The birth of red cards: How English football was inspired by traffic lights to give players their marching orders
VAR may be the biggest change in football today, but in the 70s it was all about the introduction of red cards.
The first footballer to be dismissed in an English game was Blackburn Rovers winger David Wagstaffe in 1976.
He received his marching orders in a Division Two match against Leyton Orient and it started an epidemic.
Later that afternoon, the legendary George Best was shown red for swearing at a referee when he turned out for Fulham against Southampton.
But did you know that the coloured cards were inspired by traffic lights?
It came about when the Football League decided to introduce the card system following its success at the 1970 World Cup.
And it was all down to an English ref by the name of Ken Aston.
The day I witnessed a football first
By Martin Lipton
I DIDN’T know, as I walked down Church Road, then along Oliver Road, until I reached the stadium, that I would be witnessing history.
After all, I was still a month shy of my 10th birthday.
And I was only going to Brisbane Road because my dad was working and relegation-bound Spurs were getting spanked at West Brom that afternoon.
It was a long time ago but I know I stood, right at the front, of the open terrace on what is now the South Stand, behind John Jackson’s goal in that first half.
But even now, 42 years on, I still recall that I was aware there was a chance I would see the first red card in English club football.
The tackle I can’t remember.
How bad it was. Who it was on. Whether the referee was a homer. Any of that.
Indeed, for the last 42 years I have been utterly convinced I saw Bobby Svarc sent off for Blackburn – even though all the online records state it was Dave Wagstaffe.
But I did witness a football first. And, it’s fair to say, I’ve seen, in front of my eyes, a few more famous red cards since.
David Beckham in St Etienne. Wayne Rooney in Gelsenkirchen. Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup Final.
Waggy, though, he WAS the trailblazer. Whether he wanted to be or not!
Aston was in charge of the referees for the 1966 World Cup, when it hit home there needed to be a change in the game.
In the bad-tempered quarter final between England and Argentina there was confusion over the sending off of Antonio Rattin.
The South American was ordered to leave the pitch by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein for what was then-called “violence of the tongue.”
But Rattin was reluctant to leave and Kreitlein had to remonstrate with the team’s captain to leave the field of play.
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The bewildering moment had Aston thinking about how to combat that issue.
And it was at a traffic light on Kensington High Street where Aston had his lightbulb moment.
While he was waiting in his car it dawned on him that yellow could work for a caution.
And red would mean to stop and your game will be over.
The card system was experimented with at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and was such a success it was introduced to European leagues soon after.
Six years later and it was English football’s turn to embrace change. But it only lasted for five years initially.
Both Best and Wagstaffe were sent off for foul language on the day they were introduced.
But in 1980 red cards were abolished because the FA believed that “demonstrative referees” were becoming a problem.
That decision was agreed to by the FA council in 1981.
The last two red cards before that were shown to David Hodgson and Nicky Reid in a match between Man City and Middlesbrough.
In 1987 the International Board, who were the rule-making body of the international game, said England was out of touch.
They advised that red and yellow cards were to be reintroduced for the 1987-88 season, and they got their wish.
Luton Town’s Mick Harford was the first player to be given a red card in the league when it was reintroduced in the first few weeks of the season.
It started off a trend that has kept players and managers in order years after.
So, when you see a sending off this weekend – surprise a football fan with this nugget of football trivia.