Fred Lindop RIP

[The Phantom Horseman]

The day after David Oxley's death was announced, we have lost another man synonymous with Rugby League in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A fine referee and servant to the game.

[LeeF]

Got to meet him a couple of times and he was a great bloke. Always had time to give more junior referees some words of encouragement

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

A great referee and very good after dinner speaker - had him down for one of our does in London many years ago and he really made the evening. RIP.

[Futtocks]

Oh hell - a bad couple of days for the game.

[JF1]

From an era when referees were real personalities as far as fans were concerned.

I'm thinking of Fred,Billy Thompson,Eric Clay,Stan Wall etc.

If only they were miked up back then!

RIP.

[Blind side johnny]

From the days of referees with immaculate hair.

A good, no nonsense referee and by all accounts a really good bloke.

RIP Fred.

[sentoffagain2]

 Sad day for me Fred used to ref in the newly formed Wakefield and district Sunday League in the 1970's.Often after reffing a big match on the Saturday.Playing against Walnut Warriors I gave one of their players a dig early in the game and didn't get penalised.About ten minutes later i was hit and kneed  in the tackle and no penalty was given.While defending a couple of plays later i lined up next to Fred and said [Didn't you see me get hit then.]No Fred replied i missed you giving some early on as well.Pack it in and play rugby.Mission accomplished by a great ref my halo didn't slip for the rest of the game.RIP to a good un.

[Rowan]

Back in 1969 I was part of a small group that formed Corby Pioneers and Fred was instrumental in launching the Midlands Watney Cup - a four-team competition of Corby, Walsall, Loughborough University and Sheffield University. Later as a RL journalist I got to know Fred and Billy Thompson better that most. He was always helpful, always keen on helping new clubs along to such an extent that he came down to Corby to referee our one-off promotional Sevens tournament that included leading amateur clubs. David Oxley, now Fred Lindop a day later .... sad times for the game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Two champions of our game gone. They’ll be sadly missed.

[Futtocks]

 

[SUPERSTUD]

IMO what a great bloke with an illustrious refereeing career behind him. Eastmoor legend. Opinionated at times but said it as it was. God bless Mr Lindop. Very proud to have known you and not so proud to have been sin binned by you in local Wakefield amateur game. Think you were at least 65-70 years when you reffed that game and you were still the fittest man on the park. Sleep well SIR and condolences to all the respective family members.

[Padge]

Certainly a no nonsense ref. Enjoyed being the boss on the field in a time when there was a lot of unsavoury action on it and it needed someone to boss it..

R.I.P. Fred.

[Wolford6]

Fred Lindop used to coach Sheffield University RL in the 1970's. The referee's association must have sorted the coaching at UAU level, because we had Ian Brooke at Bradford. Both really nice blokes.

Liverpool were easily the best team and they had Mick Naughton as their coach. Stuffed us in the cup final at Fartown.

[Joe Aitcheson]

18 hours ago, Wolford6 said:

Fred Lindop used to coach Sheffield University RL in the 1970's. The referee's association must have sorted the coaching at UAU level, because we had Ian Brooke at Bradford. Both really nice blokes.

Liverpool were easily the best team and they had Mick Naughton as their coach. Stuffed us in the cup final at Fartown.

I recall playing for Lancaster Uni away at Sheffield Uni in 1973 or thereabouts. I hadn’t taken out my denture before going on the field, so looked around and saw Fred on the touch line and went over to ask him to keep it for me. “No problem” he said. When I got it back afterwards, I thanked him… then added “ mind you, whenever I’ve seen you referee up at Workington, you’ve been rubbish!” He just laughed, a proper gentleman!

[Number 16]

On 23/01/2023 at 16:07, JF1 said:

From an era when referees were real personalities as far as fans were concerned.

I'm thinking of Fred,Billy Thompson,Eric Clay,Stan Wall etc.

If only they were miked up back then!

RIP.

True about being miked up! But would he be remembered with such affection and appreciation had his every decision been filmed from several different angles, like today?

Sad loss. RIP.

[Wakefield Ram]

Remember going to an away match to a pretty rough house team. Our "changing room" had broken glass on the floor, so it wasn't looking good. Then Fred Lindop turned up to ref.

One of the first tackles was a high shot. Fred told the team any more of that and you'll all be off. Job done, we still lost but it was a game of rugby rather than an organised fight. 

[Wolford6]

On 24/01/2023 at 18:14, Joe Aitcheson said:

I recall playing for Lancaster Uni away at Sheffield Uni in 1973 or thereabouts. I hadn’t taken out my denture before going on the field, so looked around and saw Fred on the touch line and went over to ask him to keep it for me. “No problem” he said. When I got it back afterwards, I thanked him… then added “ mind you, whenever I’ve seen you referee up at Workington, you’ve been rubbish!” He just laughed, a proper gentleman!

We probably played against each other.

I was a centre in those days. I made up for my lack of speed by deploying my lack of a sidestep.

[Joe Aitcheson]

2 hours ago, Wolford6 said:

We probably played against each other.

I was a centre in those days. I made up for my lack of speed by deploying my lack of a sidestep.

We quite possibly did Wolford6, I was an open side prop or loose forward ( ahead of my time, as I lost a lot of weight in my 3rd year!). I can recall one game at Bradford played in about 2 inches of snow, it was bitter mate.

[OMEGA]

Fred lost a kidney due to fowl play when he was a young player, it must be noted that when this happened losing a kidney was a life threatening injury. As a result Fred as a Referee had zero tolerance for fowl play & dirty 3rd man in late shots etc. It actually made him a better referee and had he been miked up my guess is people would have even greater respect for him. He was a well spoken intelligent man and always told players straight leaving no room for misinterpretation but he always showed respect

[Ullman]

On 23/01/2023 at 23:45, Wolford6 said:

Fred Lindop used to coach Sheffield University RL in the 1970's. The referee's association must have sorted the coaching at UAU level, because we had Ian Brooke at Bradford. Both really nice blokes.

Liverpool were easily the best team and they had Mick Naughton as their coach. Stuffed us in the cup final at Fartown.

Me and my brother played for Sheff Uni in 78/79 when Fred was still coach. I looked up to him. I remember he was a bloody great storyteller. Some of them might even have been true.

I have some great memories of Fred and that time. Didn't seem to matter where we played, it always ended up as a lock-in at Eastmoor.