Christopher Francis Bambridge (born 7 October 1947) is an Australian retired football referee. Born in Kettering, England he came to Australia from Britain in 1974. A Grade One referee, Bambridge was appointed to the national league in 1977, where he stayed until his retirement in 1991. He was awarded the FIFA badge in 1981, gaining selection to the panel of linesmen for the

1981 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, the third edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Australia from 3 to 18 October 1981. The tournament took place in six venues—where a total of 32 matches were played. Adelaide, Brisban ...

in Australia that year. Following his appointment as linesman for the quarter finals, semi-finals and final of the

1983 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — wh ...

. Bambridge refereed the final of the

1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship The 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the first edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Dalian in People's Republic of China from July 31, 1985, to August 11, 1985. Players born after August 1, 1968, ...

in China. He was also selected for and officiated at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

finals in Mexico and the 1988 Summer Olympic games in South Korea, becoming the only Australian referee to have taken part in both World Cup and Olympic Games finals. Bambridge is known for having refereed one match in the

in Mexico: Spain versus Brazil, in which he famously disallowed a goal for Spain, after a shot from Míchel hit the Brazilian crossbar, fell past the goal line and bounced out of the goal. After retiring from active refereeing, Bambridge took on the role of Referee Development Manager, administering the development and appointment of referees in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. He was also president of Soccer Referees Victoria. In 2000, Bambridge was admitted into the Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame. A room is named after him at Football Victoria Headquarters. In 2009, he was a recipient of the Asian Football Confederation Gold Star Award and remains the only Australian referee to receive this honour. Bambridge continues to work with current referees in assessing and coaching and is a match commissioner with Football Victoria.

References

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1947 births Australian soccer referees FIFA World Cup referees Living people 1986 FIFA World Cup referees Olympic football referees {{Australia-footy-bio-stub