PLEASE DON'T MENTION RON ATKINSON - AT LEAST NOT TO THIS TRIO!

APROPOS  (good word!) of the row over a sexist remark that upset  Michael Oliver and girlfriend Lucy May  (Today’s Referee, November 27, 2014), many thanks to the reader who has supplied a cutting from The Times newspaper (September 14, 1999).

This reported a Nationwide Conference match between Kidderminster Harriers and Nuneaton Borough - the first senior match in England in which all three officials were female.

Wendy Toms (36) was in the middle, with Janie Frampton (38) and Amy Rayner (24) as her two assistants.

The players seemed to take it in their stride, but did the 3,000 strong crowd?

Alas not. Very few minutes had elapsed before the ribaldry began with a chant from an away fan of: “Who’s the slapper in the black!”

It was not the first time the trio had appeared together. They had officiated previously in a women’s friendly in which England beat Finland 3-0.

Were any cards issued in the Conference match? Yes, Toms, an office manager from Poole, issued four yellows.

Other national newspaper also covered the event, and The Daily Telegraph repeated a quote attributed to high-profile manager Ron Atkinson when, 10 years earlier, he is alleged to have said: “Women should be in the kitchen, the disco and the boutique - but not in football.”

Final score: Kidderminster 1, Nuneaton 2.