Jeff Winter: chased out of Toon

The former ref made a swift getaway after one explosive fixture – but at least Anfield spectators appreciated him...

It’s 16 years since you retired as a Premier League referee – have you still been going to football matches?

Since my refereeing career finished in 2004, I’ve followed hometown club Middlesbrough home and away, and also Rangers home and away. I watch Hartlepool and Darlington, too, and further down the pyramid I’ll turn up at Stockton Town and Redcar Athletic. During a normal season, I’ll go to about 150 games.

So you’re something of a football fanatic?

The first time I ever went to Ayresome Park, Boro’s old home, I got hooked. From the age of about eight, I’ve been football daft. I only became a referee by accident – and it really was an accident. I used to work in a bank – fans who knew my background would chant, “The referee’s a banker” – and the secretary of the North Riding County FA was one of my customers. He kept badgering me to go on a refereeing course. I did it, quite enjoyed it and officiated a couple of Sunday matches, but never thought of refereeing as a career. The following year, I had a junior match on a Saturday which clashed with a Boro game. It was the first home match I was missing in 15 years, and I remember driving one way and seeing the fans driving the other. I often thought about parking up and going to watch Boro, but I kept driving and the rest is history.

Why do you follow Rangers?

I worshipped Jim Baxter as a kid, and my love for Rangers grew from there. During the ’ 90s, when commitments allowed, I’d go to some of their European matches, and since retiring

I must have been to every Scottish ground. I really enjoyed that season they had to start again in the fourth tier – Brechin was the first game. In the last few years, I’ve been to 10 European games – those trips are so special.

Do you ever shout at the referees?

I did it all the time growing up, but when you learn the laws of the game, you become a bit of a bore. People around you are going mad and you’re going, “Well, actually you’re wrong and the referee is right.” I guess it’s a case of once a ref, always a ref.

Any good tales from your time in the game?

I remember I was the fourth official on the day that Uriah Rennie sent off Alan Shearer against Aston Villa at St James’ Park. Alan’s a god up there and the fans were up in arms. The Toon Army felt Uriah had committed the ultimate crime, and to make matters worse, Newcastle lost. We had to be smuggled out of the dressing room, through the club shop and into a people carrier waiting for us. But hundreds of angry Geordies spotted us, and I screamed at the driver to put his foot down and ignore the traffic lights. He wouldn’t go through a red light, so we had all these fans banging on the windows trying to get Uriah. Fortunately, nothing came of it!

Your autobiography is called Who’s The

B***** d In The Black? You obviously don’t take yourself too seriously...

I was keen to call it ‘ A Winter’s Tale’, but the publishers wanted something more dramatic. It’s true, though, I can laugh at myself. When I first started after- dinner speaking, I’d walk into the room wearing dark glasses, carrying a white stick. My sense of humour did get me plenty of abuse from Liverpool fans, however.

The infamous quote about Anfield?

When I was doing notes for my book, I wrote about my last game at Anfield and how the knowledgeable Scousers gave me a round of applause when I was in front of the Kop just before full- time. The sentence was followed by two exclamation marks, which didn’t go in the book. It made me seem like a big- headed twat, which I’m not. Let’s face it, no one gives a toss about the referee. But that story about thinking the fans were applauding me made a few headlines, which I didn’t mind – it may have helped shift a few copies! Actually, that was a great weekend. I’d been to the Grand National the previous day to watch my mate Graham Lee win on Amberleigh House, then refereed Liverpool vs Blackburn, and on the way home I got a call saying I’d be in charge of the FA Cup final.

That was Manchester United 3- 0 Millwall in 2004 – hardly a classic…

Everyone likes to be involved in the big games and, domestically, they come no bigger than the FA Cup final. My last ever match and a TV audience of a billion or so. Brilliant! The game was a one- sided United win. No controversy, just one yellow card – hardly the thriller that viewers would want but ideal for me. In any walk of life, if you have a nightmare you can make amends a week later, but that was my swansong. If I’d had a stinker, I’d have taken that game to my grave and my career would have been remembered for that one match.

Do you have favourite and least favourite personalities from those days?

Some refs get carried away with their own importance and want to be best mates with everyone – it’s not about being Mr Popular. But there were individuals I liked enormously, none more than Sir Bobby Robson – he was an absolute gentleman and one of the finest men I’ve had the privilege of knowing. People ask me about my relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson. He’s a clever man and born winner, who would do everything in his power and use every tactic under the sun to win a game.

What about players?

I loved Gianfranco Zola – you couldn’t meet a nicer bloke. At the time, a lot of foreigners were joining English clubs, so I tried to learn a few phrases in different languages. I was never fluent in Italian but he was someone who appreciated the gesture and chatted to me. Ninety per cent of footballers are decent. Characters who many fans think are wrong ’ uns – guys like Dennis Wise and Paul Ince – I tended to get on quite well with. You could have a bit of banter with them.

So, who were in Jeff Winter’s bad books?

One was Danny Mills, who later joined Boro! I sent him off for Leeds [ at Arsenal] and he’s never forgiven me. We rubbed each other up the wrong way. Steve Staunton was another. He made it clear he didn’t like me as a person and didn’t rate me as a ref, and when people have that attitude, it’s never going to change.

What’s the worst thing you’ve been called on a football pitch?

It’s got to be the ‘ c’ word, and I’m not talking about the expletive. Every ref makes mistakes but I like to think that 99.99 per cent of them have integrity, so there’s nothing worse than being labelled a cheat. As David Elleray once told Tony Adams, “I might be useless but I’m no cheat.” North of the border, all those Old Firm conspiracy theories are crazy. If I felt for a minute that referees were cheating for any reason – religion, colour, club allegiance – I’d walk away from the game.

“FOR MY AFTER- DINNER SPEAKING, I’D WALK IN WEARING DARK GLASSES, HOLDING A WHITE STICK”