Arthur Edward Ellis (8 July 1914 – 23 May 1999) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
. He was born in
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...
.
Ellis was a referee in
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
competitions and in
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
international competitions. He refereed at the
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
,
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
and
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
World Cups; running the line in the
1950 FIFA World Cup Final
The match between Uruguay and hosts Brazil was the decisive match of the final stage at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the Maracanã Stadium in the then-capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, on 16 July 1950.
Unlike in other edit ...
and Third Place Play-off in 1958 and refereeing the Third Place Play-off in 1954.
Refereeing career
Ellis is most remembered for refereeing the notorious 1954 ''
Battle of Berne
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
'' and the first leg of the
1960–61 second round tie in the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
between
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. In the closing minutes of that match Ellis waved down a flag as
Sandor Kocsis strode into the Madrid penalty area, and awarded a penalty when the Hungarian was fouled. The resulting score equalised the tie.
Ellis also journeyed with the English touring side in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in the Summer of 1953. He was the referee in charge of the abandoned game in Buenos Aires against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
on 17 May when it rained so much that he called the players off the field after 23 minutes. This tour began, three days before, with the representative match in the
River Plate stadium
Estadio Monumental (), officially Estadio Mâs Monumental for sponsorship reasons,[San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Lorenzo, Santa Fe
* San Lorenzo Department, Chaco
* Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...]
were the opponents during the abandoned game at
Highfield Road
Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years.
History
It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game o ...
, against
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
in January 1956. In the first half, after awarding a penalty, Ellis was kicked by
Jose Sanfilippo
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
* Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galile ...
and abandoned the game when the player refused to walk from the field of play. "Those people", Ellis wrote, "must learn sportsmanship and we must teach them. South Americans are more excitable and more passionate than we are. They do crazy things, impulsively, then a few minutes later they are genuinely and deeply sorry".
1955–56 European Cup
Ellis' role in the first
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
competition was extensive, refereeing those matches played by
Hibernian from the second round until the semi-final before being selected for the Final in
Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...
, Paris. Ellis had been informed that he would need to provide the linesmen for the European Cup match against
Rot-Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 195 ...
. He wrote: "I managed to obtain the services of
Jimmy Catlin
Jimmy may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy
* ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma
* ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
(Rochdale) and Frank Ellis, then on the
Yorkshire League and now a
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
linesman. He is my younger brother. We officiated first at the first leg and, at the request of
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
, the same three – with Frank Ellis of the Yorkshire League still included! – were again appointed to take the second round (both legs) between
Hibernian and the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
champions. We also acted in the second leg of the semi-final involving Hibernian and the fine French team
Rheims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
.
"I was chosen to referee the first-ever Final of this new competition ... Just when I thought that the linesmen ... would be there once more,
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
stepped in and said it would soon be regarded by others as a closed shop. Despite the request of Rheims for an 'unchanged team', I was given two linesmen this time – Messrs. J. Parkinson, of Blackburn, and Tommy Cooper, of Bolton."
Later life
Ellis became well known in the UK for acting as a referee in the gameshow ''
It's a Knockout
''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise.
History
The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...
'', where his dipstick became internationally recognised. He also featured as a
pools panellist under
Lord Brabazon.
Almanack: Pools panel draw a veil
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 27 March 1994. Ellis died of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
in 1999 aged 84.
Ellis published his autobiography in 1954 "Refereeing Around the World", which detailed the high points of his refereeing career as well as showing 19 pictures.
References
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External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Arthur
English football referees
FIFA World Cup Final match officials
FA Cup Final referees
1914 births
1999 deaths
Sportspeople from Halifax, West Yorkshire
1954 FIFA World Cup referees
1950 FIFA World Cup referees
1960 European Nations' Cup referees
UEFA European Championship final referees
Deaths from prostate cancer
Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom