Former soccer ref keeps kids aiming straight (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Former soccer ref keeps kids aiming straight

HE'S kept football hardmen like Roy Keane and Paul Ince in check and faced a barrage of chants from thousands of fans.

Now former Premiership referee Clive Wilkes is using his experience to keep youngsters in Cirencester on the straight and narrow.

Mr Wilkes, who started work as a Police Community Support Officer just before Christmas, is quickly winning friends among the town's younger population.

And he's lending videos of key moments from his career to get them interested in football and keep them away from a life of crime.

He said: "I'm getting to know a lot of the youngsters - they're a good lot in Cirencester.

"I'm doing everything I can in a pro-active way. There's so little for them to do.

"Many of them are interested in football and I'm lending them videos so they can see what I used to do."

Mr Wilkes spent 13-years refereeing professional football matches and entered the record books in 1997 when he sent off Walter Boyd of Swansea in a match against Darlington.

The player was dismissed after striking an opponent while coming on a substitute and, as play had stopped for a free-kick, the player's dismissal was officially recorded as being after zero seconds of play.

During his career, he compiled up to 400 videos of matches he was involved.

The 49-year-old, who lives near Tewkesbury, still works in football as a part-time referees' assessor and is also joining forces with Cirencester Town Football Club to provide further sporting opportunities for local youngsters.

He added: "I'm going to try and work as hard as I can to find other things for them to do.

"I bit further down the line, I'd like to get a few of them interested in refereeing."