A referee who has overseen about 4,000 games over 60 years has said he enjoys his role more than ever.
Howard Bevan, 77, began officiating as a teenager, and his career has seen appearances at Notts County, Nottingham Forest and Mansfield Town.
He said the main changes he had seen were that today's red card tackles were often "waved on" and games were called off because of "wet pitches", whereas in his early days "if you could walk on a pitch, you could play on it".
In recognition of his 60 years' service, he was presented with an engraved gold-whistle trophy at England Women's World Cup qualification win against Iceland at the City Ground earlier this month.
He received the award from Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt MBE.
Bevan said: "It's all very touching, and Debbie's words were lovely - she spoke so kindly about me.
"It was a brilliant day; I'd been meant to referee a game that day, but I know which of the two I'd prefer.
"I still enjoy it as much as I used to; perhaps even more so now than when I was younger.
"It's the enjoyment that keeps you going so long. Nowadays, when I referee matches, I know the assistants, I know other referees and even the players and coaches to a certain extent.
"I think that's what it's all about when you know the people.
"I've done 44 games so far this season and did 67 last; so over the years I must have refereed almost 4,000 matches!
"Back when I first started refereeing things were so different. You wouldn't see games called off because if you could walk on a pitch you could play on it. Nowadays there's a lot more care for players' welfare which is a good thing.
"It's similar in the way the rules have changed; some tackles would have gone unpunished in the past which are now certainly worthy of a red card."
Hewitt, a Notts County supporter whose father was an amateur referee, said: "To acknowledge Howard and his achievement of six decades is incredible.
"When you consider the era in which he started when it was all about determination, commitment and resilience, 60 years' service shows each of those characteristics.
"Just reading his background exhausted me. On behalf of everyone in English football, including the match official team who fought me to present the award, a huge thank you to Howard for everything he's done - we all really appreciate it."