Ian Robinson (born 20 August 1946) is a former
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
field umpire who officiated in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...
(VFL).
At the time of his retirement from umpiring in 1987, Robinson held the VFL record for most senior games officiated as a field umpire (353), of which nine were
VFL grand finals, second only to
Jack Elder. Throughout his career, and later as an umpiring coach and administrator, Robinson was a first-hand witness to some of Australian rules football's most memorable on-field incidents in one of the most tumultuous periods of the sport's history, and his achievements have been recognised with induction in both the
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...
and the
AFL Umpires Association
The AFL Umpires Association (AFLUA) is the representative body for Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was origin ...
Hall of Fame.
Umpiring career
Robinson first joined the umpiring club at
University High School University High School may refer to:
Australia
* University High School, Melbourne, Victoria
Canada
* University Hill Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia
United States Arizona
* University High School (Tolleson)
* University High Sc ...
in 1961 as a 15-year-old.
He then joined the VFL senior umpiring panel in 1969.
In August 1970, Robinson made it onto the back pages of ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' when it was reported that he had fallen ill while umpiring the
reserves match between and at
VFL Park
Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) is an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. The first venue to be designed and built specifically for Australian Rules football, for most of its history, its pur ...
.
He had reported two players, and revealed that he was not feeling well at half-time. After the match, he was examined by both club doctors before being taken to Allendale Private Hospital by ambulance. He was discharged the following day.
Robinson made his senior VFL umpiring debut in round 1 of the
1971 VFL season
The 1971 VFL season was the 75th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 3 April until 25 September, and comprised a 2 ...
in the game between and at the
MCG
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...
, which the Demons won comfortably by 105 points. Two years later, after umpiring in 18 matches during the home-and-away rounds of the
1973 VFL season
The 1973 VFL season was the 77th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 7 April until 29 September, and comprised a 2 ...
, Robinson was selected to officiate his first VFL final—the qualifying final between arch-rivals and at the MCG, which Carlton won by 20 points. After also umpiring the first semi-final which Carlton again won by 20 points, Robinson was selected to umpire the
1973 VFL grand final.
Robinson umpired his third (and fourth) grand finals in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
, this time in tandem with
John Sutcliffe. In what became the second drawn grand final in VFL history, Robinson reported Collingwood's
Ray Shaw in the first quarter for deliberately striking North defender
Ken Montgomery
Ken Montgomery (born 5 January 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the VFL.
A reliable half back flanker, with an unusual kicking style, Montgomery was a winning premiership player with North Melb ...
in the stomach with a clenched right fist; Shaw would be cleared to play in the replay the following week. Robinson was also the umpire who awarded the mark in the dying seconds of the game to
Ross Dunne
Ross 'Twiggy' Dunne (born 25 February 1948) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He became famous for kicking the goal in the dying minutes of the 1977 VF ...
, enabling him to level the scores. As Robinson recalled:
I saw the pack go up and I knew I had to stay focused. It was a huge pack but I saw one pair of hands get a clear purchase on the ball. I blew my whistle...I was determined to keep my concentration focused as I ran in and watched those arms and the ball all the way to the ground. I called ‘It's yours’, and saw it was Ross Dunne who had taken the mark. I do rate it as one of my best decisions. If you don't see it, you don't pay it. I saw it.
The
1987 season would turn out to be Robinson's last as a senior VFL umpire. It was a busy one, too, with Robinson officiating in every round of the home-and-away season and also serving as president of the
VFL Umpires Association. The final two VFL matches he would officiate in—the 1987 preliminary final and
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
—provided a number of memorable moments, some of which Robinson was directly involved in.
