By Tara Murray
Alan ‘Ollie’ Matthews racked up another milestone on Saturday as he took to the field as goal umpire in the Riddell District Football League.
Already the Riddell Umpires games record holder, Matthews stepped onto the ground for game 1500 in the senior match between Romsey and Rupertswood.
Matthews said he had never imagined umpiring that many games when he started out.
“I love it and it’s in the blood, “ he said.
“I’ve made so many friends, that’s the important thing. Even today, both team’s captains came up and wished me all the best for the game.
“You don’t get that to often in grass roots football.
“That’s what it is all about. Today one of the hardest games I’ve seen for a long time, no ifs or buts, both played really hard.”
Matthews started umpiring when a motor vehicle accident ended his playing career.
He had played “a couple of hundred games’ for Craigieburn and Wallan in the RDFL before he started umpiring.
He was president of Craigieburn in 1979 when they won their first senior premiership.
“When I started umpiring, we’d only do one game on a Saturday in the goals, as at that stage the Riddell League only provided umpires for the main game,” he said.
“The league ended up providing umpires for the reserves and then occasionally you’d do two games a weekend.
“When I was the president of the Umpires Association, we were short on field umpires on Sundays, so I started to do field umpiring jobs ranging from under-11s to under-17s.
“I accumulated them a bit quicker.”
Matthews followed in the footsteps of his father, who was an umpire in the Essendon District Football League.
Matthews, who has also been president of the RDFNL for the last 18 years, has umpired six senior grand finals, 10 junior grand finals.
He was also the Victorian goal umpire in a Vic Health grand final in the late 1980s.
Matthews said that he loved football and it was something that he still enjoyed being involved with.
“I still try and get a kick occasionally; I played with the Vic Country Masters last year up at Coffs Harbour.
“Hopefully I’ll play this year in first weekend in October, in Townsville, I will still be going up there as an umpire.”
Matthews said he was unsure how long he would continue to umpire for.
