with crowd violence.

I can’t remember. Someone else asked me that some time ago. Was it Bob Hamer?

I also don’t remember/didn’t know he did - run the post office. I was in BH from early 70s through to late 80s.

Don’t get me going on Monty though…. ?

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3 hours ago, BigAl&Toby said:

I can’t remember. Someone else asked me that some time ago. Was it Bob Hamer?

I also don’t remember/didn’t know he did - run the post office. I was in BH from early 70s through to late 80s.

Don’t get me going on Monty though…. ?

Bob owned Sincerely Yours Newsagent/Card shop in Baldwin Street.

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10 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

You have mentioned before that you were originally from Bromley Heath, so perhaps you could remind of the name of the former referee who used to run Quakers Road Post Office.

He was a really nice, friendly chap and, in addition, a good referee - I had him a few times and I seem to recall he was often available to help out for local children’s matches.

Unfortunately, I seem to also recall that he retired early as he was so disillusioned with crowd violence.

Steve Dunn was a newsagent too.

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6 hours ago, BigAl&Toby said:

I can’t remember. Someone else asked me that some time ago. Was it Bob Hamer?

I also don’t remember/didn’t know he did - run the post office. I was in BH from early 70s through to late 80s.

Don’t get me going on Monty though…. ?

Thanks for that, and it was, indeed, Bob Hamer.

He refereed quite a few matches in which I played, firstly as a schoolboy/youth and then in senior football, although, unfortunately, his standard of refereeing was obviously better than my ability as a footballer, as he progressed to FIFA/World Cup levels, whereas my pinnacle was the Gloucestershire County League ?.

It was quite clear, however, that he would go on to bigger and better things, as he always seemed to be in complete control, earning the respect of most players; strict without ever, as far as I can recall, needing to raise his voice: very similar, in fact, to Len Fricker, who more senior readers of this forum may remember.

I mentioned in my previous post that I seemed to recall he retired early as he was disillusioned with football violence, and this incident back in 1993 may have been instrumental in his decision: 

A STORMY end to a match of vital consequence to both sides produced extraordinary scenes at St James' Park last night when the referee, Bob Hamer, was knocked to the ground after angry fans had invaded the pitch.

Security staff had to pull supporters off the Bristol official, who had caused uproar by awarding Port Vale a controversial last-minute penalty. Exeter would have been assured of Second Division safety if they had held on to win, while Vale's point gives the Potteries club a better chance of beating Bolton Wanderers to an automatic promotion place.

Exeter seem sure to be in serious trouble with the authorities as will their manager, Alan Ball, who raced on to the pitch on the final whistle seemingly intent on remonstrating with Hamer before he was shepherded away by his coaching staff.

The referee was helped off by police looking shocked. Officials of the West Country club said he had been hit three times and that one of his linesman had also been assaulted.

'All I remember is getting shoved to the ground and then being quickly surrounded by people,' said Hamer, who will make a statement to Exeter police today before sending his report to the Football Association.

Ball later criticised the referee. 'Of course I regret running on to the pitch but this is my life, my club's future as is it is Bolton's future. People's lives hinge on these 90 minutes and again it's been shown that amateurs have an enormous say in this lovely game of ours.

'I was as bad as those fans and I'm probably in enough trouble already. We have worked hard all season, I thought we were safe, and then to have it taken away from you like that makes you really, really mad. Imagine if we go down and Bolton don't go up because of that decision. It's far too important not to get annoyed about.'

Interestingly, and I have only just discovered this - quite fitting for a Sunday - Bob is no longer a newsagent, but is now a committed Christian; not that Christians can't be football referees or newsagents, of course, but you understand my point....

 

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Steve Dunn was a newsagent too.

What a coincidence.

I was aware Steve Dunn was from Bristol, but not that he was a newsagent.

By the time he started refereeing, however, I had already left Bristol, so he never had the pleasure of officiating me ?

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28 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Thanks for that, and it was, indeed, Bob Hamer.

