The 80-year-old has been flown to South Africa as a guest of the Premier League along with referees chief Mike Riley.

Taylor said: "It's a wonderful feeling to have come to South Africa to watch the final. It all happened so quickly. I got the call from Mike Riley on Thursday night asking if the Premier League could arrange it would I like to go. I jumped at the chance."

Taylor said he always knew Webb had it in him to reach the very top.

He added: "I remember speaking to Richard Scudamore shortly after Howard received the call that he was to start officiating Premier League games and I told him he had someone special, someone who would go all the way to the top, and he has.

"I believe he's the best referee this country has ever produced and I couldn't be more pleased for him."

Taylor, a legendary figure who awarded the first-ever penalty in a World Cup final in the first minute of the 1974 match between West Germany and Holland, said Webb would be "ice cool" before kick-off.

"I'll be feeling more nervous than he is," he added. "I'll be looking to see how Howard is on the pitch, in his warm-up, before the game kicks off. But, knowing him as I do, I expect him to be ice cool and not to be showing any emotion, because that's Howard.

"He knows he's got a job to do and he's not fazed whether he's doing parks football and it is one man and his dog that is the match assessor, or whether there's a billion people watching."