Howard Hampshire

Howard Hampshire won the Montagu Cup in 1965 with Dearne CMW and went on to officiate at Wembley and the Bernabeu.

Howard attended Goldthorpe Junior Boys from the family home on Queen St. 

Howard recalls : "In 1953 we played Darfield Foulstone away. I was centre half & Gordon West (goalkeeper Blackpool, Everton & England) was centre forward. Gordon went to Blackpool with a friend who was having a trial, they were a goalkeeper short so Gordon played in goal and the rest is history. Therefore I played against an England International!"

Howard went on to study at Mexborough Grammar School.

Howard played as a right back for Dearne Miners Welfare in the 1965 Montagu Cup final against Maltby Main in front of 1600 spectators.  The South Yorkshire Times reported "The rock-solid, hard-tacling HAMPSHIRE - deserving 10 out of 10 for a display of tough but clean football." 

Howard  then turned to officiating & was very successful in that field also.  He was lined up to referee the 1977 Montagu Cup final but moved away shortly before the final.

Here are some of his stand-out matches as a linesman...

1985 - FA Cup Semi-Final at GOODISON PARK - Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1
1985 - UEFA Cup Round 3 at BERNABEU  - Real Madrid 2 Chernomorets Odesa* 1
1987 - Full Members Cup Final at WEMBLEY - Blackburn Rovers 1 Charlton Athletic 0

*Chernomorets Odesa qualified as part of the USSR.  Odesa is now part of Ukraine.

 

Howard then became an FA Assessor for 7 years.

Howard - "All that I achieved started because as Secretary of DCMW I gave marks to referees out of ten ( some of them got 1,2 or 3) so Mexborough Referees Committee said if you can do any better become a referee. That’s how it all started & I think I proved my point of view, even becoming an accessor on the FA/FOOTBALL LEAGUE."