Iorwerth Price Jones – The Melting Pot

Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 3

At the end of the 1973 season on April 28^th Iory found himself at Anfield, , in a vital end of season game that could see Liverpool become League Champions. As usual Shankley arranged for Meg to get great hospitality and a vital game got underway with Liverpool needing to draw. In an exciting game the match finished goal less and amid great celebrations Liverpool were Champions. Iory was getting changed in the Referees’ room, a special place, off limits to most people, when a knock was heard on the door, it was Bill Shankley.

“Hello Iory” would you like to keep the match ball?” Iory often took the match ball home from games or other memorabilia and he would raffle it for charities back home in Trelewis, his way of giving something back to the village. “Yes please” said Iory, and Shankley said “come with me”

They walked to the Liverpool changing room, a scene of great celebration and excitement and on the sight of Shankley a respectful silence filled the air.

“I want you all to sign this ball for the Referee” and they duly obliged, along with the great Shankley himself. Iory still has the ball to this day and there is a photograph here to prove it.

Note Bill Shankleys signature on the match ball

Iory would often appear on “Match of the Day” but there were no videos in those days so he never could get a copy. He did ask a friend once who worked on the BBC to try to get him one but his mate came back and quoted a small fortune to secure a copy, so Iory never got to keep a copy.

Again Iory was the match referee for Home International matches and during his career he reffed some of the most famous footballers in British history.

The 1974-75 season was to be the last Season in which Iory would referee at the top level, he had reached the age that referees were forced to retire, even though he was still very fit and probably more knowledgeable than at any time during his career.

The first game was up in London at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea and their manager Dave Sexton, it was a league game in the top division, Chelsea v Burnley, a famous name was on the coaching staff ay Chelsea, Mr Dario Gradi who later became a record breaking manager at Crewe.

He was to ref many crucial games that season and again he was busy in Europe, he was well liked and respected for the way he controlled matches, to his credit he only ever sent two players off the field of play, Peter Storey of Arsenal and Billy Bremner of Leeds, both for fighting each other.

Iory was to finish his football league refereeing career down in Devon at St James Park, Exeter, a far cry from some of the magnificent stadiums he had officiated in, but they made him very welcome and put a lovely piece in the match programme congratulating Iory on his services to football as a referee.

The final league game at St James Park, Exeter

Following the end of his refereeing career, Iory was still very fit and still enjoyed a game of bowls and generally keeping himself in good shape.

He was approached by Alan Hardaker, the secretary of the football league, to become a referee assessor for the area, to cover matches in Hereford , Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol etc, local to Iory…this was a special job and often Iory was remain anonymous to the match officials as he marked their performances out of ten, from the stands. He would often know the referees personally, many had run the line for him over the years and were close friends, he still had to mark them fairly but he never said a bad word against them…Iory knew that referees made mistakes, but he also knew that they were honest mistakes and his marks reflected that opinion.

After six years Iory finally give up the job of Referee assessor at the age of 53. He continued his teaching career until he was 62 years old, whilst his wife Margaret had a successful secretarial career at Tredomen engineering offices in Ystrad Mynach, where she worked as a personal assistant to one of the managers.

Once they retired they had more time to enjoy their lives and took to the seas, partaking in many cruising holidays, mainly to the Baltic or the warmer Mediterranean, its something they still both love doing in 2009. They have even sat at the Captains table.

Iory is a very skilful maker of Welsh love spoons and he has made quite a few in his time, he even made one for the Captain of a P & O Cruiser, who was delighted to receive such an unique and personal gift. He has also made a beautiful spoon for his wife. They have a daughter and two wonderful grandchildren who have also enjoyed a trip on a cruise ship in the past.

Iory has often attended local schools or youth clubs to talk about his career in football and he is a very interesting orator. Some of the local children speak in high regard of Iory and I received this from Gary Jones who now lives in Field Street.

Growing up in the high street Trelewis my brother Martyn and I were football crazy; having Iory living on the other side of the street was a bit special. I can remember stopping him on the street and asking where he was refereeing on the following Saturday, we would then look forward to match of the day to see if we could see him.

On a couple of occasions we were invited down to his house to watch the European games with him and his wife Margaret, I am sure they were the first games I ever saw on a colour TV! Speaking with Iory recently about his football memories and achievements, I told him I that I could talk to him about football all night long, his stories are so interesting.

