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ARTHUR KINGSCOTT - THE MAN IN BLACK

Derbyshire was home to many well-known footballers of the Victorian and Edwardian age. But in terms of celebrity they were rivalled by a leading referee of that era. He was Arthur Kingscott, a lifelong resident of Sawley, who holds a unique place in English football history. He was also a high-ranking FA official who late in his career suffered an alarming fall from grace. Peter Seddon tells his story.

Association Football referee Arthur Kingscott on a cigarette card circa 1900. He was a lifelong resident of Sawley in South Derbyshire

A cutting from the Derby Evening Telegraph of 15 December 1933. The man pictured is the 1931 FA Cup Final referee Arthur 'Henry' Kingscott, who had just resigned from the Football League list after his father Arthur Kingscott senior had been dragged into an unsavoury football scandal

Arthur G. Kingscott was born in the south-east Derbyshire village of Sawley in 1864. By the time he died there in 1937 he had become one of the best-known names in association football.

Although a talented amateur player in his youth, he first attained celebrity as a referee. His career in first-class match control spanned 1891 to 1906, and he once went twelve full seasons without missing a single Saturday in charge of a Football League game.

He was known to be stern but fair, if not at times a little too autocratic. This was not unusual, for officials in the Victorian and Edwardian age were prone to be far more authoritarian than they are today - indeed referees in that era acquired the rather grand epithet 'Knights of the Whistle' and were rather looked up to.

That is by the football authorities at least, for the same could not always be said of the crowd and players.

In fact at least one jibe directed towards a referee seems to have changed little in over a century - a 1901 newspaper report said: 'Such was the ire aroused by Mr. Kingscott's decision to award a goal, that a section of the crowd took it upon themselves to vociferoulsy question his parentage whenever the opportunity presented itself, which it did on several occasions thereafter'. Oh for such finely-crafted prose today!

Kingscott was also an important figure in Derbyshire football administration. He was President of the Midland League and dominant in the Derbyshire FA. His influence also extended to the highest level nationally - he sat on the international selection committee and was sometimes deputed to travel abroad with the England team. At a time when the national side had no official 'manager' Kingscott was in effect 'in charge' on such occasions.

As an able administrator he was from 1919 to 1933 the highly-respected Honorary Treasurer of the Football Association. It should be remembered too that he discharged all of his football duties both on and off the field while working as an auditor at the London Midland & Scottish Railway offices in Derby. Evidently the leave arrangements were quite generous.

He has a unique claim to fame in English football. By taking charge of both the 1900 and 1901 FA Cup Finals - including a replay in the latter - he became the only man in the twentieth century to wield the whistle in two Cup Finals. Soon after Kingscott had been so honoured, it became convention that referees would be granted a Final on only one occasion.

Nor is that the only unique record in which Kingscott is involved. His son Arthur 'Henry' Kingscott also became a first-class referee, serving on the Football League list from 1921 to 1933. He too reached the pinnacle, being given charge of the 1931 FA Cup Final between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City - that made A. G. and A. H. Kingscott the only father and son in history to referee an English FA Cup Final.

Yet despite Kingscott senior having forged an unimpeachable reputation in the Football Association ranks, his days as an administrator ended sadly and mired in controversy.

The incident which precipitated his downfall occurred in the referee's room before the 1933 FA Cup Final between Everton and Manchester City.

There had been accusations that Cup Final referees had for some time been accepting 'inducements' from manufacturers who were keen to see their own brand of ball selected for the Final Tie. So Arthur Kingscott was deputed in 1933 to visit the referee Mr. Wood shortly before kick-off. The idea was that the FA official would ensure fair play was done. But Wood later claimed - after fully eight months had passed - that his honour had been impugned and that Kingscott's intervention was tantamount to an accusation.

In fact Kingscott had done nothing more than oversee the matter in a slightly high-handed manner - he should certainly have been backed up by his FA colleagues. The charge had all the appearance of being 'trumped up'.

It seemed there were petty jealousies abroad in the FA corridors of power, and in the event Arthur Kingscott was thoroughly 'stitched up'. Shamefully snubbed by rival factions making their own way up the FA ladder, he was asked to resign his position as Treasurer. He did so but lodged a well-conceived appeal. However, even after a lengthy enquiry he was not exonerated.

The case dubbed the 'Kingscott Sensation' was closely followed by the press at every turn, which was a great embarrassment to a family with such upright values. The clan soon closed ranks, and in December 1933 A. H. Kingscott resigned from the League referees list in support of his father. Needless to say, the press dubbed this development the 'New Kingscott Sensation'.

Although Kingscott senior received many letters of support from friends and members of the public, he felt severely let down by his erstwhile FA colleagues and considered his reputation built up over many years lay in tatters. He protested his absolute innocence until his dying day.

Arthur Kingscott passed away in Sawley in 1937 at the age of 73. As a mark of respect the Midland League placed a plaque in the Parish Church of All Saints commemorating his life. It can be seen there to this day, as can his grave in the churchyard - two unusual links to the early days of association football in the most unexpected of places.

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County:  Derbyshire

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