For the sixth edition of the Old Spice Boys podcast, we enter an area of football where most are not able to tread – that of the men and women in black.

The world of the football referee is largely impenetrable to the rest of us. They arrive at a ground, they officiate, they depart and are never obliged to offer a word of explanation for their decisions.

Today, we have as our special guest Keith Hackett, a former English football referee, who began refereeing in local leagues in the Sheffield, South Yorkshire area in 1960.

He is counted amongst the top 100 referees of all time in a list maintained by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Keith refereed the FA Cup final between Spurs and Manchester City 40 years ago, spent a decade on the FIFA list and then became the first man to lead English referees into the world of professionalism. 

Keith also talks about: 

1) Chartering his own plane to referee a match in Europe

2) Telling Mike Dean he'd make him a professional referee

3) Who wound Gazza down?

4) Why he didn’t send anyone off in the infamous Arsenal - Manchester United brawl.

5) The absurdities of VAR