FA long service accolades for two loyal servants (From Craven Herald)

FA long service accolades for two loyal servants

7:00am Thursday 22nd December 2011 in Football

One hundred years of dedicated service by two local football stalwarts, George Evans of Barnoldswick and Rex Geldard of Skipton, was recognised at the executive meeting of the Craven Football Association.

Both men were presented with the Football Association Long Service Award for achieving 50 years each by the West Riding County FA’s recently retired chief executive officer Roy Carter.

George had a fine pedigree to follow as his uncle Matt Evans, was a former Football League referee.

He started as a 15-year-old refereeing in the Craven League while playing occasionally for the Earby Youth Club in the Colne and Nelson League.

He later refereed in the Colne and Nelson League and took charge of matches in the Huddersfield League.

while studying at college he acted as a tutor to 51 fellow college students who enrolled on the referees course that he organised and 50 of them were successful.

George has had many roles within the game of football including referees’ examiner and assessor. George retired from refereeing in 1987, having joined the Craven District Football Association two years earlier and he was made a Life Member in 2006.

Rex refereed in the Craven League from 1958 to 1983 after qualifying while on National Service in the Army.. He joined the management team of the Craven League in 1969 and is a Life Member of both the Craven League and Craven Referees’ Society.

He has held various official roles over the year for the referees’ society.