I RUN THE LINE
Colin was born just outside the Norfolk town of Reepham. He lived there for the whole of his life.
Aged just fourteen, Colin left school to go and work at Bernard Matthews’ turkey factory.
Colin was only fifteen when he became Secretary of Reepham Town football club. He had to collect any messages sent to the club from the King’s Arms pub (although technically he was still too young to set foot inside).
Colin became a builder, joining Premier Homes, a company he stayed with for the rest of his working life.
He met Liz in the late 1960s, and they were married soon afterwards. They had two children, a boy and a girl.
Colin loved all sports. He became a speedy right winger for Reepham Town FC and also played for many different Sunday football teams. He scored over thirty goals per season for many years. Colin earned the nickname ‘Revie’ (which was also the name of the great Leeds United and England manager, Don Revie).
Towards the end of his playing career, Colin took up refereeing. He played on Saturdays and officiated on Sundays.
He said, “I would kick them on a Saturday and caution them on a Sunday.’
In his final season of playing, Colin helped Reepham Town reach the Anglian Combination Premier League for the first time in their history. He was player-manager. The local paper had the headline ‘Revie leads Robins to Glory’.
After giving up playing, Colin rose quickly through the refereeing ranks. He went from local and regional leagues to the South East Counties League and then the Football Combination (a competition between the reserve teams of the Football League).
He also refereed two schoolboy internationals and all-county finals.
Colin was an honest, tough, no-nonsense man who was very well respected by all.
He was promoted to the National League (top non-league) and whilst there, always received top marks as a referee.
In 1985, Colin became a linesman in the Football League in 1985 (but never got to be a top-level referee).
Colin was chosen as a linesman for the 1990 FA Cup final at Wembley. This was a major honour. Officials were only selected for one such showpiece occasion – considered the pinnacle of your career.
“I was in cloud cuckoo land when I found out I had the appointment.”
It was played on the 12th May 1990, and was between the favourites, Manchester United, and the underdogs, Crystal Palace. The referee was Allan Gunn from Burgess Hill in Sussex. The other linesman was Larry Watson from County Durham.
The match was an absolute classic, finishing in a 3-3 draw, with two goals from Mark Hughes for United and two from Ian Wright for Palace.
The replay was held five days later, also at Wembley. The same officiating team were chosen, so Colin got to run the line in two games.
However, the second game was a dull and dreary match with Manchester United winning 1-0.
Colin said, “I enjoyed every minute of it and the atmosphere was amazing. It gave me a lift.”
Everybody said the officiating team had done really well.
When the Premier League began in 1992, a few top referees and linesmen were dropped from the officiating list – and Colin was one of them. The reason given was his age.
Colin returned to the Anglian Combination where he refereed for two more years until his knees started to give him problems – and then he retired.
He went back to being the secretary of Reepham Town FC.
Colin also became the Fixture Secretary for the Anglian Combination (a job he did for thirty years) as well as being a Norfolk Football Association council member.
He supported his close friend Marcus Wilkinson, who replaced him as the secretary of the local club and who later became Chairman.
Colin’s wife, Liz, was taken ill, so he stepped down from all football activities.
Following Liz’s death, Colin took to drinking in the King’s Arms again, but earned the nickname ‘The Reverend’, because he would only turn up on Sundays.
When Colin died, the Norfolk FA praised his, “Decency, honesty and common sense.”
Reepham Town FC described him as, “A proper bloke.”
RIP – Reverend In Pub (or) Revie Inspires Promotion
