The talk of referees in football has never been a positive one, especially this season with Sir Alex Ferguson facing a 5-match ban for comments he made about match officials. But the men in black (or whatever colour they’re wearing these days) have a history in the game, without them football games would not be able to function and the rules they are using are in place to make the game better. A pioneer in football rules and refereeing is former English referee Ken Aston.

He is probably best remembered for being the referee during the infamous World Cup game between Italy and Chile in 1962 which was dubbed ‘The Battle of Santiago’ because of the large degree of violence and brawls during the game and credit to Aston for keeping the game playable for 90 minutes.

But Aston was more than just a top referee at that time, he was the man who invented the red and yellow card system after some confusion during a game between England and Argentina at the 1966 World Cup. England’s Jack Charlton had called the press office after the game after reading he had been cautioned by the German referee, baring this in mind Aston came up with the idea of a yellow (steady) and red (stop) card system after stopping at traffic lights. His idea meant that the cards could be universally used in games and break down language barriers. It was first used in the 1970 World Cup.

His involvement in the game did not stop there as he was the first referee to use the black with white trim as a uniform which became standard attire for match officials. Previously, in 1947 he introduced bright yellow flags for linesman to use having previously used the colours of the home team.

He also introduced the idea of a substitute referee in 1966 in case the match official couldn’t continue. Other inventions were the number boards to announce substitutions and he proposed that the pressure of the football to be written into the laws of the game.

Ken Aston, who was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Indian Army during World War II, was FIFA’s Head of World Cup Referees for the 1966, 1970 and 1974 tournaments. His legacy lives on today, where the red and yellow card system is still used as an important part of keeping order in the game whilst keeping everyone informed about key decisions.

But, for those who’ve not seen any footage of that infamous ‘Battle of Santiago’ game, then check it out on the video clip below for some astonishing scenes during a World Cup game. And if you’re watching it with other people, you can inform them of how important the referee Ken Aston was to football.

One quote from Aston which I love was what he admitted after this game : “I wasn’t reffing a football match, I was acting as an umpire in military maneuvers.”