Eric Jennings

Eric Thomas Jennings (22 January 1923 - June 1988) was an English football referee, who operated in the Football League and for FIFA. In his refereeing years he was based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands. Outside football he was employed as a technical representative for a water treatment company (FA Cup Final programme 1970, p12-13).

Career

Jennings was promoted to the Football League referees List in 1954, aged only 31.

By the mid-1960s he was a leading English official and this was marked by his ascendancy to the FIFA List in 1966. His experience of officiating between nations was limited mainly to friendly matches, which included East Germany's 2-0 win against Romania at the Stadion der Freundschaft on 21 September 1966, and the 2-2 draw between the Republic of Ireland and Poland at Dalymount Park on 15 May 1968. He also handled games in the Home International competition of the time, such as Northern Ireland versus Scotland at Windsor Park, Belfast, on 18 April 1970.

On 13 November 1968 he went to Amsterdam to referee Ajax versus Fenerbahçe in a European Cup second round tie, but bettered this later that season on 13 April 1969 with a return to the Dutch club for its semi-final against Spartak Trnava.

Jennings

Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include:

Eric

The given name Eric, Erik, or Erick is derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr (or Eríkr in Eastern Scandinavia due to monophthongization). The first element, ei- is derived either from the older Proto-Norse *aina(z) meaning "one" or "alone" or from Proto-Norse *aiwa(z) meaning "ever" or "eternal". The second element -ríkr derives either from *rík(a)z meaning "ruler" or "prince" (cf. Gothic reiks) or from an even older Proto-Germanic *ríkiaz which meant "powerful" and "rich". The name is thus usually taken to mean "one ruler", "autocrat", "eternal ruler" or "ever powerful", "warrior", and "government".

The most common spelling in Scandinavia is Erik. In Norway, another form of the name (which has kept the Old Norse diphthong) Eirik is also commonly used. In Finland, the form Erkki is also used. The modern Icelandic version is Eiríkur, while the modern Faroese version is Eirikur. Éric [eʁik] is used in French, and in Germany Eric, Erik and Erich are used.

Although the name was in use in Anglo-Saxon England, its use was reinforced by Scandinavian settlers arriving before the Norman Invasion. It was an uncommon name in England until the Middle Ages, when it gained popularity, and finally became a common name in the 19th century. This was partly because of the publishing of the novel Eric, or, Little by Little by Frederick William Farrar in 1858.