I'm doing a little project and it would be useful for me to know what former referee Maurice Fussey looked like. I know it's a long shot but I don't suppose anyone has a picture of him? For those that don't know, he was the ref when Keith Peacock made his ground breaking substitution.
I've looked on the internet but
this is the best image I've found. I did find some interesting comments about the marvellously named man though, he was apparently "
famous for his furious sprints to the scene of dramatic incidents". One Sunderland fan elaborates with a pleasing locomotive based simile, "
He was a real character was Maurice. He strolled about the pitch until a decision had to be made and then sprinted to the scene of the misdemeanour with his knees whirring like the driving wheels of a Gresley A4 and stood indicating in the direction of the free kick like a Pointer dog. Oh how the crowd cheered…….". Someone else tells us that he had, long knobbly legs. Someone in Ireland tells us that he officiated over there with, a "
Big mop of blond hair and big moustache. He was great fun and always got a great reception from the crowd", this may have been when he was younger though. My favourite description is, "
authority in a tizzy". Apparently he broke two vertebrates in his neck whilst removing his luggage from a train at Newcastle station forcing him to follow Magpies v Liverpool from the stands rather than on the pitch. Perhaps Liverpool would have been pleased though, on another occasion an enraged Bill Shankly commented that referees "
know the laws but they don't know the game" after a Fussey decision contributed to his Liverpool side losing at Southampton. Elsewhere, Charlton Life's own
@GlassHalfFull states that the "
tall schoolmasterly figure was known for a certain eccentricity".
Any help appreciated. Cheers.
Comments
Next, you'll be telling me he lived in Great Bookham (like another ref I can't recall).
Told you!!
Certainly had his own style but no match for the inimitable Roger Kirkpatrick.
Great Bookham ref was Ray Lewis.
It's a little alarming to find quoted something written, it transpires, six years ago. Search Fussey on here and you will find a remarkable discussion, @mistrollingin participating then as well.
If you refer to the above-mentioned discussion you will find a similar comment by @Viewfinder in respect of Roger Kirkpatrick.
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/ratetheref/i-spy-old-refs-t14233.html
Thanks Viewfinder, that's a brilliant thread. I have shamelessly copied some of the more amusing comments about other referees:
Interesting video here of him reviewing his decision many years later. Seems like he may have been right to the letter of the law, but jeez ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/44500178
Ah, Roger Kirkpatrick. Remember a game when big Dave Shipperley upset dear Roger. His bald head gleaming in the sun he sprinted over to our Dave and gave him a right bollocking. Considering Ship stood about three feet taller than Mr K (who must have had a crick in his neck before he finished with the hapless giant). Having firmly put Ship in his place we were in stiches as Mr K turned away with a huge grin on his face! Now that's what you call a referee.
A Kirkpatrick classic, albeit that the great man is not so dynamic as usual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VnEjaw7uNs
i don’t recall Ray Lewis being the Great Bookham ref - I thought it was someone else, but I can’t recall.
There was a short-lived fad in the late 1980s when refs would give a penalty for the slightest contact. In 1989, Palace v Brighton (Curbs was playing), Kelvin Morton (Bury St Edmunds) awarded five pens in less than 30 minutes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segar_Bastard