John Lloyd (born 15 February 1948) is a Welsh former

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 ...

player and referee. As a referee he worked in

The 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 ...

and

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and was a member of the Welsh FIFA List. He is one of only three referees (alongside

Steve Baines Stephen John Baines (born 23 June 1954) is an English former footballer and later a referee in the Football League. Born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, during his refereeing career he resided in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He is the only referee in ...

and

Bob Matthewson Robert Matthewson (13 April 1930 – 10 November 2000) was an English footballer and FIFA referee. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Matthewson had a spell playing for the Byker Youth Club's football team before he was signed by Bolton Wanderers. Afte ...

) who have made League appearances as a player.

Career

Lloyd figured in two matches as an outside-right for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

between 1965 and 1967. That was the end of his League playing career but he stayed in the town and developed a career as a referee. In 1982, he gained a place as a Football League linesman and three years later moved up to the referees list. In common with all Welsh referees who attained this level Lloyd was also an international official and was soon in action in Europe. His first match in the middle in

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in September 1996 saw visitors

Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

achieve an emphatic 9-0 victory over Akranes in a UEFA Cup tie. Domestically he made steady progress. He started to make a bigger impression early in 1993. He was in charge of a League Cup quarter-final between

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

and two months later was one of several officials drafted into the new Premier League. He retained this status for the following season (1993–1994), including a match at runners-up Blackburn (against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

) on the penultimate weekend. That proved to be his final game at Premier level and he reverted to the Football League for his final two seasons. When he retired in 1996 he was the last referee from North Wales, leaving Keith Burge from Tonypandy as the sole Welsh National List referee. Since then he has become a Football League assessor and worked as an after-dinner speaker.

References

Print

*Football League Handbooks, 1982–1984 *Rothmans Football Yearbooks, 1985–1996 *Barry Hugman (1998) The PFA Premier League and Football League Players' Records 1946-1998, Leonard Queen Anne Press. *Ionescu, Romeo (2004) The Complete Results & Line-Ups of the UEFA Cup 1971-1991, Soccer Books Limited.

Web

John Lloyd referee statistics at Soccerbase.com
(1992-1993 Premier League games only) 1948 births Sportspeople from Denbighshire Welsh footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Welsh football referees Association football wingers English Football League players Living people {{Wales-footy-bio-stub