In 1884 Joseph Hudson, an English toolmaker from Birmingham developed the world’s first sports whistle – the ACME Thunderer – and since then has been used globally by football referees at all levels. The Thunderer has been heard in 137 countries; at World Cups, Cup Finals, in parks, playing fields and beaches around the world.
Over 160 million Thunderers have been manufactured by Hudson & Co., which is still based in Birmingham, England. Apart from football, Hudson whistles have also been used by crewmen on the Titanic, by British ‘bobbies’ (policemen) and by reggae musicians.
The Thunderer pea whistle comprises a small ball (the pea) in an air chamber. Blowing into the mouthpiece of the device causes the pea to rattle around in the chamber. The action of the pea creates a pulsed-effect as it disturbs the airflow, which results in the familiar trilling whistle that we all know. A whistle can produce sounds of 80 decibels up to and beyond 120 decibels – a power lawnmower to siren levels. At these levels, the whistle produces a sound that can be heard not only all-around a football stadium but up to a mile away.
The first football match to be officiated with a whistle was held in 1878 at the English Football Association Cup 2nd Round game between Nottingham Forest (2) v Sheffield (0). This was probably the ‘Acme City’ brass whistle. Before that, signals were communicated by the umpires to the players by waving a handkerchief, a stick or by shouting. In 1878, football matches were still officiated by two umpires who patrolled inside the field of play. The Referee of those days, took a subservient role on the touchline, and was only used as a mediator if the two umpires were unable to reach a decision. It would therefore have been most unlikely for the Referee of 1878 to require a whistle for his ‘refereeing’ role. The two umpires would have been the whistle blowers in these games.
It was not until 1891 that umpires were abolished to the touchline as linesmen, and the Referee began operating for the first time on the field of play. It was probably here, when the Referee (as opposed to the umpires) first used the whistle, by which time the Referee was now regularly required to stop play for infringements. The whistle was proving to be a very useful tool indeed.
So good was the pea whistle that it’s basic design changed very little over the next 110 years. Small adjustments to the design of the whistle mouthpiece, the chamber, the air holes, and the whistle material (plastic whistles were introduced in the early 20th century) were made. These adjustments enabled not only louder sounds but sound for varying situations, uses and users. The pea whistle remained extremely popular despite having a few problems. The pea, made from cork, could become jammed if it got wet or dirty, reducing the level of sound from the whistle and even stopping it working altogether. Over the years, metal and plastic peas have substituted cork.
Then in 1987, Ron Foxcroft and Chuck Shepherd created the first new whistle for referees to grace the market in over one hundred years – the pea-less Fox 40 whistle. This whistle looked similar to the Thunderer, but worked on a different and simple principle, and had no moving parts. The design was based on air, blown into the whistle, being split into two separate flows, each producing different frequencies. These then merged in the whistle’s resonate chamber alternately reinforcing and cancelling each other out to create a loud piercing sound. This new type of whistle was immediately popular as it removed the only issue that encumbered the original pea whistle design.