ANDY BRECKS THE MOULD

A hearty handshake from Andy Breckell is worth a thousand tunes from the instruments of any band.

An hour in the company of this gregarious man, who exudes genuine friendliness, and you might begin to think you have a mate for life.

It was photographer Jonathan Barry, a man with an elephantine memory as well as an eye for a pic, who helped establish the most pleasing facet of Breckell's personality.

"I know you from somewhere, I've definitely seen you before," said Barry, once inside Breckell's home in Huncoat.

He replied, "Would it have been on Crimewatch?" before standing side-on and striking a persuasive gangster-like profile.

With wit like that, he has no problem handling the burden of being a football referee or the vilification this occupation persistently attracts.

Tomorrow he will be at Wembley as one of the two assistant referees to Martin Bodenham from Cornwall for the Coca-Cola Cup final between Leicester and Middlesbrough.

His only other visit to the twin-towered stadium was when, as a member of Lancashire Under 18s cricket team, a tour was organised in 1970 - and his day should be just as straightforward tomorrow.

All he has to do is run up and down a straight line for 90 minutes, stick his flag up at the right times and avoid the temptation to jam it up someone's backside.

The last of these tasks is probably the most difficult, for referees and linesmen are among the most pilloried species on the face of the planet.

Torrents of abuse flow from pitch and stands in equal profusion.

Their only allies are the other guys in black whose origins are also being questioned.

If your skin isn't thicker than the curd on your granny's rice pudding, officiating at football matches isn't for you. People say you're crackers being a referee.

"But I think being a part of the game is the attraction," suggested Breckell whose first Football League assignment was Stockport-Leyton Orient in 1988.

And, though tomorrow is primarily a celebration for Leicester and Middlesbrough, it is his biggest day in football too.

"And, of course, you visit grounds you mightn't have got to as a spectator.

"The pluses handsomely outweigh the downside I think."

The downside is that even people of reasonable disposition are liable to lump referees in the same category as war criminals, bank robbers and Third World dictators.

"Abuse doesn't worry me," said Breckell with wide-eyed sincerity.

"It's when fans start throwing things and spitting while you're running the line that annoys me.

"I've never been hit but some coins have whistled past not far out of my range.

"But it's like anything, you'll always get an idiot somewhere who'll spoil it.

"If it's an odd one, you don't mind.

"But then you start thinking that it's easy for someone to throw a coin that might hit you in the corner of the eye ... and it's silly really."

Breckell is obviously a brave man too, for when it comes to talking about eyes and linesmen, many fans would insist that the damage which could be done by a flying coin is negligible anyway.

Others suggest the need for visual aids, the 'four eyes are better than two' theory which is a hard one to argue with.

Surely in this high-tech age there are means of making sure that the eyes of referees and linesmen are not the only official ones trained on the field.

"The demands placed on referees nowadays are terrible and the standard some pundits look for from them unattainable," advised Breckell, whose daughter Sarah is an accomplished volleyball player for Lancashire and a member of Hyndburn netball team.

"Sky might have improved the spectators' view of the game but the officials' view of things remain the same.

"There are 24 Sky cameras at every game.

"They show pictures from every angle, every other angle and the referee still sees just one.

"It's not hard to spot something that the referee might not, given the sheer scale of the technology.

"I think there are certain times when a third or fourth official could come in.

"There was something on TV during the week about the ball crossing the line and using a device something like a microwave so that if the ball goes over a signal is generated.

"But football is a fast game.

"It's not like American football or cricket where there are natural lulls in the action.

"I cannot see spectators accepting breakages in play to view controversial incidents, or instances where the referee has been unsighted, on a big screen.

"Maybe the ball crossing the line, as in Geoff Hurst's 1966 World Cup final goal, could be looked into.

"But even with a replay there for him, the referee would still have to make a split-second decision about whether to consult it.

"And meanwhile the ball's back in play."

Likewise, the primary job for a linesman, or referee's assistant as they are these days - ruling on offside decisions - is not as simple as some punters see it.

"The rules of the game are constantly being tampered with," added Breckell.

"They've tried to improve the offside rule by talking about 'active areas'.

"If somebody's coming back then he's not offside - I mean if a centre forward has challenged the keeper, is tracking back and the ball is played in to someone else on the attacking team.

"Then last year or two years ago they changed the rule that if a forward is in line with the last defender he's offside - now the forward has the benefit of the doubt.

"I find the worst part about judging offsides is when the ball is running down the same side you're running the line.

"So you're obviously looking down the line to see whether it's gone out of play for a throw-in.

"Meanwhile you're also waiting for the cross or the through ball to be played and you have to know where everyone is stood, all at the same time."

Having half of Andy Gray's studio gadgetry at your disposal at that time might come in handy.

But Breckell's own football pedigree is just as significant.

In the 1970s he played for Accrington Stanley but his passion for cricket - he kept wicket for Accrington in the Lancashire League too - and a shoulder injury resulted in the football boots being prematurely hung up.

"I always remember my final football game - there was an assessor stood behind the goals who I knew and was talking to and he was monitoring the performance of the referee," recalled Breckell, now chairman of the Accrington Referees' Society and appointments secretary for the Hyndburn and District Boys' League.

"I went down for this ball and somebody kicked me on the back of the head, accidentally.

"And he just said, 'Well, you wouldn't get kicked refereeing'."

As his career in refereeing took off, Breckell rose through the ranks of local government.

He now serves as a fair trading officer at Burnley Council.

"We deal with all sorts of criminal activity - clocking of cars, food description, etc," he explained.

"I think in general behavioural standards have slipped and this is reflected in the job."

Breckell's own standards never stood much chance of slipping, having been ingrained in him by hardworking parents Albert and Ethel.

Albert, who attended almost every game his son officiated at, died two weeks ago.

"Only the day before we were talking of going to Wembley," said Andy.

Now he will make the journey with his wife and daughter.

But in some corner of the stadium, there will be an old man concentrating as much on the interventions of one of the assistant referees as on the exploits of either team.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.