Rapid rise

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 44

Rapid rise

Fred Howard, the Englishman who will referee the rugby test between New Zealand and France at Lancaster Park on Saturday week, has had a rapid rise to the top.

Mr Howard, who is aged 37, comes from St Helens in the north of England. He took up refereeing after a knee injury ended his playing career when he was 23. He played on the wing for Waterloo.

It took Mr Howard only three years to become a senior referee and five years later, in 1979, he was appointed to the English county panel. A year later he was on the Rugby Union’s “Top List” and he controlled the All Blacks’ match against South of Scotland on their 1983 visit to

Britain. Mr Howard has been on England’s international panel since 1983, and his appointments include two Five Nations matches and two tests in the series between France and Japan. After six consecutive semi-finals, Mr Howard had charge of this year’s John Player Cup final. He was appointed to two of the tests that the All Blacks would have played in South Africa last year, had not their tour been abandoned. Mr Howard began his working life as a school teacher, but he is now in a partnership which runs three sports shops in St Helens. The time he was giving to refereeing was the reason he made the change.