The referee who invented the red card

It was during the 1966 World Cup match between England and Argentina that one of England’s leading professional referees, Ken Aston, had an idea that would revolutionise football.

Aston, who was watching the game from the stands, was concerned over apparent language barriers between players and officials. His solution was to recommend referees be given red and yellow cards, as way of cautioning and if necessary, sending off a player.

Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Ken Aston’s son, Peter, and Ben van Maaren, a Dutch collector of refereeing memorabilia, including some of Aston’s personal papers. A CTVC production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded.

Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created.

(Photo: Ken Ashton on the pitch in 1962. Credit: Alamy)