Freddie Usher passed away on August 14, 2015 at about 7am. Fred was struggling with Alzheimer’s/Dementia for 8 years or so before he finally passed, peacefully at home with his family.

Freddie was very passionate about soccer. He always considered the soccer/referee community an extended part of his family.

As a young boy in England, Freddie never missed an opportunity to kick a ball, or can.
The highlight of school for him was lunch, during which time two teams would play with a tennis ball, using goals that were marked on the walls with chalk, for which he was regularly caned.
His passion for the game continued through his entire school experience, with his playing on school teams and, later (when he joined the British merchant navy), playing on ships’ teams in foreign ports, usually while he was fortified with an abundance of beer! It’s very likely, he believes, that during this time soccer actually kept him sane, with all the ribbing and torment he endured being a fifteen year-old boy on a ship full of men.
When he immigrated (1957) to the United States, he was drafted into the military service, but chose instead to join the U.S. Air Force. During his twenty-two years of service, he played on several of the base teams, the highlight of which was the European Arm Forces tournament, which his team won.

After being stationed back in the U.K., his oldest son, Mark, wanted to play on the youth soccer team. When Fred attempted to enroll him to play, he was told by a man who outranked him that to enable his son to play would require Fred’s becoming a referee.

Freddie politely informed that gentleman that he hated refs, and had no intention of joining their ranks! The threat, or conditions, were issued again, and so he took up the challenge, only to discover that there were many things that he thought he knew about the game, but really didn’t.

So, he took the course, and the Football Association (FA) test, and did quite well. From that point on, refereeing became an integral part of Fred Usher’s life. He did not miss many matches that he was assigned to, and later on he was picked to run the line of the

Cadstrian League Cup, which was a new milestone for his soccer career.

When he returned to the U.S., Fred was asked to take up the management of referees in Florida, which he did not want to do and did not accept, since he still wanted to referee. It wasn’t long after, that the North American Soccer League (NASL) was scouting for referees, and Eddie Pearson came to Tampa. Fred was one of a few who was selected through performance, to officiate in the NASL. During the following eleven years (1974-85), he went from linesman to center referee. He recalls, “Nobody could have received a greater challenge in soccer than to have officiated in that league; but, it was magic.” In addition to refereeing in the NASL; he was an active referee in NISOA; the ASL; the NASL Indoor Soccer League, along with any other game he was offered to officiate.