Bob Mann

Bob Mann played football before turning to refereeing, where he was appointed to the Football League list in 1947, and in 1956 he became a FIFA international referee. At the 1956 Olympics, he refereed two games and was linesman in three others. He was in charge of the semi-final between the Soviet Union and Bulgaria, and then ran the line in the final between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in front of 102,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Mann took charge of just one game in the Home International Championship, the 2-2 draw between Wales and Scotland at Ninian Park, Cardiff, in October 1956.

Mann officiated at many amateur internationals and refereed the 1955 FA Amateur Cup Final between Bishop Auckland and Hendon at Wembley. He was in line to take charge of the 1956 FA Cup Final had a Midlands team not reached the final, but that opportunity went when Birmingham City got to the final.

After ending his refereeing career, Mann established an insurance company called Mann Broadbent in 1961 with the purpose of providing insurance cover for teams engaging in amateur sport. His partner was Bob Broadbent, a former Worcestershire county cricketer who played 307 First Class matches.

Mann was also a Worcestershire FA Council member, and later in life became a racehorse owner, and one of his horses, Very Promising, was a good quality steeplechaser in the 1980s.

Mann was at one time a metal turner with a Worcester engineering firm but quit his job in 1958. The company had been good to him by giving him time off to officiate at the Olympic Games and other overseas matches, but this caused friction amongst workmates on the shop floor, and Mann had no option but to resign.