Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis (born 30 March 1944) is a former referee in the Football League, Premier League and at FIFA level. He is currently the Chairman of the FA League Committee. Career Lewis became a Football League linesman in 1969 at the age of twenty-five. At this point he was based in Bournemouth but he later moved to Great Bookham in Surrey where he served the rest of his career. In 1974, he joined the Supplementary List of referees and one year later progressed to the full referees List. Over the next few years he established himself and took charge of frequent top division games. In 1983, he was appointed to the League Cup semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Burnley with the Merseysiders (eventual Cup winners) winning 3–0. He became more prominent in the late 1980s. In April 1987 he refereed the FA Cup semi-final between Tottenham and Watford and a few months later the Charity Shield between Everton and Coventry. On New Year's Day 1989 he was elevated to the FIFA List and marked the day with a match at Old Trafford as Manchester United beat Liverpool 3–1. He took thirteen and a half seasons on the full List to reach this level, the longest period in modern times.