So there you have it, a Trelewis man, who was known throughout Europe by the greats in the football world. Iorwerth Jones the quiet referee

Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/

Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 2

To keep fit, Iory would do a lot of road work around the valleys and often run all the way to Dowlais and back, he also attended the gymnasium. Iory was also a keen cricketer and liked playing badminton and bowls; he really was a very fit man, despite his earlier problems with his knee.

On the 20^th September 1967 he ventured into Europe and officiated in Switzerland at a European Cup Winners Cup game at the Stadium Olympique Pontaisen. It was to be the first of many European adventures of Iory. He was also the referee at the Welsh cup final between Cardiff City and Hereford later that season….both John Toshack and John Charles played in that two legged final which Cardiff City won 6-1.

Into 1968 and Iory was 40 years old and into his third season as a top referee, he was making many friends in the football world and was respected by some of the games biggest names, Bill Shankley, George Best, Bill Nicholson to name just a few. He would often travel to games with his wife Meg and they would be greeted by club commissionaires and often Meg would get treated like royalty, especially by Shankley at Liverpool.

Often before matches, Iory would be in a room that was filled with a buffet for him and the linesmen and the press would pop in, people like Jimmy Hill, Brian Moore and Ken Gorman and the press men would often devour all the food before the officials had a chance to get a sandwich, but it was all good fun and Iory had a good relationship with many from the press but he was well aware that not all of them were genuine and he had to be careful at times in what he said.

In September he was abroad again, in the middle with two Welsh Linesmen at his side for another European match, this time in Cologne, his reputation was growing.

A genuine team sheet that Iory still has, signed by the legend Matt Busby in 1969, look at the famous names on the list.

In 1969 he became part of a new refereeing scheme called the elite referees, to cover the most difficult games, another testament to the respect that Iory had earned. He was now classed as one of the top referees in Great Britain, along side other top refs such as G. Kew, W. Gow, Leo Callaghan and Jack Taylor. In October he reffed the famous Benfica and Eusebio and he also officiated a vital World cup qualifying match in Luxemburg.

During 1970 he had the honour of being one of only four British referees chosen to attend an International course of referees in Florence.

He also was held in high esteem in Europe and was chosen to ref behind the Iron Curtain in East Berlin, which was an amazing experience in those days. Cameras and secret police everywhere and his interpreter always had to accompany him and his linesmen wherever they went. It was freezing cold there and Iory was seriously considering calling off the game due to a frozen pitch, however he was assured it would be playable. 200 soldiers were sent to the stadium and the completely removed the thick ice and top layer of grass to make the match safe to play, the stadium was full to capacity and Iory claims it was one of the best games of football he ever had the pleasure to referee in.

On the 16^th February 1970 he received a letter from the Association of Football league referees and linesmen, informing him that he had been appointed to the reserve list of referees for the upcoming world cup finals in Mexico. A truly magnificent honour, he was sent a full supply of kit from Slazenger, all red. Unfortunately he never got to make the trip, the F.A.W. decided not to send him over, even though there was a fourth reserve Russian referee sent over by the Russian FA.

July 1970, and the disappointment of not making the trip to Mexico was offset by the fact that once again Iory was appointed to the list of referees for matches of E.U.F.A. competitions for the following season. In November he was appointed to ref the biggest match in round two of the European cup, Athletico Madrid v Calgari, a 1-0 victory for the home side in a game that Iory excelled in.

He often had Welsh linesmen with him on trips to officiate in Europe and on May 12^th 1971, he was awarded the Nations cup match in Berne between Switzerland and Greece, the two linesmen were from Swansea, Tom Reynolds and Trevor Jenkins. June 1971 and once again Iory was appointed for another year to referee European matches.

In 1972, Iory ran the line with W. J. Gow (Swansea) referee in an England v Northern Ireland match at Wembley, some of the superstars that played that day included, Gordon Banks, Norman Hunter, Alan Ball, Rodney Marsh and for Ireland Pat Jennings, Terry Neill , Pat Rice, George Best and Sammy McIlroy

Iory continue to gain plaudits for his quiet but fair approach to refereeing and he continued to get International matches and big games, however he never got to referee an F.A. Cup final, he got very close and short listed but lost out to an English man called P. Partridge and in true Valley fashion he took it on the chin saying “Well it’s only fair really because I have officiated at a Welsh Cup final that the English Final be done by an Englishman”

To be continued….

Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/

Iorwerth Price Jones, Trelewis…The Quiet Referee – part 1

It is hard to imagine in these days when Welshmen are not allowed to referee in the English leagues, that we once had an elite class referee actually living in the High Street, Trelewis.

Iorwerth Price Jones (Iory) was born in number 1 Hylton Terrace Bedlinog on the 18^th December, 1927. He grew up in the village and attended the infants’ school at Commercial Street and then onto the Bedlinog Boys School at Oaklands Terrace (Where the new surgery has been built) the girls’ school was at the end of Hylton Terrace in those days…

When he was 13 years of age he played for the Bedlinog Boys school team, who played wearing distinctive Black and White squares on their shirts. One day they had arranged a match against Trelewis down on the Trelewis Welfare fields, a good local derby. The match was interrupted by men shouting that a young lad had wandered too close to the nearby quarry and had fallen in; people rushed to help as the game was abandoned, but the youngster lost his life in the deep waters of the quarry… a dangerous place that had a buried crane neck rising above the surface and many parents feared their children playing there. In later years the quarry was filled in with waste from the collieries.

Eddie Jones, Iory’s father was a collier on the coal face at Taff Merthyr colliery and young Iory was soon to follow in his fathers footsteps.

At 14 years of age, Iory got a job at the nearby Taff Merthyr Colliery, he spent two years underground, mainly on the tension end that pushed the coal towards the waiting trams, and it was called District 15. In those days before cap lamps, he was expected to collect a lamp weighing 14lbs and carry that all the way into his place of work, and of course back out again at the end of a long shift. Dai Hughes was the manager then, he lived in the big house on Captains Hill called Brynffynon. At 16 years old Iory had to work on top pit due to suffering with dermatitis and started work with the Blacksmiths. He used to catch one of the Bert Davies buses, with wooden seats, that picked up at Bolwells shop near his home.

Iory also attended the Treforest mining school where he studied Welding fabrication and was fully qualified upon leaving. Iory left the collieries after 9 years and worked for a number of years in Cardiff at a government training centre. He then got a teaching job at Cross Keys College, where he worked for over 25 years, during which time he became a top class football referee. He was fortunate enough to be allowed to take time off on occasions when he had to be away refereeing.

Iorwerth was a very good young footballer who got picked for the Nelson Welsh league team, he then got transferred to Treharris and finally played in the Southern league for the very powerful Merthyr Tydfil team. Unfortunately a problem with his left knee forced him to see the local doctor in Trelewis, Dr De Souza, who strangely enough held his surgery in the front room of number 12 High Street, a house that Iory would later make a home for him his wife Margaret and their daughter. Dr De Souza diagnosed a cartilage problem and performed an operation at St Tydfil’s Hospital in Merthyr to remove it, this spelt the end of Iory’s playing days, he was determined to still keep involved in football though and started refereeing local league games.

Iorwerth began serious refereeing in the Pontypridd and District league, where assessors would mark your performance; he was getting excellent marks and soon went from Grade C to a grade B. He became a Welsh league referee and move up to a grade A, eventually his talent earned him a place as a football league linesman…a great honour.

After a few years, an even greater honour came his way, when he became one of the five Welsh referees on the football league list, that was allowed by UEFA and FIFA…The other four at that time were, Leo Callaghan, Haydn Davies, Clive Thomas and Jack Gow. Unlike these days, he was expected to officiate at all levels, one week he could be at St James Park, Exeter, and the next at Old Trafford. Iory was 38 years of age, and was being paid £13 a match plus expenses, a far cry from Today’s referees’ wages.

The day finally arrived for Iory’s first match in charge; it was Portsmouth v Birmingham City at Fratton Park, August 24^th 1966, what a match it was, a nine goal thriller with the away team going away with the two points after an amazing 5-4 victory. During the season he officiated at plenty of games including matches at Tottenham, Fulham, Wolves and Chelsea, before the season was concluded he was elected to the F.I.F.A panel of referees after just one season as a football league referee as well as being put on the UEFA list to referee matches in their competitions.

To be continued….

Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/