John McKelvie

A native of the Lanarkshire mining village of Holytown John joined the Police Service in 1971.

He recently retired from Strathclyde Police after 30years service. Prior to retiral he was Superintendent at Govan – a quaint little fishing village on the banks of the Clyde!

He jogs five miles each day which suits his wife perfectly – by the end of the week he is 35 miles away from her.

John joined Lanarkshire Referees´ Association in 1970 and has often been compared to World Cup referee Hugh Dallas – compared to Hugh Dallas he is brilliant! His refereeing career has seen him officiate at Scottish Amateur Cup Finals at youth and full amateur level.

John formerly worked Monday to Friday in the Police and refereed on a Saturday. He really looked forward to a Sunday as this is the only day that his parentage was not openly questioned.

Since 1998 he has been a regular on the after dinner circuit at a variety of venues ranging from local establishments to top hotels throughout the UK.

He can be relied upon to be suitable for any audience, mixed or otherwise. He is never blue and has a style which is comfortably anecdotal, incorporating humorous one liners. John is a master of mischief and character assasination however he is aware that his job is to entertain and not to offend.

As his accolades imply, his true and extremely funny refereeing anecdotes allied to stories gathered from 30 years in Strathclyde Police continue to enrich and entertain the after dinner circuit, and hopefully will do so for many years to come.

Although happy to accept any challenge, John specialises in speaking at Corporate Events, Golf Days and Sportsman´s Dinners