Kenneth George Aston, MBE (1 September 1915 – 23 October 2001) was an English teacher, soldier, and football referee, who was responsible for many important developments in football refereeing - including the yellow and red penalty card system.

Early life and career

Born in Colchester, Essex, he graduated from St Luke's College, Exeter (in which George Reader had been taught just after the First World War, and which Sir Stanley Rous had also attended). He qualified as a referee in 1936, working his way through the leagues becoming a Football League linesman in the 1949–50 season, and becoming a League referee. In the Second World War he was rejected by the Royal Air Force because of an injured ankle, and subsequently joined the Royal Artillery before transferring to the British Indian Army, where he finished the war with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and served on the Changi War Crimes Tribunal.

Refereeing

On his return from military service in 1946, Aston became the first League referee to wear the black uniform with white trim which became the standard for referees. Up to that point, referees wore tweed jackets over white shirts with French cuffs, and pants akin to golf knickers. He later explained that when he spied a black flight jacket in the window of a war surplus store, he was delighted with the wonderful assortment of pockets. He immediately bought a couple of the jackets, thinking the pockets would serve him well as a referee. He changed to black knickers, kept the white shirt, and wore the new black flight jacket, creating the black uniform with the apparent white "trim."

The following year (1947), he introduced brightly coloured linesman's flags, one yellow and one red, in place of those provided by the home team, in the home team's colours, which had traditionally been used.

Red and yellow cards

Following an incident in the England vs Argentina match in the 1966 World Cup, it came to Aston's knowledge that Jack Charlton had been booked by the German referee, Rudolf Kreitlein. Charlton called the press office, where Aston was ensconced (as Head of World Cup Referees), in order to confirm the information that he had read within the newspaper that Kreitlein had booked him. Aston, driving from Wembley Stadium to Lancaster Gate that same evening, had Charlton's confusion in mind during the journey.

On the trip, as he stopped at a traffic light junction at Kensington High Street, Aston realised that a colour-coding scheme based on the same amber/yellow ('stop if safe to do so') - red (Stop) principle as used on traffic lights would traverse language barriers and clarify to players and spectators that they had been cautioned or sent off.

Aston later explained that upon arriving at his home, he explained the dilemma to his wife, Hilda. She disappeared into the other room, only to return a few minutes later with two "cards" made of construction paper. She had cut them to fit into his shirt pocket. Thus was devised the system whereby referees show a yellow card for a caution and a red card for an expulsion, which was first used in the 1970 World Cup.

These cards have also been adopted – with appropriate differences depending on the rules – in rugby, water polo, and other sports.

Later career

Aston became senior lecturer of the Football Association Referees' Panel and Chief Instructor for the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), a position he held for 21 years. In 1997, he was awarded the MBE.

The Ken Aston Camp is held annually in Orange, CA. The camp honours Ken's commitment to service and excellence. The Ken Aston Cup, was an annual competition to recognise skilled referees in AYSO. The tournament was held annually in southern California. As long as they were able, Aston and his wife Hilda were the guests of honour on the fields at the camp and competition. Ken taught at the camp and they drove around the tournament in a golf cart, observing, chatting, and making new friends. Their golf cart carried a Union Jack, making them easy to locate.

After a multi-year hiatus, it was scheduled to be held in Costa Mesa, California in March 2020.

References

  • Ken Aston Referee Society
  • Ken Aston - The Person
  • http://www.kenaston.org
  • Ken Aston – the inventor of yellow and red cards at FIFA.com
  • Ken Aston Camp