Arthur Barton

Arthur Barton was one of the best known Football League referees up to the outbreak of World War II. The son of professor Edwin Henry Barton, a physics professor at the University of Nottingham, Arthur was educated at Nottingham High School and then Trinity College Cambridge. He then served during World War I as a second-lieutenant with the Royal Engineers. After the War, he became senior physics master at Repton school before being appointed headmaster at Sheffield’s King Edward VII school in 1938. He held that post for 12 years before taking up a similar position with the City of London school, which he held until his retirement at the age of 65.

As a referee, Barton’s first FIFA international appointment was the 1935 friendly between France and Sweden. He refereed two games at the 1936 Olympics, including the semi-final between Austria and Poland. Barton also officiated in two Home International matches, the first being Scotland v Wales in 1936/37, and the other was Wales v Northern Ireland in 1938/39. His finest honour domestically, was in being one of the linesman for the 1936 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Sheffield United at Wembley Stadium.