OFFICIATING at the Oxfordshire Senior Cup final was the goal of every football referee in the county.

It was certainly one of the high spots in the career of Ron Finnerty, who was in charge of the memorable 1966 final between Quarry Nomads and Chipping Norton.

As we recalled (Memory Lane, May 2 and 9), Quarry claimed the trophy with a 2-0 victory at Oxford United’s Manor Ground at Headington before a crowd of 1,602.

The humble Oxfordshire Senior League side confounded everyone that year with a giant-killing run, which included defeating mighty Oxford City. They were asked to change their colours for the final and had to borrow shirts from rivals Barton FC because they didn’t have a second strip.

Mr Finnerty, of Towersey Drive, Thame, has a copy of the programme for the match, on Easter Monday, April 11.

He writes: “The final was a closer affair than the score indicates and being played in Headington, attracted a great deal of local support for the Quarry team.

“I seem to recall having to calm down the fiery Keith Dolton (Quarry’s left back) on a couple of occasions.

“In those days, if a player was sent off in a cup final, he risked forfeiting his medal, so referees always tried to keep all 22 players on the pitch. My two linesmen (R Hall, of Witney, and E J Hearn, of Kidlington) were a great help on the day.”

After receiving a bye in the first round, Quarry beat Thame United 3-2 and Pressed Steel 8-1 before knocking out City 1-0 in a semi-final replay.

Earlier, Mr Finnerty had been interviewed by sports writer John Parsons for the Referees’ Corner column in Sports Mail, the Saturday evening sports paper popularly known as the ‘Green ‘Un’. The article read: “It will be Ron’s first Oxfordshire FA final in 13 years as a referee and a well-deserved honour for a young referee who might have been pressing for a place on the Football League list but for a break of one season in 1963-4 when he temporarily hung up his boots and put away the whistle.

“He admits with almost gleeful candour that he became a referee principally because he was such a poor player. ‘I used to play for Viking Sports second team and I think they regarded me as a third team candidate if they had started one’, he reflects.

“Then, at the age of 21, Ron spotted an article in the Sports Mail appealing for newcomers to refereeing and in next to no time, he was coached to his certificate by Peter Bampton.”

Mr Finnerty describes the 1965-6 season as his “breakthrough year” – he was then appointed a referee in the Isthmian League, in which Oxford City played, and became a Football League linesman.

His career as an official once took him abroad – the picture shows him with fellow officials at a European Cup Winners’ Cup tie between FC Steaua Bucharest and PSV Eindhoven.

The teams in the 1966 Oxfordshire Senior Cup final were: Quarry Nomads: L Simmonds; P Roberts, K Dolton; C Wright, B Deards, L Smith; J Scudder, R Earl, N Burnley, M Washington, M Palmer.

Chipping Norton: A Weedon; D Hovard, D Williams; T Cox, J Newman, R Cole; D Keen, W Perrie, T Sims, J Evans, G Robinson.