Fran feted for services to refereeing
NEWTOWNMOUNTKENNEDY’S Fran Martin was rewarded for his unwavering commitment to refereeing as he was recently crowned ISRS Person of the Year.
Martin first took up the whistle when he joined the Wicklow Branch of the ISRS 42 years ago and almost half a century later; his services were recognised with the touching award that saw him tipped ahead of many other candidates in the running for the honour.
Fran was nominated by his Garden County colleagues due to his many contributions that he has made to the Wicklow branch of the Irish Soccer Referees Society and to the society as a whole.
Fran’s steadfast belief in society has never faltered throughout the years and has only strengthened. He has always believed that every referee in the country that is really interested in refereeing should be in the society and he has always encouraged every referee he has come into contact with to join.
Fran served as chairman of the Wicklow branch for over 25 years and during this period, the branch had over 50 members - the vast bulk of which were grade one.
Fran retired from refereeing a long time ago but it did little to reduce his involvement – his passion saw him remain an active and loyal member of the society.
Fran continues to play an integral part in the society and is still the council rep for the Wicklow branch, travelling the length and breadth of the country to represent his beloved branch and society.
His most recent involvement was representing the society council at the FAI’s AGM in Cork, despite being diagnosed with an illness a few weeks beforehand as Fran felt he would be letting his colleagues down if he withdrew as the delegate - something he viewed as honour. Fran made the trip despite his diagnosis and represented council with his usual professionalism and dignity.
In his acceptance speech, Fran went on to say how honoured he was at receiving such an award and thanked his colleagues in the Wicklow branch for nominating him and the national council of the ISRS for choosing him.