Twenty years ago, Barnsley man Steve Lodge refereed the FA Cup final which was a highlight of a career in football which still continues today.
The 65-year-old, who lives in Darton and is a lifelong Reds fan, spent a decade as a Premier League referee and officiated in 25 European countries as well as South Africa, Canada and Saudi Arabia. But Chelsea's 2-0 success over Middlesbrough in that 1997 final at Wembley was his favourite match.
He told the Chronicle: "That's the one that stands out for me the most. It's every referee's dream to referee his own domestic cup final."I remember walking out of the tunnel at Wembley and thinking: '20 years ago I was refereeing on Kendray Recreation Park and now I am doing the FA Cup final in front of 80,000 people.'
"I just wanted it to be a game without controversy and I couldn't have wished for anything better. I think there were two yellow cards but no really big decisions and I was just so relieved walking off knowing that no one would be talking about me. I came out of that game unscathed which was not always the case during my career in the Premier League. I had my good times and bad times but I came out of it generally quite pleased with the 12 years."
Lodge looks back on 1997 with great fondness, saying: "It was the same year that Barnsley had been promoted to the Premier League and, being a big Barnsley supporter, it was a fantastic time. Obviously I couldn't referee any of their games but I went to quite a few of them and it's really a wonderful period of my life that I look back on with a lot of pride and good memories."
Lodge sent off famous names such as Roy Keane, twice, Patrick Vieira, Dietmar Hamann and Nicky Butt. He said: "Whenever I see Roy Keane now we have a big hug and he's one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet. He doesn't hold any animosity towards me for a couple of situations we had in the past.
"Ian Wright was a real problem player for me to referee but, about ten years ago, I was on holiday in Florida and he came up to me and gave me a big hug. I speak to him quite a lot now.
"Sir Alex Ferguson used to give me some right hammer. I bumped into him a few years ago and he said: 'I always used to say you were one of the better referees.' I said: 'you never used to say that at the time.' We get on very well and he's a lovely guy. You always think: 'if I bump into this guy, how is he going to be with me?' But out of the working environment when they are under a lot of pressure, they are all normal guys."
Lodge also met a very famous name outside football when he refereed an 1997 international friendly between South Africa and the Netherlands in Johannesburg. He worked for Barnsley Council at the time, alongside his refereeing duties, and was instructed to present Nelson Mandela with a framed picture of the town's Mandela Gardens on the pitch.
He said: "I walked towards him with the photo and all his security men rushed towards me and blocked me. They wanted to inspect it in case it was a bomb or something. It was amazing. I presented it to him and he said it would be pride of place. Whether it was or not I don't know."
Steve had never considered a career as a referee until he was 19 and playing local football for a Barnsley team called National Reserve. He said: "We had too many players and no ref so someone asked me if I would do it. I didn't really want to but I quite enjoyed it and it went from there."
He then received his referee's training while working his way through the local leagues then being a linesman and referee in the Football League in the 1980s. He had become a top level official by the time the Premier League started in 1992 and refereed international football from 1991 to 2000. He retired in 2002 and became a UEFA referee observer – a role he still holds with a trip to Glasgow this week to see Celtic's youth team take on Anderlecht.
"I assess the officials in a report and send it to UEFA. It's a fantastic experience to go around the world and see places you would never, ever get to otherwise."
Steve also has a similar role for the EFL and is a referee's evaluator for the Premier League, reviewing footage of two top flight matches per week. Outside of football, he has a part-time job as the company secretary to the board of directors of Barnsley Premier Leisure, a role he took up seven years ago after a 38-year career as a committee administrator for the council.
"BPL is a great organisation which is promoting local sport and I think they are doing a great job."I am supposed to be retired but, with my assessing and BPL, I am virtually working full-time."
