BRITAIN’S oldest rugby referee is finally hanging up his boots and
whistle at the age of 90.
Retired hairdresser will officiate at his last-ever game tonight after being the man in the middle in nearly 2,700 matches.
Britain’s oldest rugby referee Nando di Matteo is finally hanging up his boots and whistle at the age of 90Credit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
Nando back in the dayCredit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
Nando will run around for 80 minutes keeping order in a floodlit game in Northants between Wellingborough RFC and an select veterans’ team.
When he blows the final whistle for the last time, the remarkable ref will mark the end of this historic game as he always does – with a pint of Guinness and a banana.
Nando, the son of a footballer from Sicily refereed his first ever match by accident nearly 50 years ago.
He had turned up to watch his son Gino playing in a school rugby fixture in Northampton when the referee failed to turn up.
Nando joked: “I said, ‘I’ll do it’. It was the worst thing I ever did!”
But the father-of-three took to being the man in the middle like a duck to water, often refereeing four matches a week.
His son Gino, now a 60-year-old physio, will play for 10 minutes in tonight’s match at Wellingborough’s Cut Throat Lane ground.
He will be among 100 players who have asked to take part in Nando’s final game.
They will come on as roll-on-roll-off substitutes during the match.
After covering more 6,000 miles refereeing games, Nando, of Wellingborough, intends to spend more time with his wife of 63 years, Adrianna.
She will be cheering on the ref with many members of their family
including great grandson, Roman, three.
Nando says: “In 1982, I enrolled on a refereeing course and I’ve
never stopped.
“The only thing was my English — I had a problem explaining to
the players what they were doing wrong.
“But I got more confident and I’d tell the players to shut up! They
learned that I take no nonsense, even from the spectators.”
Nando says the secret of staying fit in old age is going to the gym
three times a week followed each time by a swim.
He adds: “I might be giving up refereeing, but I will never stop
having one pint of Guinness and a banana.”
The ref will mark the end of this historic game as he always does – with a pint of Guinness and a bananaCredit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
Nando will run around for 80 minutes keeping order in a floodlit game in Northants between Wellingborough RFC and an East Midlands select veterans’ teamCredit: Arthur Edwards / The Sun
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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