''You Are The Ref'' is a British
comic strip which has run in various publications since 1957, featuring a series of improbable hypothetical
football scenarios that then invites the reader to make the refereeing decision. Created by sports artist
Paul Trevillion
Paul Trevillion (born 11 March 1934)
is an acclaimed sports artist, whose career spans 70 years.
Born in Tottenham, North London, Trevillion, produced artwork for publications like ''Eagle'' while still at school, from the 1960s to the 1980s, T ...
, also famous for ''
Roy of the Rovers
''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the ''Tiger'' in 1954, before giving its name to a ...
'', the strip features contributions from several top referees, and was collected into an official book in 2006. From 2006 to 2016 it featured online on
theguardian.com
TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...
.
[ and in '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' newspaper.
Publication history
The evolution of the strip began in 1952 in the Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
magazine ''The Lillywhite'', which featured a cartoon quiz by Paul Trevillion
Paul Trevillion (born 11 March 1934)
is an acclaimed sports artist, whose career spans 70 years.
Born in Tottenham, North London, Trevillion, produced artwork for publications like ''Eagle'' while still at school, from the 1960s to the 1980s, T ...
. The quiz included one question per issue on refereeing. Five years later, ''The People
The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881.
At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ...
'' newspaper signed Trevillion to produce a dedicated refereeing cartoon quiz, and gave it the title ''Hey Ref''.[
In the 1960s, the strip began appearing in a much larger format alongside Trevillion's work for '']Roy of the Rovers
''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the ''Tiger'' in 1954, before giving its name to a ...
'' in official ''Roy'' annuals, under the title ''If You Were The Ref''. But it was in 1969 that the strip took on its famous name, when it moved to be part of newly launched children's football magazine ''Shoot''. The strip continued to run until 1983.[
Trevillion returned to ''You Are The Ref'' in 2006, producing new artwork for the strip for the first time in over 20 years, which was published in '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' newspaper. Later that year, a book was published collecting the history of the strip. In 2008, ''You Are The Ref'' also appeared on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
'' in 1969, leading referee Stan Lover, head of the London referees' association, was taken on to provide the answers to the questions ''You Are The Ref'' posed each week. In subsequent years, Lover was replaced by
, who provided the answers in ''The Observer'' strips.