David Elleray visits King's

Former Premiership football referee David Elleray blew the whistle on life in professional football last week when he addressed senior pupils and staff at King's College in Taunton. His talk came before he performed his official duties as guest of honour at The King's Dinner, attended by many local headteachers.

The most hair-raising experience he recounted came when he was refereeing the Brazilian Cup Final, a game where traditionally at the final whistle the losers take out their frustrations on the referee. For his own protection he was given four armed police as personal security officers, who blocked the path of any player approaching him after the 90 minutes to shake his hand.

As well as being one of the country's top referees, he was also a housemaster at Harrow School , where he is now director of boarding, and a passionate believer in sport for all. He spoke of the benefits of sport in the development of young people across the country, and also of the dangers of concentrating purely on the success of a school's 1st XI or 1st XV, at the expense of the equally important lower teams.

"It was terrific for our pupils to meet someone so eminent in the world of sport," said King's head, Chris Ramsey. "But he also came across as a dedicated, passionate human being, and we've all taken a lot away from his visit."