A football-mad septuagenarian stepped in at the last minute to referee a match between his beloved Teign Village and Upton Athletic when the match official didn’t turn up last month.

Don ‘Tudor’ Wonnacott, of Hennock, who will be 76 this month, has refereed matches in the past, but it was the first time he had picked up the whistle since he had a knee replacement operation two years ago.

Teign Village, who play in the WBW South Devon?League Division Three, went on to win the thrilling encounter 6-2.

Tudor said jokingly: ‘Teign Village don’t lose when I’m in charge.’

Full story and more pictures in Friday’s edition.