After the MRA President, Robert Was, had opened proceedings, the Middlesex FA Long Service Awards were presented by Middlesex President, Jim Taylor, assisted by the Chairman of Referees’ Committee, Doug Douglas.

Those honoured for their 40 years of dedication to refereeing were Andy Lowe and Pat McCrossan. Unfortunately, Steve Russell was out of the country. 20 year awards were made to Alan Jefferiss, Barry Kyriacou, Len Randall and Roger Abraham.

Jim then presented certificates to the successful promotion candidates, from level 6 to level 5 and from level 7 to level 6, who were in attendance.

Next Jim presented mementoes, on behalf of the MRA, to this season’s Middlesex Senior Challenge Cup Referee, Jason Richardson and Assistant Referee, Conor Griffin. Assistant Referee, Neil Fyfield and 4^th Official, Tom Simmons could not attend.

Robert followed this with a presentation (of gardening tools) to Peter Clayton, who was retiring as Middlesex FA Chief Executive after 30 years service. Peter is the longest serving incumbent in the position of County Secretary/Chief Executive.

Then Robert introduced Patrick Barclay for the high point of the evening. We were not disappointed. Patrick spoke sincerely about his career and his opinions of certain aspects of the present day game. His anecdotes were entertaining and his forthright opinions were shared by most people in the room. He opened the floor for questions and comments and eventually his session had to be cut short through time constraints.

As always, Uxbridge laid on a sumptuous buffet, which was gratefully consumed before the raffle draw brought the evening to an end.

Photos from the evening can be found here courtesy of Chris Benn.