Bruce Taylor honoured by Football Association in Cornwall

After his playing career ended, Bruce had been – and still is – at the heart of Cornish football both locally and countywide and it has earned him a high level of acclaim that only the leading administrators can achieve.

He was presented with his award in Helston by Cornwall FA director Steve Carpenter. He also received a blazer lapel badge, a framed certificate and a congratulatory letter from the Football Association.

Recognised as one of the south west’s top referees throughout his illustrious 19-year refereeing career, he took charge of many high-profile matches, but he also took an interest in and became involved in the administration side of the game.

At an early age Bruce was the referee's representative on the Falmouth-Helston Football League council and was soon elected a council member. He was nominated to take on the role of president of the Falmouth-Helston Football League in 1993 and with clubs holding him in great esteem the vote was a formality. It was a position he held for almost 20 years until the league merged with the Mining Division Football League in 2011 to form the Trelawny League.

Any thoughts of putting his feet up were soon dispelled when at its inaugural meeting he was elected president of the Trelawny Football League and remained in office until the end of the 2022-23 season – a period of 30 unbroken years across the two leagues – when the league again merged with other leagues to form the Kernow Stone St Piran Football League.

His administrative CV is impressive and in 2000 he became vice-chairman of the South Western Football League and remained in that role until 2007 when the league merged with the Devon Football League to form the South West Peninsula Football League which is when he became a life vice-president of that newly formed league.

It is a service that continues to this day as Bruce was elected as the first-ever president of the St Piran League for the 2023/24 season.

Bruce Taylor (left) is presented with his gold medal by Cornwall County FA director Steve Carpenter. Image: Margaret Taylor

Born in 1953 in St Keverne, his love affair with football took off at school where from 1965 he played for Helston Grammar School’s U13s, U15s and U18s teams and in 1971 he represented Cornwall Schools FA at the English Schools FA Festival of Football tournament held in Skegness.

His first taste of adult football came with his village club St Keverne in the Falmouth-Helston League and his first game was against Mawgan United in the 1969/70 season whilst still at school.

Bruce continued to play regularly for St Keverne and enjoyed a high level of success with the club becoming double winners in the 1976-77 season with the Falmouth/Helston League division one championship and the Percy Stephens Cup. He then moved to Helston Athletic to play in the Cornwall Combination League before playing for Porthleven AFC where he played in both the Cornwall Combination League and the South Western League.

He took up refereeing in 1981 because he had a reoccurring injury to his left arm/wrist and was told to stop playing for up to six months, so rather than be out of football he took the referee's exam, passed and started refereeing. He was promoted from class 3 to class 1 relatively quickly so continued to referee rather than go back to playing.

Having become a class one referee his reputation blossomed as one of the county’s foremost referees and Bruce picked up a number of top honours including taking charge of the finals of the Cornwall Senior Cup, Cornwall Junior Cup, Cornwall Charity Cup, South Western League Cup, Evely Cup, Combination League Cup, Combination League Supplementary Cup, St Austell Brewery Cup along with all the Falmouth-Helston League cup finals.

Other appointments included being assistant referee in the Cornwall Senior Cup final, Somerset and Avon Challenge Cup and the Studio Ten Tournament as well as many others.

He acted as referee and assistant referee for games in the South West Counties’ Championship and was the fourth official in the South West Counties’ Senior Final in the 1997-98 season when he was also the top marked referee in the South Western League.

As his stature grew within the game Bruce was regularly appointed to matches on the Western League, South Western League, Somerset Senior League, Cornwall Combination League and the relevant county junior leagues and very often was called upon to referee the top friendly matches in the county involving such prestigious clubs as Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leicester City, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City.

His action-packed career on the pitch had to come to an end one day and in 1998-99 season there was an FA ruling in place that meant a referee had to be removed from the senior referees’ list when he attained the age of 47.

Despite the disappointment of reaching the cut-off point for top referees, Bruce continued with his administration duties on the leagues and although now the playing and refereeing days have long gone, Bruce still hankers for the good old days.

“As far as the level of local football right now is concerned, I think many clubs have made impressive strides forward with their grounds and facilities, but it is a great shame that many clubs are just relying on a handful of volunteers to keep them going.

“To me there isn’t the same passion and commitment in the game today compared to when I was playing and refereeing. In the ‘good old days’ that Saturday game was what you lived for, whereas I guess today there are many more distractions.

“When you start playing football as a schoolboy I guess you don't expect to be involved over 50 years later – but it is wonderful to have enjoyed and been involved in the game from different aspects, to have made so many friends over the years and to be still doing it!”