A former footballer who became a referee, known for officiating in the 1970 World Cup and being the first referee to award a penalty in the tournament's final.
Jack Taylor, an English football referee, is famously known for officiating the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final between West Germany and Netherlands, where he awarded two penalties in the first 30 minutes, including the first penalty kick ever awarded in a World Cup final.
Taylor was born on May 21, 1930, and left school at the age of 14 to work in his father's butcher shop. It was during this time that he met Jim Lock, the secretary of the local football referees association branch, who encouraged him to train as a referee.
Taylor qualified as a class 3 referee and refereed his first game at the age of 17. With the help of Lock and other prominent Midlands football officials, Taylor progressed to officiating at 70 to 80 matches a season in local leagues.
In 1953, Taylor was nominated by the Birmingham FA to be a linesman in a forthcoming international in France. At the age of 25, he became the youngest linesman on the English Football League's list, running the line in a Division Three South match between Coventry City and Bournemouth in August 1955.
Three years later, he was promoted to the supplementary list of league referees, officiating at a Fourth Division match between Southport and Hartlepool United. In 1962, aged 31, he refereed the FA Amateur Cup final at Wembley Stadium between Crook Town and Hounslow Town.
In 1964, Taylor refereed a match between Brazil and Argentina in Rio de Janeiro, and the following year was invited to referee two games between Brazil and the Soviet Union, as both teams prepared for the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
Taylor was later described by the Football League as perhaps the finest English referee of all time.
Taylor's officiating career spanned over three decades, and his historic World Cup final performance cemented his place in football history. He will always be remembered as one of the most notable referees in the history of the sport.
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