Ken Aston
| Full name | Kenneth George Aston | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
1 September 1915 Colchester, Essex, England |
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| Died | 23 October 2001 (aged 86) Ilford, London, England |
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| Other occupation | School teacher, soldier, judge, referee | ||
Kenneth George "Ken" Aston, MBE (1 September 1915 – 23 October 2001) was an English teacher, soldier, and football referee, who was responsible for many important developments in football refereeing - including the yellow and red card system.
Born in Colchester, Essex, he graduated from St Luke's College, Exeter (in which George Reader had been taught just after the First World War, and which Sir Stanley Rous had also attended). But still qualified as a referee in 1936, working his way through the leagues becoming a Football League linesman in the 1949-50 season, and becoming a League referee. In the Second World War he was rejected by the Royal Air Force because of an injured ankle, and subsequently joined the Royal Artillery before transferring to the British Indian Army, where he finished the war with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and served on the Changi War Crimes Tribunal.
On his return from military service in 1946, Aston became the first League referee to wear the black uniform with white trim which became the standard for referees. Up to that point, referees wore tweed jackets over white shirts with French cuffs, and pants akin to golf knickers. He later explained that when he spied a black flight jacket in the window of a war surplus store, he was delighted with the wonderful assortment of pockets. He immediately bought a couple of the jackets, thinking the pockets would serve him well as a referee. He changed to black knickers, kept the white shirt, and wore the new black flight jacket, creating the black uniform with the apparent white "trim."
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