by Woody Woodhouse

Created on: February 21, 2009

The complicated rules of Australian Football is difficult to adjudicate so a large umpiring squad is assembled for each game to make sure the rules are upheld appropriately. In all there are eight umpires all having different jobs.

The main umpire is the centre umpire. His job is to look after the centre part of the field (in between the two fifty metre arcs).

There are two other field umpires who control inside the fifty metre arcs.

There are two goal umpires (one at either end). There significant role is to judge which scores are recorded (if any). They are also the official score keepers of the game and do very little movement.

In contrast to the goal umpires the boundary umpires usually do the most running, continuously running back and forth along the sideline. There primary role is to throw the ball back into play if it leaves the field.

There is also an eighth umpire who is an 'emergency umpire' or backup umpire who replaces any umpire that may be injured during the game. They also examine the game from the sideline and can send messages to certain umpires on events they should look closely at. If a fight or scuffle occurs they often go to the area and take charge of it while the play continues around them. They also oversee the interchanges by both teams, the team staff and the blood rule however at vital matches an interchange umpire may also be used.

The three field umpires have the ability to report players and award free kicks while the other umpires only have the ability to report players along with their designated roles. The umpires regularly pass on messages to each other or include their input into a discussion. this regularly occurs with the goal umpires to make sure they signal the correct score.

Historically, umpires wore white short-sleeved shirts, white shorts and high white socks (with the exception of goal umpires who wore a white long-sleeved coat, wide brimmed hat and black trousers). Nowadays, they wear uniforms that don't clash with the teams in play (commonly orange because few teams have similar outfits). They field umpires still wear the short-sleeved shirt with shorts and high socks but the goal umpires now wear a short-sleeved shirt and cap (matching the field and boundary umpires) but still retain the black trousers as they don't need free moving clothes because they do little movement and are seen as the official scorekeepers.

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