At the end of the 1973 season on April 28th Iory found himself at Anfield, , in a vital end of season game that could see Liverpool become League Champions. As usual Shankley arranged for Meg to get great hospitality and a vital game got underway with Liverpool needing to draw. In an exciting game the match finished goal less and amid great celebrations Liverpool were Champions. Iory was getting changed in the Referees’ room, a special place, off limits to most people, when a knock was heard on the door, it was Bill Shankley.
“Hello Iory” would you like to keep the match ball?” Iory often took the match ball home from games or other memorabilia and he would raffle it for charities back home in Trelewis, his way of giving something back to the village. “Yes please” said Iory, and Shankley said “come with me”
They walked to the Liverpool changing room, a scene of great celebration and excitement and on the sight of Shankley a respectful silence filled the air.
“I want you all to sign this ball for the Referee” and they duly obliged, along with the great Shankley himself. Iory still has the ball to this day and there is a photograph here to prove it.
Iory would often appear on “Match of the Day” but there were no videos in those days so he never could get a copy. He did ask a friend once who worked on the BBC to try to get him one but his mate came back and quoted a small fortune to secure a copy, so Iory never got to keep a copy.
Again Iory was the match referee for Home International matches and during his career he reffed some of the most famous footballers in British history.
The 1974-75 season was to be the last Season in which Iory would referee at the top level, he had reached the age that referees were forced to retire, even though he was still very fit and probably more knowledgeable than at any time during his career.
The first game was up in London at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea and their manager Dave Sexton, it was a league game in the top division, Chelsea v Burnley, a famous name was on the coaching staff ay Chelsea, Mr Dario Gradi who later became a record breaking manager at Crewe.
He was to ref many crucial games that season and again he was busy in Europe, he was well liked and respected for the way he controlled matches, to his credit he only ever sent two players off the field of play, Peter Storey of Arsenal and Billy Bremner of Leeds, both for fighting each other.
Iory was to finish his football league refereeing career down in Devon at St James Park, Exeter, a far cry from some of the magnificent stadiums he had officiated in, but they made him very welcome and put a lovely piece in the match programme congratulating Iory on his services to football as a referee.
Following the end of his refereeing career, Iory was still very fit and still enjoyed a game of bowls and generally keeping himself in good shape.
He was approached by Alan Hardaker, the secretary of the football league, to become a referee assessor for the area, to cover matches in Hereford , Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol etc, local to Iory…this was a special job and often Iory was remain anonymous to the match officials as he marked their performances out of ten, from the stands. He would often know the referees personally, many had run the line for him over the years and were close friends, he still had to mark them fairly but he never said a bad word against them…Iory knew that referees made mistakes, but he also knew that they were honest mistakes and his marks reflected that opinion.
After six years Iory finally give up the job of Referee assessor at the age of 53. He continued his teaching career until he was 62 years old, whilst his wife Margaret had a successful secretarial career at Tredomen engineering offices in Ystrad Mynach, where she worked as a personal assistant to one of the managers.
Once they retired they had more time to enjoy their lives and took to the seas, partaking in many cruising holidays, mainly to the Baltic or the warmer Mediterranean, its something they still both love doing in 2009. They have even sat at the Captains table.
Iory is a very skilful maker of Welsh love spoons and he has made quite a few in his time, he even made one for the Captain of a P & O Cruiser, who was delighted to receive such an unique and personal gift. He has also made a beautiful spoon for his wife. They have a daughter and two wonderful grandchildren who have also enjoyed a trip on a cruise ship in the past.
Iory has often attended local schools or youth clubs to talk about his career in football and he is a very interesting orator. Some of the local children speak in high regard of Iory and I received this from Gary Jones who now lives in Field Street.
Growing up in the high street Trelewis my brother Martyn and I were football crazy; having Iory living on the other side of the street was a bit special. I can remember stopping him on the street and asking where he was refereeing on the following Saturday, we would then look forward to match of the day to see if we could see him.
On a couple of occasions we were invited down to his house to watch the European games with him and his wife Margaret, I am sure they were the first games I ever saw on a colour TV! Speaking with Iory recently about his football memories and achievements, I told him I that I could talk to him about football all night long, his stories are so interesting.
So there you have it, a Trelewis man, who was known throughout Europe by the greats in the football world. Iorwerth Jones the quiet referee
Many thanks to Paul Corkrey for allowing me to use this article. To view the original please go to https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/treharris-areas/trelewis/history/