Frederick Thomas Kirkham (died 1949) was an English domestic and international football referee, and briefly the football manager for Tottenham Hotspur between 1907 and 1908.
Career as referee[edit]
Kirkham was a well-known domestic referee who also had a job as a commercial traveller. He took charge of the 1906 FA Cup Final.[1] He had also taken charge of 11 "A" International matches between 1903 and 1907, including Wales vs. Scotland on 9 March 1903,[2] and was considered in the top three of world referees.[3] Other Scotland matches he refereed were against Ireland on 26 March 1904[4] and Wales on 6 March 1905[5]
Fred Kirkham also refereed a match between Belgium and Netherlands on 9 March 1913.[6]
Despite claims to the contrary,[3] he did not referee the 1902 FA Cup Final - this was Tom Kirkham from Burslem.
Career as football manager[edit]
Just one week after refereeing a Southern League match between Spurs and Watford he was a surprise appointment as manager of Tottenham Hotspur on 22 April 1907. The club's history records that "He was not a success as a manager, unpopular with players and fans alike and it was no surprise when, after the settlement of his contract, he resigned in 1908." (27 July).[7] His record as a manager is recorded as: played 52, won 25, drew 8 and lost 19.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ "Fred Kirkham manager on Topspurs".
- ^ "Wales 0 Scotland 1 (9 Mar 1903)". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Information on world records and short biographies of the record holders (1901-1910)". IFHHS. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ "Ireland 1 Scotland 1 (26 March 1904)". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ "Wales 3 Scotland 1 (6 March 1905)". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ "Belgium 3 Netherlands 3 (9 March 1913)". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ "Fred Kirkham appointment THFC website".
- ^ "Fred Kirkham statistics on Topspurs site".