John Cowley's lifetime in football

Over the period of time I’ve been putting North West Side Stories together, I’ve been regularly asking people as I’m doing the rounds who they think would be good subjects for interviewing. When one name crops up several times, you get the feeling that there’s a potential story there. And so it came to pass that I caught up with the man in question - John Cowley

John has had a lifetime’s involvement in football, and currently combines the job of Vodkat League Registrations Secretary with working as a referee’s assessor for the FA, assessing referees at all levels from the Blue Square Premier League right down to the Vodkat League.

He also appears to receive more funny e-mails than anyone else I know, and those of us in his e-mail group are used to receiving regular and large file deposits in our Inboxes as he shares messages around his network of football contacts.

E-mails apart, he’s always good for a chat and sharing an opinion or two, but before I get his reflections and thoughts on the game, I start the conversation by asking him when his involvement in football began. And although he’s a St Helens man born and bred, his football career actually started in the Potteries, when he had moved to live in Stoke on Trent for a while.

“I was teaching at a school and I ran the school team for a while”, he recalled. “Then on Saturdays I began playing in the Potteries League, first for Woolstanton United and then a team called Fenn Sports, who then changed their name to Bourne Sports.

“In those leagues it was down to the home side to provide a referee. So I decided to go a referee’s course, and that started me off on refereeing”.

Before long John graduated to the Cheshire League as a linesman in 1978, and then in 1981 moved on to the referees list. A year after that the Cheshire League merged with other leagues to form the North West Counties League, which meant that John was a referee in the inaugural season of the league.

In 1983 John was elevated to the Football League list, and spent alternate weeks refereeing in the NWCFL and running the line in Football League matches, as did League Development Officer Geoff Wilkinson (see Issue 3 of NWSS).

Like Geoff, John was fortunate enough to officiate in some high profile games, so I ask him for some of his favourite memories.

“Probably the highlights were in 1990 when I was one of the officials selected to take charge of the play offs”, he says. “You were allocated to work in teams, and we did a semi final and a final.

“You can’t beat being involved in a game at Wembley, and I ran the line in the Division Four play off final between Cambridge United and Chesterfield. Cambridge won 1-0 and Dion Dublin scored the only goal of the game.

 

“Also in 1990, we did the second leg in the semi final for the Second Division play offs between Newcastle and Sunderland at St. James’s Park. It was 0-0 at Roker Park in the first leg, and Sunderland won 2-0 at Newcastle to go through to the play off final. That was some game, and some atmosphere. I remember at the end of the game there was a pitch invasion, and just my luck, it would have to be on my side of the pitch.

“Another memorable game was at Burnley in 1987. I was on the line on the day they played Leyton Orient in the old Fourth Division on the last day of the season, when they had to win and rely on other results going their way in order to stay in the Football League. There was an amazing atmosphere there that day, it was a great game to be involved in.

“Burnley had had a bad season and had only been getting about three or four thousand for home games, but for that game the place was packed to the rafters. The League put George Courtney in charge of the game. Anyone who followed football in those days will remember George was one of the top referees in the country at the time.

“There were obviously plenty of radios tuned in to what was happening elsewhere, and when the final whistle went and Burnley had won 2-1, there was a pitch invasion as everyone was so made up that Burnley had survived.

“Anyway I got stuck right in the middle of it, the crowd seemed to appear from nowhere. I remember this great big policeman suddenly grabbed me, and lifted me off my feet, and before I knew where I was I was in the tunnel. But it was a brilliant day, and one of my favourite football memories”.

However, John also has many favourite games from his time in the NWCFL as well. “I refereed the 1992 Division Two Trophy final between Newcastle Town and Atherton Collieries. Before the game John Cotton and Alan Farnworth came to see me with the team sheets, they were the respective club secretaries at the time.

“I remember they came into the dressing room and we were having a good laugh, telling jokes to one another. When you have a bit of crack like that with people it sets a good tone, and that helps you when you are going out to referee the game and manage players.

 

“I also have good memories too of the last final I took charge of for the League, that was in 1995. I had to step down from refereeing in Division One and Two on age grounds, and had started as a referees’ assessor, but I was still able to take charge of games in the Reserve Division. I finished by refereeing the Reserve Division Cup final between Oldham Town and Salford City, so that’s a favourite game of mine too”.

With his refereeing career over, John decided that he wanted to stay in the game in some capacity. “I had started assessing referees before I finally hung up the whistle”, he says, “but I decided I wanted to get involved in football in other ways, basically to put something back in to a game I’d had great enjoyment from. So, when I saw there was a vacancy on the League Management Committee as a club rep, I stood for it and was elected.

“I then became involved on the League’s grading committee, and spent many years going around the North West visiting the different grounds. Then, about four years ago, when Hughie Cairney stepped down as Registration Secretary because he was moving to Spain, I thought I’d fancy having a go at that and I’ve been doing it ever since”.

So, four years down the line, how have you found it?

“First of all, it’s very time consuming, far more than I’d imagined. That’s not a complaint, just an observation. You never have a day off, there’s always someone wanting to ask a question about a rule, or wanting to know how to fill a form in.

