JACK TAYLOR

• Taylor's father was also a butcher. Working in his father's shop Jack used to listen to a costumer telling him stories about refereeing. He decided to try it and although his first match was a disaster he was persuaded to go on.
• In 1965 they didn't have the advantage rule for the away goal, so when Hannover and Barcelona both won their home matches for the Fairs Cup, they had to toss a coin to decide where to play the play-off. The play-off was refereed by Taylor and stayed undecided after 120 minutes. They didn't have the shoot-out either in 1965 so another coin toss had to decide the winner (Barcelona).
• In 1976 two teams from the four race groups (really....) in South Africa played each other for the Chevrolet Cup. The two legged final was between Kaiser Chiefs and Hellenic, both refereed by Jack Taylor. The first match in Cape town was won by Hellenic 4-1.
  The second match was held in Johannesburg. When Hellenic scored from a possible off-side situation, the home team protested and the goalie sat down, heldd on to the ball and refused to play on. Then Chiefs supporters started throwing things on the field and the Hellenic players walked off and so did Jack Taylor. After 20 minutes or so play was resumed and Kaiser Chiefs won 2-1, saving everybody the anticipated riot.
  Mixed tournaments between racial pure teams (purity according to the apartheid standard) were a way of showing the world South Africa meant well. Of course the opposite effect was reached. Jack Taylor, at that time the most famous referee in the world, shouldn't have been there in the first place. But these were different times.
  
  (source: Ian Hawkey)