He refereed quite a few matches in which I played, firstly as a schoolboy/youth and then in senior football, although, unfortunately, his standard of refereeing was obviously better than my ability as a footballer, as he progressed to FIFA/World Cup levels, whereas my pinnacle was the Gloucestershire County League ?.

It was quite clear, however, that he would go on to bigger and better things, as he always seemed to be in complete control, earning the respect of most players; strict without ever, as far as I can recall, needing to raise his voice: very similar, in fact, to Len Fricker, who more senior readers of this forum may remember.

I mentioned in my previous post that I seemed to recall he retired early as he was disillusioned with football violence, and this incident back in 1993 may have been instrumental in his decision: 

A STORMY end to a match of vital consequence to both sides produced extraordinary scenes at St James' Park last night when the referee, Bob Hamer, was knocked to the ground after angry fans had invaded the pitch.

Security staff had to pull supporters off the Bristol official, who had caused uproar by awarding Port Vale a controversial last-minute penalty. Exeter would have been assured of Second Division safety if they had held on to win, while Vale's point gives the Potteries club a better chance of beating Bolton Wanderers to an automatic promotion place.

Exeter seem sure to be in serious trouble with the authorities as will their manager, Alan Ball, who raced on to the pitch on the final whistle seemingly intent on remonstrating with Hamer before he was shepherded away by his coaching staff.

The referee was helped off by police looking shocked. Officials of the West Country club said he had been hit three times and that one of his linesman had also been assaulted.

'All I remember is getting shoved to the ground and then being quickly surrounded by people,' said Hamer, who will make a statement to Exeter police today before sending his report to the Football Association.

Ball later criticised the referee. 'Of course I regret running on to the pitch but this is my life, my club's future as is it is Bolton's future. People's lives hinge on these 90 minutes and again it's been shown that amateurs have an enormous say in this lovely game of ours.

'I was as bad as those fans and I'm probably in enough trouble already. We have worked hard all season, I thought we were safe, and then to have it taken away from you like that makes you really, really mad. Imagine if we go down and Bolton don't go up because of that decision. It's far too important not to get annoyed about.'

Interestingly, and I have only just discovered this - quite fitting for a Sunday - Bob is no longer a newsagent, but is now a committed Christian; not that Christians can't be football referees or newsagents, of course, but you understand my point....

 

What a coincidence.

I was aware Steve Dunn was from Bristol, but not that he was a newsagent.

By the time he started refereeing, however, I had already left Bristol, so he never had the pleasure of officiating me ?

Steve Dunn also previously worked for Bendix in Kingswood I think. Folklore said that he was due to officiate somewhere nice and didn’t tell whoever he was supposed to.

Ended up running the newsagents in Temple Way as well as the line! Mind you he was bloody good - line and in the middle. One of, if not, the best.

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44 minutes ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

 

I mentioned in my previous post that I seemed to recall he retired early as he was disillusioned with football violence, and this incident back in 1993 may have been instrumental in his decision: 

A STORMY end to a match of vital consequence to both sides produced extraordinary scenes at St James' Park last night when the referee, Bob Hamer, was knocked to the ground after angry fans had invaded the pitch.

Security staff had to pull supporters off the Bristol official, who had caused uproar by awarding Port Vale a controversial last-minute penalty. Exeter would have been assured of Second Division safety if they had held on to win, while Vale's point gives the Potteries club a better chance of beating Bolton Wanderers to an automatic promotion place.

Exeter seem sure to be in serious trouble with the authorities as will their manager, Alan Ball, who raced on to the pitch on the final whistle seemingly intent on remonstrating with Hamer before he was shepherded away by his coaching staff.

The referee was helped off by police looking shocked. Officials of the West Country club said he had been hit three times and that one of his linesman had also been assaulted.

'All I remember is getting shoved to the ground and then being quickly surrounded by people,' said Hamer, who will make a statement to Exeter police today before sending his report to the Football Association.

