Keith Hackett was one of the top referees 1970s/1980s until his retirement in 1994 after over 30 years service, refereeing hundreds of games in the English top flight, at Olympic Games and at European Championships. Towards the end of his refereeing career he was involved in the famous ‘You Are the Ref’ cartoon strip that was originally in Shoot magazine then moved to The Observer. Keith is a Sheffield Wednesday fan and he used to walk the few miles from home to Hillsborough with his father and grandfather.
Despite being a Wednesday fan, Keith reveals he was more welcome at Bramall Lane because in his early years as a ref he had been encouraged by former owner Kevin McCabe and ex-Wednesday player Derek Dooley. Alongside another Sheffield match official Uriah Rennie (who died recently) Keith used to continue to referee Sunday league matches on the same weekend as being in charge of top flight matches at the likes of Anfield and Old Trafford.
He also discusses how Kenny Dalglish was the best player he ever refereed, not Maradona or Platini; how he was asked by Lech Walesa to carry a message of thanks to the UK for their support of Solidarnosc when in Gdansk as well as being approached by a ‘match fixer’ for a game involving Anderlecht and Spartak Moscow.
Part 1 – https://bit.ly/4ofig82
Part 2 – https://bit.ly/4lDKs2B
The Football Mine 