2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of the West Coast Rugby Referees Association.

While the association is no longer in existence, I decided to research their history, and the following is a brief story of their wonderful journey, and of some of the incredible referees that helped make our game here on the Coast what it is today.

Since the inception of the earliest forms of Rugby Union on the West Coast in the 1870's, the game has always had a referee in the middle officiating the match, but it was not until 1923 that the referees organised themselves into a long-lasting established group, with the formation of the West Coast Rugby Referees Association.

Early records show that around the turn of last century referees were meeting to discuss various matters, but no formal body appears to have been in existence during that time.

The West Coast Rugby Union's annual report of 1910 shows a referees' committee of three, that comprised of the Rugby Unions president, secretary and a management committee member, while the Annual report of 1911 makes reference to a short lived West Coast Referees Association being established, that appeared to go out of existence at the outbreak of World War I.

On Wednesday April 18th, 1923, a public notice in the Grey River Argus stated that a meeting for the West Coast Rugby Referees Association was to be held at the Trinity Rooms the following evening at 7 o'clock, and that  "All referees and intending referees are requested to attend".

A further Grey River Argus article on the 23rd of April, 1923 under the headline "Referees Organise", stated that, "Following on the annual meeting of the West Coast Rugby Union, at which the suggestion was mooted, the referees have succeeded in forming a West Coast Referees' Association". And that, "At the first meeting of the Association held on Saturday evening Mr J.F Wilson presided over a fair attendance".

From that meeting, Mr B. Dunford was elected president, Captain F. W. Cox and Mr J. Heffernan vice-presidents, Mr N. W Jones was elected honourary secretary, while all active referees were to comprise the executive committee.

Also decided at the meeting was the adoption of a West Coast Referees Rugby Referees' Association monogram, featuring W.C.R.A in red on a white background while they also made an approach to Mr C. Watson, the caretaker of Victoria Park, to help organise a referees' dressing room.

Two weeks following that first meeting, the Association was already looking to get involved in the Rugby community both on and off the field, and they were keen to help educate various clubs on the rules of the game, offering to send association members out to speak to them, citing that there was a "lack of knowledge evident".

At the Star R.F.C's annual prize giving in 1923, special mention was given to the W.C.R.R.A and its members, with club member Mr T. Turtill stating during a toast, that "the referees were equally as important as the Union, and their task often thankless", while Tom McIntosh replied to the toast that "More members on this association would give the teams a wider choice of referees", while adding "that as the perfect referee did not exist, their teams drop the habit of chipping, and all be good losers, as well as good winners".

Mr W. Williams then replied, making a plea for more referees and "for a better sense of fair play on the part of the spectators", with Mr W. Bothwell endorsing the remarks of his colleagues, by stating they needed more referees and "more intelligence on the spectator's part", while Mr J. McGrath finished off by saying he supposed referees had to be prepared for plenty of criticism, "but they were almost invariably as fair as they could be, the consciousness of which was their best reward".

In 1924 at the Associations annual general meeting, it was moved that the West Coast Rugby Union be asked to provide them with outfits and whistles, as it was pointed out that they were one of the only Associations that weren't provided these by their Union, while at the final West Coast Rugby Union's final meeting for the year, votes of thanks were passed to the Referees’ Association for its services during the season, and it was decided to present each member with a copy of a group photo of the Association.

The Association is recorded as having paid an affiliation fee of two pounds, two shillings, to the New Zealand Rugby Referees Association, and in 1930, for the first time, local referees' sat an examination of the laws.

One of the more influential referees during the late 1920's and early 1930's, was Tom McIntosh. A former player and committee member of the Star R.F.C, who played against the 1921 Springboks for the combined West Coast-Buller side, before going on to referee the 1928 All Blacks v West Coast-Buller combined side.

Such was the respect for McIntosh as a referee, in 1932, he became the first West Coast referee to be recognised with a first-class appointment outside of the province, when he was tasked with refereeing the Ranfurly Shield clash between Canterbury v Wellington at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. The game was played in front of 16,000 spectators, with Canterbury winning a tense game, 9-8.

The most famous of all West Coast referees' of course, was the great Arthur Fong, who was not only a fine servant to the local community with his refereeing at club level for many decades, but he also refereed 24 first class games. Fong's first first-class match was between West Coast v Canterbury in Greymouth in 1946, and his final match a decade later, a Ranfurly Shield match at Lancaster Park in Christchurch, between Canterbury v Mid Canterbury.

As well as refereeing the 1946 All Blacks v Wallaby test, Fong also refereed the third All Blacks v the British Isles test in 1950 at Athletic Park in Wellington, while he also refereed many games during World War II, while he was serving with the 22nd Battalion in Egypt and Italy, including the 1945 South Africa Forces v British Forces, in Rome.