The preliminary final between (participating in its first VFL finals series since 1964) and reigning premiers at
VFL Park
Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) is an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. The first venue to be designed and built specifically for Australian Rules football, for most of its history, its pur ...
is remembered mainly for its controversial ending; for three quarters the Hawks had struggled against the breeze and the Demons had built a 22-point lead going into the last change. In the last quarter, Melbourne had several clear-cut chances to seal the game but was unable to capitalise, while Hawthorn had kicked three goals to bring the margin back to four points. The Demons' young ruckman
Jim Stynes
James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. ...
then conceded a 15-metre penalty in the dying seconds of the game by running through the mark, allowing Hawks forward
Gary Buckenara
Gary William Buckenara (born 3 July 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Subiaco Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).
Re ...
to kick the winning goal after the siren and send Hawthorn through to the grand final the following week.
The grand final, which Robinson co-officiated with
Rowan Sawers
Rowan Sawers (born 19 October 1954) is a former Australian rules football field umpire and umpire coach in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Career
Over a career that spanned 21 seasons at the highest level, Sawers became the first fi ...
(who would eventually overtake Robinson's games record in 1995), was memorable for its unusual beginning; as the opening siren sounded, Carlton midfielder
Wayne Johnston became aware that Hawthorn had five players stationed in the centre square (the rules only allow a maximum of four per team) and pointed this out to Robinson as he was about to take the opening bounce. Robinson blew his whistle to start the game, and handed the ball to Johnston to take the free kick. Minutes later, he would report Johnston for striking Hawthorn wingman
Robert DiPierdomenico, as well as reporting Carlton ruckman
Justin Madden
Justin Mark Madden (born 31 May 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer and state politician. He played for both the Essendon Football Club and the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
After his retirement in 1 ...
for striking Hawthorn captain
Michael Tuck
Michael Tuck (born 24 June 1953) is a seven-time premiership-winning player, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) / Australian Football League (AFL).
His 426 career games was a VFL ...
.
Post-umpiring career
Immediately following retirement, Robinson remained active in umpiring circles, being appointed to the VFL's umpire coaching panel alongside renowned colleagues
Bill Deller and
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...
.
Early in the
1988 VFL season
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States (National ...
, the panel summoned umpire
Ian Clayton
Ian Clayton (born 4 September 1959 in Featherstone, Yorkshire) is an English writer and broadcaster. In a freelance career spanning 20 years he has edited and authored more than forty books and broadcast on TV and radio. He has run education work ...
following a controversial incident in which 's
Rod Grinter hit
Terry Wallace
Terry Wallace (born 13 December 1958) is a former professional Australian rules football player and coach.
As a player, his career spanned three VFL/AFL clubs; most notably Hawthorn where he played in three premierships. After one season with ...
(who had just begun a stint with ) in the face with his forearm, resulting in Wallace suffering from concussion and a broken jaw.
Grinter also required hospitalisation when one of Wallace's teeth became embedded in his hand and later became infected. The panel questioned Clayton about the incident and why Grinter had not been reported. Clayton was subsequently demoted to umpiring in the
Ovens and Murray Football League
The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...
before returning to VFL duty later in the season, and Grinter eventually was suspended for six weeks.
In 2004, in a bid to improve the consistency of tribunal rulings, the AFL appointed Robinson to the new position of video reporting officer, becoming the sole person responsible for laying charges based on video evidence, a job that had been previously assigned to the field umpires.
Honours
In 1988, Robinson received the
VFL Umpires Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.
When the
Australian Football Hall of Fame
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...
was established in 1996 to celebrate the centenary of the VFL/AFL, Robinson was listed, along with ten other umpires, among its inaugural inductees.
Personal life
Outside of football, Robinson has worked as a university professor specialising in computer science. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
and
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
and lectured there until moving to
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...
in 1975, being one of the original staff members when the Department of Computer Science was formed two years later at the
Bundoora
Bundoora is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Banyule, Darebin and Whittlesea local government areas. Bundoora recorded a population of 28,068 at the ...
campus.
In, 2002 Robinson held the title of associate professor at the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, as well as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Ian
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Australian Football League umpires
Living people
1946 births
People educated at University High School, Melbourne
University of Melbourne alumni
VFL/AFL administrators
Academic staff of the University of Melbourne
Academic staff of La Trobe University
Australian computer scientists