Where are they now?: Jack Taylor

SHOULD Philip Don be asked to take charge at the Rose Bowl next Sunday, he would be the first Englishman to referee a World Cup final since Jack Taylor in Munich 20 years ago.

Taylor, a butcher and magistrate from Wolverhampton, had to delay the start in 1974 because there were no corner flags. Then he awarded a penalty to the Netherlands when Uli Hoeness brought down Johan Cruyff before a West German had touched the ball.

'Whether it was the first 30 seconds or the last would have made no difference,' Taylor said. 'It was a blatant foul.' The penalty was the first in a World Cup final. After 25 minutes Taylor awarded a second, to the Germans.

A veteran of three World Cups, FA Cups and European Cup finals, awarded an OBE for services to football, Taylor feared withdrawal symptoms when age regulations in England compelled him to retire at 47. 'I had visited 60 countries in 30 years. It was such a full and colourful life.' He continued to officiate abroad, mainly in Brazil.

Now 63, Taylor sold his butcher shop and recently retired from the Bench. But he is far from idle. A former commercial manager at Wolves, he now works for the Football League 'as a link man between clubs and sponsors'.

He may also be found at Southwell or Wolverhampton races, where he is a Jockey Club steward, or saddling one of the point-to-pointers he and his wife, Sue, keep at their home in Shifnal, Shropshire.

(Photograph omitted)