SCOTTISH boxers winning medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham brought back happy memories for Andy Caulfield, who refereed at two previous Games.

Our man in the ring sat down to enjoy the contests after several weeks as the ‘official observer’ at the women’s World Championships in Turkey, and then setting exams for up and coming officials in London.

Lochore born and bred, Andy now stays in Keltybridge and fought for Scotland in the light heavyweight division at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in1990.

He stayed in the game by becoming a ref and so watching gold medals being won by Scots fighters at Birmingham pleased him greatly.

As well as officiating at the Games in India in 2010 and Glasgow in 2014, he handled several big bouts at the London Olympics, so he knows what it takes to claim the big prizes.

“That really was a magnificent effort by the Scotland team to win three gold medals in the ring and I enjoyed watching it on the TV,” said Andy.

“The Scottish boxing team has been getting stronger and stronger and that was underlined in Birmingham with some fantastic performances. To win three golds is a fantastic achievement and I would hope that things will get better and better.”

Andy was the IBA’s observer at the women’s World Championships, in Istanbul, guiding the referees and judges through an exacting tournament.

“There were some tremendous contests in the championships and the officials did very well,” he said.

“My role was holding seminars every day for the referees and judges, and to answer any queries they had about any of the fights they were involved in.

“It meant watching a lot of bouts, and there were some really exceptional fighters involved in these contests.”

During the Istanbul event the former Olympic official celebrated his 56th birthday, and was taken aback when he entered the referees room and the entire company sang happy birthday to him!

He then came back to take charge of the international exam course for emerging GB referees, which was held at Alexandra Palace in London Working with colleague, Zoltan Shalma, he set exams and also watched 150 bouts involving the budding referees, and the pair were on hand to answer any queries the officials had.

“It was a nice experience to help up and coming British referees on their way to the top and during the event it was good to meet some coaches from the time when I was fighting,” he remarked.

“There were some great memories from the past and we all had good discussions about some tense contests.”