My friend, Ken Goldman, who has died aged 81 of cancer, was a solicitor by profession, but his life revolved around grassroots football, as a coach, referee and writer. He was a magazine editor for the London Football Coaches Association and the North Middlesex Referees, and wrote match reports for LBC as well as many articles on topical issues.
Ken was brought up around rugby, but from the age of 17 it was football that he played regularly. In 1966 he obtained his FA preliminary coaching certificate and became editor of Football Coach in 1967. In 1978 he began attending monthly meetings of the North Middlesex Referees Society and was the editor of its monthly magazine, the Normidian, from 1980 to 1996.
Born in Hendon, north-west London, Ken was the son of Polly (nee Kravitz), a housewife, and Morry Goldman, a tailor. He attended City of London school, then qualified as a solicitor in 1963 after a five-year apprenticeship as an articled clerk, practising at Layzells in Muswell Hill and Elton & Co in Kentish Town.
Ken had opinions but he also had humanity. Never self-promoting, he always remembered that football was a community activity for the benefit of the people. His two abiding qualities – personal integrity and knowledge and love of football – made Ken a popular figure and he made many friends along the way, in the law, in football and in life. His manner was modest and his qualities considerable.
After retiring as a solicitor in 2015, he volunteered as a guide at Kenwood House, a former stately home in Hampstead, answering questions from the public on the exhibits. He gave that up in 2019 but continued writing until illness intervened in the summer of 2020.
Ken is survived by Michele Goodwin, his partner of 33 years, his son, Danny, and daughter, Emma, from his marriage to Ruth Sobell, which ended in divorce, and his grandchildren, Gabriella, Joshua, Polly and Anna.