Ball later criticised the referee. 'Of course I regret running on to the pitch but this is my life, my club's future as is it is Bolton's future. People's lives hinge on these 90 minutes and again it's been shown that amateurs have an enormous say in this lovely game of ours.

'I was as bad as those fans and I'm probably in enough trouble already. We have worked hard all season, I thought we were safe, and then to have it taken away from you like that makes you really, really mad. Imagine if we go down and Bolton don't go up because of that decision. It's far too important not to get annoyed about.'

Interestingly, and I have only just discovered this - quite fitting for a Sunday - Bob is no longer a newsagent, but is now a committed Christian; not that Christians can't be football referees or newsagents, of course, 

Phil,

I can shed more light on this. A video of his career as a professional referee came out in the mid 90s. Not only does it feature an interview with John Motson but it shows the clip of him being shoved to the ground that night in Exeter. It also features the final game of the season between West Ham at Portsmouth. Pompey needed to win to have any chance of going up. I learned from watching this game as a 'spectator' just how biased a home fan can be especially over penalty decisions. At the time, I thought Bob had got it completely wrong. Having then watched it in  editing mode, he was spot on!

Some of the video was made at AG. The dressing room sequence was filmed at BS3 because the Pompey Manager at the time (Smith) refused to give permission. 

Walking out to the centre circle for the toss-up was amazing. The roar of the crowd expecting a win will stay with me. 

At the time of making this video, I was not under the impression that he left the Post Office for Sincerely Yours because of that incident.

I first met him in SY sometime around 1982-84 when I was working in the City Centre.

After the end credits, there is another little interview with Bob this time sitting in the Lower Williams Stand on my season ticket seat! 

The video was called The Man In The Middle.

 

For more info...

https://www.cta.uk.com/categories/sport/man-in-the-middle/images

Screenshot_20211205-143442_Chrome.jpg

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52 minutes ago, Norn Iron said:

Phil,

I can shed more light on this. A video of his career as a professional referee came out in the mid 90s. Not only does it feature an interview with John Motson but it shows the clip of him being shoved to the ground that night in Exeter. It also features the final game of the season between West Ham at Portsmouth. Pompey needed to win to have any chance of going up. I learned from watching this game as a 'spectator' just how biased a home fan can be especially over penalty decisions. At the time, I thought Bob had got it completely wrong. Having then watched it in  editing mode, he was spot on!

Some of the video was made at AG. The dressing room sequence was filmed at BS3 because the Pompey Manager at the time (Smith) refused to give permission. 

Walking out to the centre circle for the toss-up was amazing. The roar of the crowd expecting a win will stay with me. 

At the time of making this video, I was not under the impression that he left the Post Office for Sincerely Yours because of that incident.

I first met him in SY sometime around 1982-84 when I was working in the City Centre.

After the end credits, there is another little interview with Bob this time sitting in the Lower Williams Stand on my season ticket seat! 

The video was called The Man In The Middle.

 

For more info...

https://www.cta.uk.com/categories/sport/man-in-the-middle/images

Screenshot_20211205-143442_Chrome.jpg

 

50 minutes ago, Norn Iron said:

PS he retired purely due to age and immediately became the  FA Referee's Assessor. He would sometimes be at AG fulfilling this role after his retirement as a man in the middle.

Many Thanks for that, it was very interesting: you obviously knew Bob Hamer far better than I ever I did.

As I said in my earlier post, I first came across him as a football referee, but then had reason to meet him more regularly when he took over the running of my local Post Office and newsagent: he was always very polite and friendly, and happy to talk about football.

Bob left the PO/newsagent shortly before or after I left Bristol in 1979, but my father would sometimes mention him when I came back.

I can't remember when or from whom I heard, but I was certainly informed at some time that he was no longer a football referee, a disillusionment with football violence being the reason. 

Most importantly, however, he has clearly found something closer to him, and all I can say is Good Luck to him.

I simply remember him as a good referee and a friendly local newsagent.

 

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