Cornwall FA were delighted to present current Board Member Stephen Lawrence with the FA 50 Years Long Service Award.

Stephen currently sits on the Cornwall FA Board of Directors as a Safeguarding Director however his football journey started an impressive 50 years ago where he has since gained an array of experiences through playing and refereeing within Cornish Football. 

Stephen represented Falmouth YMCA during U16 and U18 football before passing his refereeing exam in the 1975/76 season where he started his refereeing journey later that season. Initially officiating in the local leagues, Stephen was then invited to officiate on the South Western League in 1995 until 2001.

Throughout his refereeing journey, Stephen officiated an astonishing 800 plus games with his well-earned retirement from refereeing coming in 2008. An impressive refereeing career which saw Stephen gain various honours including FA Cup/Vase appointments, SW Senior County Cup Competition, CCFA Senior Cup referee appointment, South Western League Cup Final referee and assistant referee in both the CCFA Senior, Junior and Charity Cup Finals. Within this time, he has also been an FA Referee Assessor in all levels for the CCFA as well as a Supply League assessor on the South Western League and South West Peninsula League.  

Since retiring, Stephen has made appearances at different cup competitions, featuring as the assistant referee at the Cornwall Charity Cup Semi-Final in May 2018 and more recently supporting referees at various cup finals. Additional to this, Stephen joined the Cornwall FA Board of Directors in 2016 where supports the business in particular from a Safeguarding perspective. 

Cornwall FA would like to congratulate Stephen on his achievement and thank him for his 50 years of service!