History of the NAFLUA and NCCUA
The first membership of an Umpires Association in the Newcastle region was recorded in 1948. At this point in time there were a group of four men that umpired any scheduled matches in the Newcastle area. There was no structure to the `Association' as it was not until 1953 when the first President and Secretary were appointed; those honours went to Mr L Packham and Mr A Savage respectively and the Newcastle AFL Umpires Association was official formed. The first Advisor/Coach was Mr F Hen appointed in 1964. The first recorded umpire as umpiring a Grand Final was Mr A Needs in 1948.
For whatever reason the Association was suspended from umpiring finals in 1964. Umpires again started umpiring finals in 1965.
From 1970 the following training venues have been used: Hawkins Oval, International Sports Centre, College of Advanced Education, No 1 Sports Ground and Hexham Oval.
Association meetings have been held at Pastor W Robinson's, District Park Tennis Clubrooms, International Sports Centre, Mines Rescue Centre, Hexham Bowling Club, Swansea RSL and Wickham Park Hotel.
Tribunal hearings took place in the City Clubrooms at Hawkins Oval, the residence of the secretary of the NAFL, Mrs D Craney, International Sports Centre, the Railway Institute, the Stag and Hunter Hotel, District Park Tennis Clubrooms, Wickham Park Bowling Club, Hexham Bowling Club, the Swansea RSL and Hamilton RSL.
In 1970 the teams that formed the NAFL were Cardiff, City, Maitland, University, RAAF, Waratah Mayfield and Western Suburbs.
Since that time Maitland have been in and out of the competition and have now folded. University became Wallsend, they amalgamated with Western Suburbs, but have now folded, as have Waratah Mayfield. The RAAF team was expelled from the competition at the beginning of the 1976 season as the RAAF hierarchy would not assist the local league in paying back the debt it incurred by having North Melbourne and Geelong play a pre season game at the International Sports Centre in 1975. This particular game was umpired by personnel from the local Association. The field umpires being Ray Dinneen (who still currently umpires) and Robert Can.
Other teams that came and went were Forster, Coalfields United, East Lakes, Raymond Terrace, Williamtown, (they replaced the RAAF side as a civilian registered side), Muswellbrook and Singleton although the later club (Singleton) is now back in the Black Diamond AFL competition.
Each year clubs endeavour to secure the right coaching staff; some of the more notable coaches that we have seen in this area have been Bill Barrott (former Richmond and Victorian centre man), Neill Davies (former Glenelg and South Australian centre halfback who also coached the Queensland State side), Warren Foster (former South Adelaide wingman), David Manson (former ruck man who played with Geelong West in the VFA), Bill Thrip (ex Collingwood) and Peter Kidd (ex Essendon).
In 2000 the Central Coast AFL (CCAFL) and Newcastle AFL (NAFL) combined to form the Black Diamond AFL (BDAFL) and with this members of the CCAFL Umpiring Panel and the NAFLUA meet and formed a new association the Newcastle Central Coast Umpires Association (NCCUA). A coach was selected from each region for the initial season however training was combined in 2001. Since then the NCCUA has grown in size and had a more professional structure.
Umpiring Recollections (by John Sullivan)
Pastor Wal Robinson
An American from the southern United States whom I first met in 1970 when I sought out officials of the local umpires Association. His first duty for the Association was to put me through an oral examination of the rules of the game so that he could assure himself and other members of the Association that I knew what umpiring was all about. He loved the game and continued to be involved in the game well into the 1980's as an administrator for the umpires and the NAFL Board.
John Beaumont
One of the few home grown umpires from Newcastle and knew his craft well. John umpired the 1971 Grand Final between Newcastle City and RAAF. His career was unfortunately cut short by his passing due to a brain tumour in 1972.
Lou Boyd
Again a long serving member of the Association had his career cut short by an accident at Lysaghts in 1971. He continued to serve as an administrator until his disability forced him to completely retire from football.
Robert Abbott
When he came to our Association he became a goal umpire who depending on his mental state during the match that he was umpiring would become very excited about giving a decision for a goal in that when he actually signalled to his partner at the opposite end of the ground he would be jumping up and down on the spot uncontrollably.
Frank Cameron
Frank became a member of the NCCUA in 2000. He was at that time also carrying out curator duties for the Killarney Vale Australian Football Club at the Adelaide Street ground. He mainly umpired the Under 18's and First Division (Reserve Grade) games. What surprised us all was that Frank had his own rules implemented in respect to time off in these grades. At three quarter time, he informed whomever he was umpiring with that he instructed the timekeepers to stop the clock in the last quarter for any stoppages where the umpires had blown time providing the score was within two goals. This was done despite the fact that there was no allowance for time off in these grades.
Richard Judd
A long serving member of the Association known very well in recent seasons for his culinary taste during halftime no matter what grade of football he was umpiring.
Paul Vella
Paul umpired as a goal umpire until the end of the 2004 season. He was noted early in his career to actually mark the ball as it was travelling at head height between the goal posts and then show what he had done to the crowd.
Peter Crossland
Peter was referred to as “the walking and talking encyclopaedia of football”. Ask Peter any question and he would know the answer. Umpired in all three Associations and is now located in Melbourne.
Bob Carr
Bob will always be remembered for getting the NAFL out of debt in 1976 after the league went into debt through the staging of the pre season trial match between North Melbourne and Geelong in 1975. He along with Ray Dinneen umpired this match at the International Sports Centre, now known as Energy Australia Stadium.
Ray Dineen
Ray has been a long serving member of the Association since 1974. Had he documented all of the games he has umpired over the years he would surely have umpired around 700 matches. This is an achievement that he can be proud of.
Noel Dickson
Along with John Beaumont one of very few home grown umpires. Learnt his trade well in Newcastle then went to Monash University in Melbourne and continued his career in Victoria. In his first year in Melbourne made the Under 18's umpiring panel.
John McCormick
Were the Association Secretary / Treasurer for many years. In 1974 he had the Association in a better financial position than the NAFL. So much so that the Association was requested to assist the League to get out of debt in 1976. When he retired he had umpired in excess of 300 first grade games.
Paul Hoare
Paul started as a goal umpire with Association in 1982. He eventually joined the NSWAFUA in Sydney with his father Peter. Paul went on to be a contracted umpire for the VFL / AFL and was at the scoring end when Tony Lockett broke the goal scoring record of John Coleman at the SCG.
Amy Borg (nee Galloway)
Amy started out as a boundary umpire with the Association in 1997. Her main claim to fame as a boundary umpire was having her father, Mick who played with Singleton, sent from the field under the blood rule.
In 1999 she began her goal umpiring career and in 2002 joined the NSWAFUA in Sydney where she finished in the top four goal umpires in her first year.
In 2003 moved to Melbourne and in the Western Region district Association she again achieved a top four position in her first year. At the end of 2004 had the opportunity to train with the VFL but elected to move back to Singleton with future husband Ashley, they now have moved back to Melbourne, sadly Amy is no longer umpiring.
You will find additional historical items such as record games holders, office bearers and award winners by clicking on the appropriate tabs below in the History section.
