Britain's oldest football referee, who officiated matches until he was 88, has died. William "Harry" Hardy started overseeing matches in 1959 but only retired in the 2015-16 season after a fall. He refereed more than 3,000 football matches. The Erewash Valley Referee Society said he died on Wednesday - two days before his 92nd birthday. Mr. Hardy's son, Chris, said he was "very proud of him". Prince William, president of the Football Association, gave Mr. Hardy a medal for services to football in 2013.
Mr. Hardy, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, received a British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours the following year. His son said the father-of-two suffered a heart attack on Saturday and had deteriorated in the days that followed. He added: "I'm very proud of him and so are all his six grandchildren. I used to get took [to matches] with him. [Before one game] there was two inches of snow and he'd say 'we're playing!' He encouraged loads of people [to take up refereeing] and brought a lot through who have gone on to referee across the world". Pete Carter, chairman of the Erewash Valley Referee Society, said: "In a nutshell he was a true gentleman and he couldn't do enough for anyone, especially young referees. He just loved football. The majority of his time was taken up with football and refereeing. A lot of people don't know this about him, but Harry was a very good footballer in his day. Unfortunately he packed it in after he broke his leg. When I first took over the role 20 years ago, Harry helped me an enormous amount." Mr. Hardy, who also had six great-grandchildren, joined Erewash Valley Referee Society in 1959 and from 1963 served in office as secretary for more than 55 years.
