Robert Sawtell... he was 25 years old when he started refereeing... he was 27 years old when he moved from Bristol to Winnipeg in 1977; he was 30 years old when he moved further west to Vancouver in 1980...

honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a referee... honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia... honoured as a BC Soccer Life Member... recipient of the Ray Morgan Memorial Award in 1991... recipient of Canada Soccer’s Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Service Award in 2018...

For Sport

served on the FIFA List of Referees and Assistant Referees for six years (1990 to 1995)... served on the Canada Soccer List of Referees and Assistant Referees for 10 years from 1986 to 1995... over the course of his career as a Referee and Assistant Referee, he was appointed to matches in leagues including the Canadian Soccer League (1987 to 1992)...

was appointed as a referee at the 1990 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship in Guatemala... was appointed as a referee at the 1991 Concacaf Women’s Championship in Haiti... was appointed as a referee at the FIFA World Youth Championship Portugal 1991 (later known as the FIFA U-20 World Cup)... was appointed as a referee at the 1992 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship... was appointed as a referee at the 1993 Concacaf Gold Cup, including the Final at Estadio Azteco (Mexico wins 4:0 over USA in front of 130,800 fans)...

was appointed as an Assistant Referee to the 1989 Canadian Soccer League Championship Final in Burnaby on 1 October 1989 (Vancouver 86ers won 3:2 over Hamilton Steelers SC)... was appointed as the Fourth Official for the 1992 Canadian Soccer League Championship Final in Burnaby on 4 October 1992 (Winnipeg Fury FC won the two-leg series)...

served as secretary of the Manitoba Soccer Coaches’ Association (1978-79)... served as president of the British Columbia Soccer Referees’ Association (1988-1991)... served as technical director for soccer for BC Special Olympics... served as president of the Canadian Soccer Referees’ Association (starting 1993)... served as a member of Canada Soccer’s Referee Committee (starting in 2003)... served on the Concacaf Five-A-Side Football Commission... served as a Referee Liaison Officer for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015...

served as a Canada Soccer Referee Instructor and Referee Assessor... served as a Concacaf Referee Instructor and Concacaf Referee Assessor...