Barry ‘The Book’ Haslewood laid to rest with touching tribute

Bracknell Referee Barry ‘The Book’ Haslewood was laid to rest on Wednesday at Bracknell Crematorium in front of a huge congregation of friends and family.

He would no doubt have been amused by the tribute from refereeing colleagues who ‘got a booking in early’ before the ceremony.

Funeral celebrant Edith Wright described him as a “true legend”, and joked that the Berks & Bucks FA will be now be looking to fill a large gap in its finances.

Our thoughts and well-wishes remain with Barry’s friends and family.

Rest in peace ref.

Writing in Wokingham Today, Andrew Batt, who attended the service reported: “The final whistle was sounded yesterday (Wednesday) for a Bracknell referee who officiated at many grassroots football matches for more than 40 years.

“He was sent off by a large number of fellow referees who gave his coffin a guard of honour as it entered, and brandished red and yellow cards.”

Barry passed away in January and the response on Football in Berkshire’s social media pages was heartwarming with many sharing stories of Barry’s unique take on refereeing – often taking a moment before kick-off to book a player in the dressing room to “save him time later.”

This would usually be followed by that player giving Barry a lift home.

FiB editor Tom Canning said at the time: “I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Barry Haslewood in the last few days. A prominent and popular Sunday League referee in Bracknell, Barry was known by many as ‘Barry The Book’.

“I’ve heard so many wonderful stories about Barry in several WhatsApp groups this week that I wanted to open up a comment thread if anyone has any stories they’d like to tell.

“In 2018 he was awarded our ‘Long Service’ award and I’ve very fond memories of being ref’d by him.”

Rest in peace Barry, from all of us here at Football in Berkshire.