The Vinyl Whistle: How a Leeds record store once owned by a Premier League referee became a West Brom stronghold

To be more precise, it’s the corner of a record shop.

Wander into the back room of The Vinyl Whistle in Headingley, a 15-minute drive or so from Elland Road and you can’t help but notice three pictures on the wall behind the counter.

“We’ve got a print of the NME front cover which had Cyrille Regis on it, the famous picture of the Three Degrees with the Three Degrees and one of Bob Taylor too,” explains Neil Westwater, the man who put them there.

Westwater is an Albion season ticket holder who has lived in Leeds for more than 30 years and bought the shop nearly 18 months ago from its previous owner, former Premier League referee, Jon Moss. It is the latter who was responsible for its witty, football-themed name.

“I was never going to change that,” smiles Westwater. “The football connection suits me down to the ground as that and music are my two passions.

“Jon’s legacy still lives on though. We are surely the only record shop in the world which gets bad reviews because people are upset with refereeing performances!”

Westwater, who spent the majority of his working life in logistics for a multi-national dairy company, was a regular at the shop for years before Moss told him he was thinking of selling.

“I used to enjoy having a crack with Jon about football while buying my music,” he says. “I told him if he was ever thinking of selling to let me know and about 18 months ago he got in touch to say he was.

“Of all the things I wanted to do in life, owning a record shop seemed the most realistic!”