Former top referee Bill Mullan has passed away aged 90. Bill was a Category 1 referee from 1960/61 to 1977/78 and a FIFA referee for 10 seasons from 1962/63 to 1972/73.
He refereed the FIFA World Club Final, Nacional v. Panathinaikos, in 1971 and officiated in the 1972 European Championship Finals, refereeing Belgium v. West Germany.
Bill also took charge of the West Germany v East Germany match in the Olympic Games later that year.
In domestic football, Bill was the referee of the famous Scottish League Cup Final, Partick Thistle v. Celtic, in 1971.
An eye injury suffered in a car accident brought his refereeing career to an end but the Scottish FA quickly appointed him as a Referee Supervisor for Edinburgh RA in 1979 and he fulfilled that role for 20 seasons.
He was a member of the Referee Supervisors’ Executive Committee for many seasons. He stepped down from being a Referee Observer in 1999.
The Funeral is arranged for next Friday, 23rd November. 10.30am at St David’s Church in Eskbank (Dalkeith), then 12noon at Mortonhall, Edinburgh – Main Chapel.
A statement on the Edinburgh and District Referees Association website read: “It is with great sadness that we have been made aware that Honorary EDRA Member Bill Mullan passed away yesterday.”
The Edinburgh Reporter sends our condolences to Bill’s friends and family.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
