Mervyn "Sandy" Griffiths collection relating to being referee of 1953 Cup final between Blackpool v Bolton, otherwise known as "Matthews Final", his

Mervyn "Sandy" Griffiths collection relating to being referee of 1953 Cup final between Blackpool v Bolton, otherwise known as "Matthews Final", his own personal file of newspaper cuttings, cartoon, illustrations re: his involvement plus four b & w photographs covering his appointment with Sir Stanley Rous receiving his referee association appointment medal at dinner/public event celebrating occasion, Griffiths awarded the free kick from around the edge of the penalty box with two minutes to go from which Stan Mortensen equalised, the rest is history. Interesting insight before match, he purchased 50 programmes to give to his class in Newport, Wales and held up the kick off to allow Ernie Taylor to tie his laces, (qty) 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 Uruguay 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 and a further advert will be included in the Graham Budd World Cup Auction in November 2022.