Frans Derks

Born in 1930 in Vaals, Limburg, Derks went to boarding school and studied mechanical engineering in Zürich. After graduation, he became crisis manager and director at a cleaning company. He also was a quizmaster, singer (he recorded a song with Willem van Hanegem) and writer.^[1]

Active from the 1950s through the 1970s, Derks was a flamboyant and outspoken referee, known for wearing tight shorts during matches. He was much appreciated by Dutch players for not stopping matches too much and not showing many cards, cheekily declaring he had no space left in his shorts for cards. He claimed never to have refereed a match won by a German team, a promise he had made to his late father.^[2]