“Even on Christmas Day, there’s queries coming in, as there’s games on Boxing Day and clubs might want to register a player. One of the main things that appeals to me about the job is the range of different people you talk to, which I like”.

Turning back to the refereeing side of things, I ask John to compare the task of refereeing a game now to what it was like when he was in the middle.

 

“A lot of the enjoyment has gone out of it”, he reflects. “When I refereed I’d have a good laugh with players during the game, and I don’t see that happening anything like as much. Sure, you knew when someone was going in to try and do someone, but you could handle that.

“When the mandatory stuff came down from FIFA, that caused a lot of problems, when you were told in black and white, “If a player does this it’s a booking” and so on. But I think we are starting to see that improve a bit now, and we are going back to giving referees a bit of freedom to make decisions”.

These days, referees and even their assistants can find themselves in the national spotlight on the back of just one disputed decision. John has great sympathy for officials who come under scrutiny

“I actually think that Jimmy Hill has a lot to answer for in that respect, as it was him who first began the trial by TV of referees. Up to then, you watched a game, and if you thought the ref was useless, then fine, but everyone seemed to accept that the guy was doing his best and would never get everything right all the time.

“Jimmy Hill began doing the analysis of decisions in detail on Match of the Day, and highlighting all the mistakes. I reckon that set off the dissenting factions, and over the years it’s built up to where we are now, with everyone analysing every move the ref makes and Jimmy Hill’s mantle has been taken over by the likes of Andy Gray.

“I’m not saying everything about that is bad, but it puts more pressure on everyone. I read recently that Referee’s Chief Keith Hackett made a referee ring up a manager to admit to him he’d made a mistake. To me, that’s mad. The guy’s there to do a job, and we have to accept he’s never going to get every call right.

“It’s given managers an easy get out. Now, you never hear at the end of the game that a team lost because they missed three sitters, it’s always because the referee didn’t give them a penalty, or gave the opposition a penalty. It’s always the referee’s fault”.

Warming to the theme, John is also concerned about talk of introducing video replays to help making decisions.

“I’m not sure about all the talk of having a fourth official in place to analyse incidents on television before giving a decision. To me, it’s not so much a debate about whether it’s a good or bad idea, I feel the more important point is that you are moving the top level professional game away from the grassroots level.

“Grassroots football is vitally important as it produces the players, managers and officials at the top level, and I think it’s important to try and keep uniformity throughout the levels as much as we can. Obviously we can’t expect to have fourth officials analysing television pictures at our level of football, so does that mean the professional game will play to a different set of rules? I wouldn’t be in favour of that.

“I think people are missing the point when they say it works in rugby and cricket. Those games have natural breaks, football is far more fast moving and it wouldn’t be as easy to stop the game and wait for a decision from a fourth official, it would disrupt the flow of the game”.

Despite his strong opinions about the pressure on officials today. John is adamant that if he had his time again now, he’d still want to be a referee.

“If I was coming back now, I’d be refereeing or running the line under a different set of rules, but I don’t think my approach would be different”, he says. “Someone once asked after a game why I wanted to be referee, and I said it was because I enjoyed it. I’d taken a bit of stick during this particular game, so the reply was “How can you enjoy that?”.

“My answer was “Because I’m a good manager”. A lot of the satisfaction I got from refereeing was being able to manage 22 players on the pitch and help them to produce a good game of football for the spectators.

“But more than that, by doing what I did, I got the chance to walk out at Old Trafford and Wembley and play a part in big games in front of thousands of people. The buzz you get from that is tremendous, the feeling is something you can’t describe. When you’ve experienced that, you know that all the effort was worthwhile.

“It’s that experience that gives me the motivation to do what I do now. By assessing young referees, and giving my opinions on their performances, hopefully I’m going to help them get to the stage where they are taking part in big games like I did. I know how much I enjoyed that, so if I can help other referees to improve themselves I will”.

So, with the motivation to put something back into the game, combined with his love of football, John is set on maintaining his links with football for a long time yet.

“Obviously we’re all involved because we love the game, but the friendships you make last a lifetime. I’ve got friends all over the North West and beyond, most of whom I would never have met if it wasn’t for football.

“Not only that, I love meeting so many different characters. Going out ground grading, for example, you meet and talk to people at clubs who are ordinary honest people, who put in hours of graft every week just to get a game of football on. It can make you feel very humble.

“There are so many things that can give you enjoyment too. I can get pleasure from seeing how teams have progressed over the years. I’ve turned up at grounds where they’ve got little more than a public park, and they ask for advice and how they go about getting the ground up to standard.

“Years later you go back and see new facilities and a nice ground in place and you think back to what it was like when you first went there. Alsager Town is one club that sticks in my mind, it was only in 1999 they joined our league, and look at them now, in the Unibond League”.

“I just want to be involved as long as I can and get out and watch the game I love. As long I can enjoy a game of football, and help wherever I can to pass on knowledge or information that might be helpful, that’ll do for me”.

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