Bill Ling

An international referee between 1948-55, Bill Ling made his début just before the London Olympics and, at the Games, had the honour of refereeing the final between Sweden and Yugoslavia at Wembley Stadium. Ling was in charge of the semi-final tie between Hungary and Sweden at the 1952 Olympics and, at the FIFA World Cup in 1954, he was in charge of two matches, and they were probably the two most remembered matches of the tournament.

The first was when the “Mighty Magyars”, Hungary, overwhelmed West Germany 8-3 in a group game. The two countries met again in the final and Ling was again in charge. Hungary were defending an unbeaten run of 30 matches, stretching back four years, and raced into a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes. The Germans came back into the game and, with just minutes to go, led 3-2 before the legendary Ferenc Puskás scored what he thought was an equaliser. Ling gave the goal but the Welsh linesman Mervyn Griffiths waved for offside, and the goal was ruled out.

Ling retired from refereeing upon reaching the statutory retirement age of 47 but, before he left the professional game, had the honour of refereeing the 1951 FA Cup final between Newcastle United and Blackpool.