One of those referees from a golden era of men in the middle. Sadly, because of the rules at the time, we never got to see him officiate at a Trinity game.

Oddly… for someone who was very active in Wakey amateur RL during the late 70s and 80s… I never met Fred.

And as he never refereed Trinity .. I only ever saw him on TV…

There are only a few ‘merry whistle blowers’ who last in the memory.. and from my era he … Billy Thompson and Mick Naughton are some of those few

Fred and David Oxley in just a few days…

Naughton was the first ref I suspected of having a permanent grudge against Wakefield. He stitched us up on a regular basis. From Widnes if I remember rightly.

Very sad news. I remember him disallowing me a try for Crigglstone at U11’s against Eastmoor. I was most aggrieved at the time. He was invited to our end of year do where my dad made me go and have a word with him about it for a joke. He was most apologetic and gave me some RL stickers from his pocket. Made my night and was a true gentleman to talk to.
RIP Mr Lindop, true gent as I remember.

When I first moved to Wakefield in 1975 I knew little about Trinity. They were famous to me but in a distant way. Yet hand on heart I heard Fed Lindop’s name long before I knew any of the players from that era.

That’s quite an impact for a ref to make.

I met him a few times… didn’t detect any hidden agendas

An excellent ref, of a standard that we just dont see these days.
The players all knew where they stood and he took no nonsense

RIP

That’s not just the ref though. The players never used to argue and called the ref sir, long gone now.

That's not really true. Plenty of players used to argue.
The likes of Steve Nash or Andy Gregory would argue. Most didn't but then many don't now.

It's got worse yes, but having a dialogue with the ref is not a bad thing, just needs to be respectful.
One of the differences now is there are too many small detailed rules open to interpretation.

Fred and friends would just march them back 10 yards and send them off if it got to much.
He was a strong character but was respectful to players too.
He coached with my dad at Eastmoor and coached my brother. I only had him as coach a couple of games.
Great man.

True but not like they do now, it's coached into them at some clubs IMO.

I'd say Alex Murphy was probably the first serial whinger.

Sad news, R.I.P Fred, from an early Eastmoor Elf

RIP Fred from one Eastmoor lad to another. A sad day for the Lindop clan. The man to me was a living legend from watching him on TV before I got to join Eastmoor at 7 where he was often around the place in one capacity or another. I was lucky enough to get an ear full from him on a number of occasions on the pitch whether training or on the sidelines.