You Are The Ref is a British comic strip featuring a series of awkward football refereeing challenges, which has run in various publications since 1957. Created by sports artist Paul Trevillion, also famous for Roy of the Rovers, the strip features contributions from several top referees, and was collected into an official book in 2006. From 2006—2016 it featured online on theguardian.com.
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Publication history
The evolution of the strip began in 1952 in the Tottenham Hotspur magazine The Lillywhite, which featured a cartoon quiz by Paul Trevillion. The quiz included one question per issue on refereeing. Five years later, The People newspaper signed Trevillion to produce a dedicated refereeing cartoon quiz, and gave it the title Hey Ref.
In the 1960s, the strip began appearing in a much larger format alongside Trevillion's work for Roy of the Rovers in official Roy annuals, under the title If You Were The Ref. But it was in 1969 that the strip took on its famous name, when it moved to be part of newly launched children's football magazine Shoot. The strip continued to run until 1983.
Trevillion returned to You Are The Ref in 2006, producing new artwork for the strip for the first time in over 20 years, which was published in The Observer newspaper. Later that year, a book was published collecting the history of the strip. In 2008, You Are The Ref also appeared on the BBC's Euro 2008 blog, and on The Guardian's website. In its most recent incarnation it relied on reader submissions for the three questions posed each week. As well as the illustrated questions, each strip includes a portrait of a well-known footballing person. New cartoons were produced for the The Guardian until 2016.
In June 2010, in advance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, You Are The Ref was released as an iPhone / iPod Touch game developed by game developer Four Door Lemon.
Referees
When the strip moved to Shoot in 1969, leading referee Stan Lover, head of the London referees' association, was taken on to provide the answers to the questions You Are The Ref posed each week. In subsequent years, Lover was replaced by Clive Thomas, and then by Keith Hackett who continues to provide the answers in the current strips.
You Are The Umpire
A cricketing equivalent, You Are The Umpire, also drawn by Trevellion, has taken You Are The Ref's place in The Guardian during football off-seasons since 2007. Umpire John Holder provides the expert answers.