Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Getty Images

The NPL Queensland pathway is delivering for more than just players and coaches, as young Queensland referee Alex King will attest.

King, 22, is a regular in the middle in NPL Queensland fixtures, but took his most high-profile assignment yet on Tuesday night by officiating the Westfield FFA Cup tie between Olympic FC and Melbourne Knights at Goodwin Park.

Just like many of the players on the national stage for the first time, King admitted to some minor jitters in the lead-up to the occasion.

“As soon as the appointments came out two and a bit weeks ago the nerves hit straight away knowing it was a big game,” he said.

“It was a real honour to be given the opportunity and I’m really thankful for it. Hopefully, I did pretty good.”

King, who hails from Bribie Island and started refereeing on the Sunshine Coast before moving to Brisbane, has been identified as one of the state’s brightest refereeing talents.

He is currently in the third year of an Asian Football Confederation scholarship, which he hopes to graduate from in September.

King said he drew inspiration from Queensland referees who have officiated at the highest levels including A-League referees Jarred Gillett and Alan Milliner, who have taken King under their wing and offered valuable knowledge in how to handle high-profile games.

He also explained that NPL Queensland offered the week-in, week-out grounding that is crucial to furthering his ambition to referee at the highest levels of the game.

“I’ve progressed through the ranks from the youth to the senior men and it’s helped me a lot. A year ago I struggled a bit on the NPL but this year I feel a lot more comfortable and more at home with more games and more exposure,” he said.

Football Queensland Referee Development Administrator David Wiebe backed King to continue to his development in coming years.

“Alex has a big future but it doesn’t mean that he can now sit on cruise control,” Wiebe said.

“With refereeing there is always something new to learn, a new skill to handle or more fitness to be completed because we can never be fit enough. His journey to the top is only half completed and now the real hard work begins.”

“In the coming years Alex will more than likely be involved in the A-League in some way shape or form. This will be another step on the developmental path that has been created by the FFA Referees Director Ben Wilson,” Wiebe added.