Respected English referee who officiated at infamous World Cup match

Jim Finney, who died on 1 April, 2008, was a football referee who was best remembered for his part in the ill-tempered World Cup game between Uruguay and West Germany in 1966.

He sent off two Uruguayans, helping Germany to a convincing 4-0 win in the quarter finals. The losing team then accused him of bias towards the European side, citing the red cards and a handball on the line by a German player that he had missed.

Nevertheless he was one of the most respected referees in the English game and had a reputation for leniency for the sake of a good match. "I start the game with 22 players on the pitch; if I end it with less I have failed," he once said.

He was appointed a Football League referee in 1959 and took charge of the Amateur Cup final that year. In 1962, he refereed the FA Cup final between Tottenham and Burnley – at the end of the match the victorious Spurs captain Danny Blanchflower presented the ball to Mr Finney as a souvenir, instead of keeping it himself.

Mr Finney was involved in several landmark games and incidents during his 12-year career, including running the line in the first European Championship final in 1960.

In 1963, he became the first referee to abandon an international match due to violence between players, saying he was concerned that "somebody would have been seriously hurt" during a game between Scotland and Austria. He ended the game 11 minutes from time having already sent Austrian players off for bad challenges and spitting.

In 1967, he was refereeing a match between Liverpool and Leeds at Anfield when Leeds keeper Gary Sprake accidentally let the ball slip out of his hand while trying to bowl it out to team-mates, scoring one of the most famous own goals of all time. According to popular urban myth, Mr Finney did not see what happened and had to ask Leeds captain Jack Charlton if he should give a goal or not.

He officiated at many cup finals but was denied the chance of refereeing the 1971 European Cup final at Wembley when his career was ended by injury.

After retiring as a ref, he had administrative roles at Hereford United and Cardiff City. He was also a member of the Freemasons. James Finney died in hospital at the age of 83.