The referees, as well as officiating in games, formed their own Rugby team, that in 1947 travelled to Christchurch and defeated the Canterbury referees at Lancaster Park, by 22-3, while they also played an annual football fixture against the West Coast Rugby League referees throughout the 1950's and 1960's, that was no doubt a wonderful social occasion. The Rugby and Rugby League referees also played 45's tournaments against each over the years, so it was great they had such a close rivalry and relationship.

For the 1950 junior club season, the Association presented the West Coast Rugby Union with the Jubilee Shield, to be awarded to the J.A.B club team who played in the spirit of the game, showed a cleanliness of dress and a loyalty towards the team captain. That year would also see the referees deciding to purchase their own jerseys, with the numbers of referees during the 1950's at one stage, hitting a peak in popularity of just under 30 active members.

In 1954 the W.C.R.R.A would receive a massive honour, when member Arthur Fong was elected president of the N.Z Rugby Referees Association, which at the time made him the youngest and first active referee to hold this position. Fong would go on to be made a life member of West Coast Referees Association, the West Coast Rugby Football Union, as well as the New Zealand Rugby Referees Association, and in 1975, he received an M.B.E for services to sport.

At the 1960 W.C.R.R.A Annual General Meeting, Association numbers again reached an incredible figure, with 30 members being present at the meeting, while 7 apologies were made. The year was also to be a very special one, with the Association hosting the N.Z.R.R.A annual conference, and as members were very active in fundraising for this event with a profit being made, they then sought and gained permission from the West Coast Rugby Union, to build a grandstand at the Northern end of Rugby Park.

The members raised further funds, and following the design being drawn up by member Bernie Dowrick, the grandstand was built, entirely with volunteer labour of the referees, except for the block laying, and named the Alan Adams Stand, in honour of the West Coast Rugby and N.Z.R.F.U life-member, Alan Augustus Adams. The rooms underneath the stand included a changing room for the referees, and also place for them to hold their meetings.

With so many wonderful referees on the West Coast over the Association's past, from junior and senior club rugby to representative level,  it's a challenging task to single out individuals, but for former Blaketown and West Coast representative and coach, Arthur Dawson, now 91, who's played and seen a lot of rugby in his time, Arthur Fong was a standout for him, with Fong refereeing the first game of rugby Dawson ever played.

"Fong was a wonderful referee, who was brilliant at playing the advantage law, and if the weather and ground conditions were good and Fong had the whistle, we all knew it was going to be a running game of rugby, while Alec Lindbom was another referee to stand out, as he was effective and always looked the part", Dawson said.

Dawson also said that Bert O'Brien from Hokitika didn't miss much as a referee, and that Jack Walton always had a fairly good grip of the rules. Other referees that stood out for Dawson were Alan Forrest, who he described as being a great communicator, and that the players enjoyed his officiating, and that Geoffrey King always stood up to back-chatting players and did a good job with the whistle.

Dawson also said that Barry Williams, a life member of the W.C.R.R.A, was a natural of the game. "Barry had the respect of the players, and was a fine referee".

Like many West Coast referees, Williams officiated in first class games around New Zealand, 24 in fact, between 1970 and 1978.

Some of the standout fixtures for Williams during that time, occurred during the 1976 season, where he took control of the Prince of Wales Cup match between the North Island and South Island Māori sides, as well as Wellington v North Auckland, Otago v Hawkes Bay, and Southland v Wellington.

The following year in 1977, Williams refereed a New Zealand Trial in Wanganui, as well as the touring British & Irish Lions v the Hannan Shields XV match in Timaru, while in 1978, he also refereed Auckland v Southland at Eden Park, ending a distinguished first class career.

In 1979, a highlight for the Association was having four young females take up refereeing, with former W.C.R.R.A's member Des McKendry's daughter Lyndon, following in his footsteps, and she'd go on to have a wonderful career in the game. She refereed on the Coast from 1979-1985 at junior level, before moving to Christchurch, and from her life-long dedication to the game in Canterbury, is now a life member of the Canterbury Rugby Referees Association.

1988 again was another highlight in the history of the W.C.R.R.A, when they hosted the New Zealand Rugby Referees Association conference in Greymouth, with some of the countries leading referees in attendance.

In the early 2000's, the end was night for the W.C.R.R,A, as the New Zealand Rugby Union encouraged provincial referee associations across the country to be absorbed by their respective Rugby Unions, the reasons being the referees could simply concentrate on their on field roles, while not having to worry about any administration, fundraising or in some in instances upkeep to their own clubrooms etc.

And with that encouragement from the N.Z.R.F.U, the W.C.R.R.A ceased to be after decades long service and contribution to the game of Rugby on the West Coast. As we mark the 100 year anniversary of the W.C.R.R.A's creation, we acknowledge and thank those early referees for their vision, dedication, passion and great service to our game, as we also thank the referees who came before the Association as well as after them, and of course those still with whistle in hand today, who continue to put so much time and energy into the game today that we all love.

Let's heed the words of Association member Tom McIntosh from a century ago, aiming to be good sports and treating referees with respect. In doing so, we honour the men and women who tirelessly contribute to the sport we cherish.

"And one for the Ref!"