Devine intervention as Jim has moment of Cup glory

But, for one Cleveland resident, Boro's 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford was crucial to keeping his own FA Cup final hopes alive.

While Gareth Southgate and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink will spend this afternoon in front of their television screens, Jim Devine will be enjoying one of the proudest moments of his life at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

After officiating in the Premiership for 12 years, the assistant referee has been chosen to run the line in today's FA Cup final.

The honour is recognition for his efforts in more than 220 top-flight or international games, but it has only come about because of Middlesbrough's failings in this season's competition.

"I wouldn't have been doing this if Middlesbrough had been there," explained Devine, who combines his officiating with a full-time job in Cleveland Police's drugs squad.

"They don't allow any of the officials to have a geographical bias. I wouldn't say anyone ever really expects to be chosen but I suppose it is in the back of your mind when your local team is playing in the first few rounds.

"The FA only allows any referee or assistant referee to appear in one FA Cup final and it's the greatest thing you can achieve in the game.

"All footballers dream of appearing in the cup final and we all do too."

Devine, who officiated at his first game at St Bede's Juniors, Thornaby, in the Tees and Cleveland League some 24 years ago, has established himself as one of the most reliable assistants on the Premier League list.

Yet the 43-year-old insists the confirmation of his appointment came completely out of the blue. He received the call driving home from the golf course on the afternoon of his birthday and, initially, feared it might have been a prank.

"It was strange," he explained. "We talk to each other as referees and assistants and, for the last couple of years, people have been saying that I've been doing well and it might be my turn.

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of high-quality officials in competition with each other and it didn't happen.

"This year, nobody's said a word to me so I was beginning to wonder if I was doing something wrong. That's when the call came.

"I don't think it's something you should ever think is your right, because it isn't. But it's great to think that people are impressed enough with you to want you to do it."

This afternoon's game will mark the high-point of Devine's career but, while he continues to officiate in the Northern League, he is no stranger to the big stage.

He has run the line at Wembley twice - in a Charity Shield between Manchester United and Chelsea and an FA Vase final between Brigg Town and Clitheroe - and officiated at the Millennium Stadium when Wolves beat Sheffield United in the First Division play-off final.

"I've done big games before, although obviously nothing quite as big as this," he said.

"It's strange because its not always the big games you remember the most, quite often it's a smaller game with a particular incident that really stands out.

"When the game's actually going on it's quite difficult to get the full picture of just how exciting or full of incident it is because you're concentrating on what's going on in front of you.

"You can't switch off for a second because you're thinking about technical things like offside or tugs on a shirt. Often, it's only when you look back after the event that you get a more rounded picture.

"I remember my first professional match vividly, Doncaster v Bury in the old Fourth Division, and my first Premiership match, Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester City.

"This season, I think the game that stands out the most was the recent one between Spurs and Liverpool. Every goal was a goal-of-the-season contender and the attitude and banter of the players was first-class."

If only that were true at every level of the game. The FA recently estimated that, in some areas of the country, 20 per cent of games are played without a qualified match official.

Experienced referees are leaving football in droves, repeatedly citing persistent abuse and escalating violence as the main factors behind their decision to hang up their whistle.

The FA have launched an initiative aimed at recruiting 10,000 new officials every year but, as yet, the trend away from the game shows no sign of being reversed.

A number of leading politicians have pointed to the lack of moral guidance from the Premiership, where stars such as Wayne Rooney are repeatedly seen swearing at referees and challenging their every decision. Children, it is argued, will merely mimic their idols.

Devine admits that recruiting youngsters into refereeing remains a problem but rather than criticising what players are doing on the pitch, he is more concerned about the abuse directed at officials from the sidelines.

"There is still a shortage of numbers but things are changing, slowly," he said."In the Northern League, we've got an 18-year-old called Ross Joyce refereeing and he would never have got to that level at that age in my day.

"There's a lot of publicity about problems on the pitch. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never had that much of a problem.

"You get little incidents in the heat of the moment but, sometimes, you have to make allowances for that.

"One thing we do have is the support of the leagues and the local FAs. On the very rare occasion anything serious does happen to a referee it's dealt with quickly and it's dealt with severely.

"What is more of a problem, and what isn't really being addressed, is the abuse from the touchline, especially in kids' games. If you're a young referee and you've got someone shouting and screaming at you from a couple of yards away you can feel pretty intimidated.

"As you get more experienced you learn to block it out but it can be hard at first."

Blocking out one angry fan is one thing, ignoring the abuse of 72,000 screaming supporters is quite another.

Devine is confident he has mastered the art. Every time his flag is raised this afternoon, that confidence will be put to the ultimate test.