A FOOTBALL referee from Barry who has been officiating for 38 years says he has no plans to retire, despite being dropped by the Vale of Glamorgan Association Football League.
John Miller, 65, began refereeing in 1988 and despite his age, he still takes charge of between 70 and 100 games per season.
John explained how his long refereeing career began: “My mother’s best friend was a lady called Sandra Whittaker, who is sadly no longer with us. She was an auntie figure to me and our family were very close to her.
“Sandra was the first woman in Wales to obtain a coaching badge, and she was the first woman in Wales to be the secretary of a football league.
“Her son, David Whittaker was playing local league football at the time. Sadly, he died recently, and I’ll be taking his funeral service in the next few weeks.
“Sandra encouraged me to go into refereeing, and it went from there. In terms of fitness, at this level, it’s a matter of keeping up with the game, and there are no formal fitness requirements, though I do one 10K run per year.”
John had a career working in schools where he helped children with behavioural and learning difficulties, and he believes the need for good communication in his day job stood him in good stead for his refereeing duties: “A big part of my job involved finding out why children were behaving the way they were, and to find out what was going on at home.
“Very often, they would be fine for, say, six months, then their father would come out of prison and they’d be back to square one. I’d ask them what was going on, and they’d say, ‘Dad came out of prison yesterday’.
“The children would open up to me to a far greater degree than they would with their schoolteachers, though, to be fair, the teachers wouldn’t have had the time to get to the root cause of the problems.
“The key was good communication, and that’s very important when you’re refereeing a football match. Players appreciate the right balance of firmness and clarity,” he said.
John paid tribute to Michele, his wife of 36 years, for helping him in his refereeing. He said: “Michele has been marvellous with the encouragement and support she has given me. I typically referee three matches on a Saturday and more at midweek when the evenings start getting lighter.
“Michele effectively gives up her Saturdays for nine months of the year to support me in my refereeing, and I’m immensely grateful to her for all that she does.”
Reflecting on his long refereeing career, John recalls officiating players who went on to make it at professional level: “I’ve taken charge of matches where there were young players who went on to play for Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Southampton.
“Kristian Dimond was somebody who really stood out for me. He played for Cardiff City, Swansea City and Crystal Palace, but his career was cut short by a broken ankle. He became a Christian minister, and he’s now the pastor at Wellington Evangelical Chapel in Herefordshire,” he said.
John expressed concerns about the behaviour of some parents on the touchline of youth football matches. He said: “There’s a fine line between parents encouraging their children and them behaving like wannabe managers and aggressively shouting from the touchline.
“In Manchester and Liverpool, youth football matches have a parents’ zone, they’re not allowed to stand anywhere they like, and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are present at every game. I’d welcome a similar approach in our area.”
John’s refereeing career in the Vale of Glamorgan Association Football League (VoGAFL) ended in late 2025 against his will, and he says he has not been given a satisfactory explanation for the decision: “I’d refereed around 20 matches in the VoGAFL this season but in November the league didn’t put me on the fixture list and that’s remained the case ever since.
“I think there’s a lot of internal politics at play. It’s been said that I’ve had a lot of complaints made against me, but in reality, I only typically get around three or four per season, which isn’t a very high number at all when you consider the number of games I officiate.
“I intend making myself available elsewhere, particularly in the Bridgend area. I love refereeing and see no reason to stop,” he said.
Mark Harvey, VoGAFL Chairman said: “We made our decision based on reports provided by South Wales Football Association which Mr Miller was aware of.
“The committee voted overwhelmingly to no longer use Mr Miller as a referee for VoGAFL fixtures based on the reports and the concerns raised.”
By Marcus Stead – News Reporter
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