WILLIAMSON TO BREAK GAMES RECORD
When it comes to umpiring, footy fans in the outer say that if the umpire has gone through a game unnoticed, he or she has had a good day.
That’s exactly the way Bendigo Umpire Association’s Geoff Williamson likes to umpire – no fanfare, no hysterics, no arrogance. Just do his job, get off the ground and enjoy a cold lemonade with fellow umpires and players.
Williamson was hopeful his 532nd BFNL senior game this weekend would also go unnoticed.
That’s not the case. When Williamson holds the ball aloft at the first siren in Saturday’s clash between Sandhurst and Castlemaine at the QEO, he will become the BFNL all-time games record holder for field umpiring, breaking the record of 531 set by his old mate Gary Goudge.
The games record comes on the back of eight BFNL grand final appearances, three NCFL grand finals, five HDFNL grand finals and two LVFNL grand finals.
Remarkably, Williamson breaks the record at the age of 65 – some 50 years after he started his umpiring journey.
“I love it when the game is over and you get to catch up with so many people that you’ve met over the years,’’ Williamson said.
“A couple of quiet ones after each game and catching up with some great people is what I enjoy most.
“I love umpiring, but the games are getting harder physically and it is more complicated to umpire games these days.
“There are more things you have to think about and concentrate on and some of it is totally unnecessary.
“At 65, I’m doing pretty well to get through it and recovery is getting tougher all the time.”
Williamson started his umpiring career in the 1970s with Preston District juniors.
He spent time on the VFL reserves list before being elevated to the VFL senior list for two years in 1981-82.
Williamson had a stint in the old Diamond Valley league in Melbourne’s northern suburbs before making the move to Bendigo where he umpired his first BFNL senior game in 1988.
A young Gary Goudge was also a member of the Bendigo Umpires Association panel.
“We umpired our first Bendigo league grand finals together in 1991 (South Bendigo versus Castlemaine) and we umpired together quite a bit over the years,’’ Williamson said.
“I didn’t realise until a couple of years ago that it was a possibility (to break Goudge’s record).
“It’s not something that I’ve set out to do, it’s just something that’s happened along the way.
“I didn’t umpire for 10 years from 2004 to 2014 and there’s been a couple of other years where I had a year off, so I’ve probably missed a dozen years across 50 years of umpiring.
“In 2004 I’d had enough, and I was keen to watch my own kids play sport. When they’d grown up, I thought I’d have a run around again. I kept fit through my break, so it wasn’t hard to get back into it.”
Footy has changed dramatically over the past 50 years.
The style of play in 2025 is somewhat unrecognisable to what Williamson witnessed in the 1970s.
On average, field umpires run 12km per senior game in the BFNL.
“The games are faster these days, but not necessarily better,’’ he said.
“Players play on much more than they used to, but sometimes the skills are not good and there’s a lot of turnovers.”
When it comes to the best players he’s umpired over the years, Williamson couldn’t split two of the Bendigo league’s all-time greats – Castlemaine, Kyneton and Eaglehawk legend Derrick Filo and Maryborough champion Jamie Bond.
“Jamie Bond and Derrick Filo could turn games,’’ Williamson said.
“There’s been so many great players over the years, but those two stood out for me.
“I had an on and off relationship with Bondy because I reported him a few times, but geez he could play.”
Craig Findlay umpired alongside Williamson in many of the record-breaker’s games, including several grand finals.
“Geoff has the old VFL experience and was in the top group,’’ Findlay said.
“He keeps his cool and he has a good memory for players and what’s going on in the football world.
“If you know most of the players by name then it tends to help you umpire the game smoothly.
“For him to be running around umpiring in his mid-60s is a huge effort.
“He’s an excellent umpire – one of the best I’ve seen in the 42 years I’ve been involved with the BUA.”
Dean Goodridge, the current BUA director of coaching, said Williamson had all the skills that make up a great field umpire.
“To be a good field umpire you have to have a really good feel for the game, you need to be able to sum up a game and determine the style you need to umpire in,’’ Goodridge said.
“There are games that run themselves and there are games that you need to intervene, and good umpires can sum it up in the first five to 10 minutes. If a game does change complexion they can act on it straight away.
“You have to have a very good knowledge of the rules, you have to be fit and you have to be able to work with people. You need to build relationships with players, coaches and fellow umpires.
“Geoff has done all that. He’s umpired at a high level for as long as I can remember.
“He deserves to break this record. His contribution to Bendigo football has been immense.”
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