Benjamin Mervyn "Sandy" Griffiths (17 January 1909 – 21 January 1974) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

football referee from

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

, Monmouthshire. In his professional life he was a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Career

He first took up a teaching post in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

but soon returned to Newport and began his refereeing career in 1934 in local leagues. Within five seasons he was appointed to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

list as a linesman and, after the War, refereed the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

versus

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

clash in 1949, and then the 1953 FA Cup Final, otherwise known as the Matthews Final. It was his decision, with two minutes remaining, that enabled

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...

to equalise from a free-kick awarded just outside the penalty area. Griffiths represented Wales at the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, 1954 and

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

Finals. In the first of these he appeared in the opening fixture, and in the second took charge of the semi-final between

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and assisting William Ling in the final. In the closing minutes of the match, and with the score at 3-2 to the West Germans, Griffiths flagged Hungary's Ferenc Puskás offside, just as he beat

Toni Turek Anton Turek (18 January 1919 – 11 May 1984) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Duisburg, Turek started his career at Duisburger Sportverein, but he soon switched to TuS Duisburg 48/99. He first came to the at ...

in the German goal.Offside flag from Griffiths
1954 World Cup Final: Ferenc Puskás - ''International Football Hall of Fame'' website. He was the first Welshman to referee an international at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, the first from his country to referee an

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

, and the only Welshman to appear in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

final.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Mervyn 1909 births Sportspeople from Abertillery Welsh football referees FA Cup Final referees FIFA World Cup Final match officials 1974 deaths 1958 FIFA World Cup referees 1950 FIFA World Cup referees