Gibbsy
Moderator
- Moderator
- #1
The V/AFL is no doubt the most comprehensively covered league for statistical analysis in the history of our great game (although Ric Gauci and his tremendous WAFL FootyFacts website might have something to say about that).
One area that is slightly lacking, at least in some areas, is that of the umpires. Without the umpires, we don't have a game. And so they deserve a bit of love. The AFL Umpires Association (AFLUA) has an in-house historian/statistician that has done a power of work; their website features match totals for all field, boundary and goal umpires, as well as selections for every grand final, including most of the reserves, U19s and VFA GFs. AFL Tables also has the field umpire index.
So it's not necessarily the numbers we are lacking (although it would be great to have boundary and goal umpires attached to each match rather than just field), but rather the identities of some.
In trawling AFL Tables' field umpire index, I found 12 umpires who are identified only by a first initial. These are all men who have represented their craft at the highest level, and yet some of them are 'person unknown'. Do we think that us, as a board, could do a bit of genealogy/digging to help tick off these final few names and give these umpires back their identity? I'm happy to help, as always.
To address the first inconsistency: the two J. Clarkes are the same person – John Clarke – which the AFLUA recognises as umpire heritage number 108, and who umpired 26 games between 1924 and 1930.
The AFLUA have done a fair bit for us in this regard, and have ticked off a number of the names that AFL Tables is missing. The list above now appears as follows:
Anyway, that leaves us with 4 unidentified V/AFL field umpires at this stage (let's not get started on boundary and goal just yet!) Where to look? Most likely Trove and following that Ancestry, but we have a better chance at those with multiple initials than we do just one – 'J Smith' may be nigh on impossible.
Have at it, if you like!
One area that is slightly lacking, at least in some areas, is that of the umpires. Without the umpires, we don't have a game. And so they deserve a bit of love. The AFL Umpires Association (AFLUA) has an in-house historian/statistician that has done a power of work; their website features match totals for all field, boundary and goal umpires, as well as selections for every grand final, including most of the reserves, U19s and VFA GFs. AFL Tables also has the field umpire index.
So it's not necessarily the numbers we are lacking (although it would be great to have boundary and goal umpires attached to each match rather than just field), but rather the identities of some.
In trawling AFL Tables' field umpire index, I found 12 umpires who are identified only by a first initial. These are all men who have represented their craft at the highest level, and yet some of them are 'person unknown'. Do we think that us, as a board, could do a bit of genealogy/digging to help tick off these final few names and give these umpires back their identity? I'm happy to help, as always.
- J. Clarke (16 games, 1924–25)
- E. Wilkinson (11 games, 1926)
- J. Clarke (10 games, 1929–30) [listed as separate to the other J Clarke, but who knows?]
- C. Allen (5 games, 1906)
- D. Brown (3 games, 1930)
- J. C. Smith (2 games, 1897)
- J. Smith (2 games, 1928)
- A. Dalziel (1 game, 1907)
- H. Reynolds (1 game, 1910)
- W. Thompson (1 game, 1919)
- W. Gibson (1 game, 1927)
- J. Murphy (1 game, 1933)
To address the first inconsistency: the two J. Clarkes are the same person – John Clarke – which the AFLUA recognises as umpire heritage number 108, and who umpired 26 games between 1924 and 1930.
The AFLUA have done a fair bit for us in this regard, and have ticked off a number of the names that AFL Tables is missing. The list above now appears as follows:
- John Clarke (26 games, 1924–30)
- Edmund Wilkinson (11 games, 1926)
- Charles Allen (5 games, 1906)
- Eric Brown (3 games, 1930)
- J. C. Smith (2 games, 1897)
- J. Smith (2 games, 1928)
- Arthur Dalziel (1 game, 1907)
- H. Reynolds (1 game, 1910)
- William Thompson (1 game, 1919)
- William Gibson (1 game, 1927)
- J. D. Murphy (1 game, 1933)
Anyway, that leaves us with 4 unidentified V/AFL field umpires at this stage (let's not get started on boundary and goal just yet!) Where to look? Most likely Trove and following that Ancestry, but we have a better chance at those with multiple initials than we do just one – 'J Smith' may be nigh on impossible.
Have at it, if you like!
