11/10/2023
Today, 11th October the world celebrates International Referees' Day.
HISTORY OF NIGERIAN (FOOTBALL) REFEREES ASSOCIATION – (NRA)
With the level of British involvement in Football during the 20th Century, an era where imperialism and colonialism was at its peak, there is no doubt that the game of football alongside these Laws was exported to her colonies. Hence, football refereeing in Nigeria can be traced to early 1930s when the game of football was played among officers of the colonial administration, or with sailors among visiting merchant ships of the Royal Navy. During this period, the Laws of the Game were much clearer as most decision took the form of demonstration, gesticulation which added fun to the game until these demonstrations were outlawed by FIFA.3
In 1934, Lagos Referees Association was the first created and organized body of Football Referees in Nigeria, it was created to aid social interaction and was appropriately given that name because all the referees who officiated at that time resided in Lagos, Lagos was the area of football activities and the centre of British administration in Nigeria. The Association was then led by F.B. Mulford. Some of the pioneer Referees in Nigeria were British, they played majored role in establishing a refereeing body in Nigeria, and they included: F.B. Mulford, G.O. Ilorin and Broadbent of the Railway, Major B. Holloway, Derby Allen and Rev. Fr. Dennis J. Slattery of the St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka Fame. Nigerians got involved in the profession in the early 1940s, few of them opted to act as linesmen (Assistant Referees), among the list of Nigerians who were part of the Lagos Referees Association were Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria, later B. J. Oni (Popularly nicknamed Nike-Nike), Bodier Daudu and L. Garmon among others.4
Reference:
3Nigeria (Football) Referees Association Referees Handbook, 2019.
4Nigeria (Football) Referees Association Referees Handbook, 2019. p.6
Excerpt from unpublished B.A. Project
