Jack Taylor

The 1974 World Cup Final is the match for which Wolverhampton–born Jack Taylor is best remembered; the match itself is best remembered for the first two penalties ever to be awarded in World Cup finals.

Shortly before the kick–off, Taylor noticed that there were no corner flags. They'd been removed for the closing ceremony, which had taken place before the final, and the ground staff had forgotten to put them back.

Just one minute after the delayed kick–off, Taylor awarded a penalty to the Netherlands, judging Uli Hoeness to have fouled Johan Cruyff. The second penalty came in the 25th minute, when the Dutch midfielder Wim Jansen was penalised for tripping the German left–sided midfielder Bernd Hölzenbein.

Taylor said later, "The first penalty wasn't difficult to call. All I remember is thinking it was a 100% correct decision. As the ball went on the spot the whole stadium went quiet. Beckenbauer, the German skipper, came to me and said 'Taylor, you're an Englishman'. The kick went in and there was complete euphoria.

"What really does annoy me is the suggestion that I gave [the second penalty] to even things up. It was a trip or an attempted trip and the laws of the game are that's a penalty."

Taylor served as a referee for 33 years – officiating in over 1,000 matches, in 60 countries, including over 100 internationals. He was in charge of the memorable 1966 FA Cup Final, between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and the 1971 European Cup Final, between Ajax and Panathiniakos – also played at Wembley.

He was on FIFA's list from 1963 to 1977. He was on the panel of referees for the 1970 World Cup Finals tournament in Mexico, when he took charge of a group game between Italy and Sweden.

This being the days before professional referees, Jack Taylor's primary source of income was the butcher's shop above which he'd grown up. According to Wikipedia, this was "next to" Molineux Stadium – home of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. In the twilight of his career as a referee, Wikipedia continues, he closed the shop and spent two seasons refereeing in Brazil. He then returned to England to become Commercial Director at Molineux, but lost this position in 1982 when a new consortium took charge of the club. He later became a refereeing coach in South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

He died at his Shropshire home on 27 July 2012, aged 82.