William Ling (referee)

The son of Mr. and Mrs. Hayden Ling, William Ling was born in Hemel Hempstead. During World War II he served as a major in British Army in Egypt. He worked his entire professional life in the printing trade when not refereeing or in military service. He was married to the Rev. Betty Griffiths-Ling, a minister in the United Church of Christ in 1978, and was heavily involved in church activities associated with that denomination.^[2] Ling had a daughter, Valerie, and two sons, William and Christopher. He died on 8 May 1984 in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Shediac.^[1]

Ling rose quickly through the ranks as a referee. He was initially on the supplementary list as a Football League match official but even so was selected to participate in the 1948 Olympic Games football tournament along with George Reader, Stanley Boardman and A. C. Williams from Brighton. Ling refereed both the first round match involving Sweden, the quarter-final involving Italy and was then selected for the final between Sweden and Yugoslavia. The final itself turned on two penalty decisions early in the second half (both of which were denied to the Yugoslavians) and which affected their temperament. Bernard Joy, in the 1960 publication "Association Football" (p.470), wrote: "The setbacks rattled the Yugoslavs, their behaviour got out of hand for a spell and they did not recover their rhythm. What made matters worse was when Gunnar Gren converted a penalty midway through the second half. It is true that Gunnar Nordahl was bowled over, but the offence looked no worse than those committed by the Swedish centre half Bertil Nordahl."

By the start of the next season (1948–49) Ling had become a Football League referee, and within three years had been appointed to control an FA Cup Final.^[3][4]

Ling refereed the FA Cup Final in 1951, in which Newcastle United beat Blackpool with two Jackie Milburn goals.