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GOT THE GREEN LIGHT
We are so used to seeing red and yellow cards used on the field that we probably think that they were always part of the game. They were actually introduced by a famous English referee, Ken Aston, who thought of using them while sitting at a set of traffic lights in Kensington High Street in London in 1966. Here is how it happened in Ken’s own words…
To Caution a player properly was never a problem providing referee and players had a common language. I found it possible even if the player’s language was strange to me by using a great deal of mime and gesture. Not all international referees used this method however. The language problem came to a head in the very important World Cup Final Series match in 1966 between England and Argentina at Wembly Stadium, refereed by Rudi Kreiltein who spoke only German. It was difficult match not played in the best of spirits, and in the second half of the game he apparently sent the Argentine captain Rattin from the field. He didn’t – and wouldn’t - leave the field and after two or three minutes it seemed that Kreiltein would have little option but to abandon the match. This would have been appointed as being in charge of the referees generally and was seated on a pitch-side bench and felt that, even though it wasn’t my job, someone had to do something to avoid disaster. I went on the field to Rattin and whilst I have to no pretensions of speaking Spanish I had a reasonable understanding and a fair number of phrases in the language. Rattin said he wanted an interpretation and that he didn’t know he had been sent off. I managed in the end to persuade him to leave and the match continued.
The following morning, a Sunday, the two brothers playing for England, Jack and Bobby (now Sir Bobby) Charlton were, as I understand, having breakfast in bed and reading the Sunday press reports on the game. Suddenly Jack exclaimed “It says here I was cautioned. I didn’t know I’d been booked, did you?” “No” replied Bobby. “it says the referee booked you as well” said the surprised Jack. So he rang Alf Ramsay on the hotel phone to find out what he knew. He didn’t know that both Charlton brothers had been cautioned and rang FIFA Headquarters in the Kensington Palace Hotel. I happened to be in the office at the time when Helmut Kaser, the FIFA General Secretary, confirmed from the referee’s report that the Charlton brothers had in fact been cautioned. I then left the office to drive home to see my wife Hilda for a few hours, having been away from home for some days. I drove up the small side street to the junction with the main thoroughfare Kensington High Street and the traffic lights fortunately were showing green. I speeded up a little to catch them before they changed – and at the last moment, they did! I then had quite a long wait till “green” came up again, turned into the High Street where three sets of traffic signals about 50 yards apart were all “green”. Just as I reached the first, up came “yellow” – go carefully, take it easy!; “red” – stop altogether! Thus the cards were born. As Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Referees’ Committee, I was able to introduce them into the game at the World Cup Final Series in Mexico in 1970 – a World Cup distinguished by not one player being sent from the field!
Since that time, the use of the cards has spread not only through many sports but in other spheres also. They are used often in pubs in England for customers who become too noisy. The police in some places warn motorists by placing a yellow card on the car if it’s parked in the wrong place. I have been told that the Speaker in the House in the New Zealand Parliament uses them! In conclusion, I have to say that I missed out seriously in the whole matter. Had I patented them at the time, I should have been a rich man- as it is, I haven’t made a penny.
