Mervyn Griffiths World Cup 1950 exceptionally rare itinerary belonging to Griffiths re: England to cover complete World Cup 24th June to 16th July, i
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Mervyn Griffiths World Cup 1950 exceptionally rare itinerary belonging to Griffiths re: England to cover complete World Cup 24th June to 16th July, in the itinerary it shows the other four British referees travelled with the English team, Reader, Ellis, Leafe - England, Mitchell - Scotland, Griffiths is not mentioned so it is not know if he was a late addition or travelled independently; sold with various photographs including 1.) presentation folder Brazil v Yugoslavia 1st July with linemen Da Costa Portugal and Beranek Austria; 2.) smaller picture before match Brazil v Yugoslavia 1st July; 3.) linemen Yugoslavia v Switzerland 25th June with referee Davilo Italy, (4) Mervyn "Sandy" Griffiths international referee started his career as a linesman in 1939. And was a Football League referee from 1945-59 and FIFA listed 1949-58. He refereed international matches all over the world, together with the famous 1953 Cup final Bolton v Blackpool, his decision with two minutes to go enabled Stan Mortensen to equalise with a free kick, the rest is history. He went into the crowd before the match and bought 50 programmes to give to his pupils back in Newport, Wales, where he was a teacher. Griffiths represented Wales in three World Cups 1950, 1954 and 1958. In 1950 he appeared in the opening match as linesman and refereed Brazil v Yugoslavia and Uruguay v Spain. In 1954 he refereed the opening game Yugoslavia v France and semi-final Hungary v Uruguay and assisted William Ling as lineman in the final Hungary v West Germany with the score at 3-2 Griffiths flagged for offside, Ferenc Puskas shot which beat West Germany goalkeeper Toni Turek. In 1958 he refereed Yugoslavia v France and Brazil v France in semi-final. He set a unique hat tick, first Welshman to referee an international at Wembley, to referee a Cup final and the only Welshman to appear in a World Cup Final. Next two lots also relate to Mervyn "Sandy" Griffiths.