At our Annual Awards Evening this month, we were proud to present John Holman with his FA Referee Award celebrating 50 years in refereeing.

John completed his referee training as a youth with Crawley Referees Society, led by Mike Day, back in 1974 and started refereeing on the Crawley & District Football League, later progressing on to the Mid Sussex Football League and the Sussex County Football League.

In 1984, Southwick Football Club joined the Combined Counties Football League, and the league asked for a pool of six Assistant Referees to cover the Southwick fixtures. John applied and was successful.

1986 John was appointed by the County FA as ‘linesman’ to the Roy Hayden Trophy between Steyning Town and Three Bridges (the winners of the Sussex County Football League and the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup.

John was Promoted to a Class 1 Referee in 1989, the same year also saw John awarded his first of two appointments, on the Sussex Junior Challenge Cup Final, between the Crown & Anchor and Lavant. The second one came 13 years later in 2002, between Chichester Hospital and East Dean.

In 1995 John was nominated by the Sussex County FA to the South West Counties match between the Royal Navy and Wiltshire, played in Portsmouth. This was possibly John’s favourite appointment for hospitality!

John has served on the Southern Combination Football League, since 1990 to the present day.

If you, or someone you know, would like to be recognised for a significant milestone, simply fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch.
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To find out more about Long Service Awards please contact:

Awards
E: Awards@SussexFA.com