Matthew Head (born 2 November 1975 in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

) 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 (Australian rules football) An umpire is an official in the sport of Australian rules football who adjudicates the game according to the " Laws Of The Game", the official handbook of Australian Rules Football. Umpiring the game of AFL across all leagues (professional, ama ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Head attended Marcellin College, Bulleen, and started umpiring in the

VAFA The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. Founded in 1892, it consists of six senior divisions, ranging from Premier to Division 3 in the men's competit ...

, progressing through the U/18

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

, VFL and AFL Reserve Grade Competition and was appointed to the 1999 Reserves Grand Final. Head umpired 144 AFL games from 2001 to 2008. He made his debut in Round 5, 2001, when

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

played

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

Kardinia Park Kardinia Park is a major public park located in South Geelong, Victoria, South Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. A number of public and sporting facilities are located in the park: a major Australian Football League, AFL stadium, a seco ...

, and his final match was in Round 22, 2008, when

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

played St Kilda at

Marvel Stadium Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

. Head wore shirt #16 for his entire career and is heritage number 386. He was known as an excellent bouncer of the football but cited a back injury from bouncing as a reason for his retirement. Head umpired a number of notable games, including a classic Essendon– West Coast game at Marvel Stadium in Round 3, 2004, where

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...

kicked the winning goal and celebrated by hugging a member of the crowd. Earlier in the week, on '' The Footy Show'', Hird criticised an umpire and volunteered to pay a $20,000 fine. Head is perhaps best known as the field umpire who was investigated after it was reported by Channel 9 newsreader Tony Jones that he made the comment "now l know what it feels like to have a victory" whilst boarding an aeroplane following a

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

–St Kilda match at

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...

in Round 21, 2005. In the lead-up to the game, St Kilda coach Grant Thomas was fined $20,000 for making disparaging comments about umpires. The game ended controversially with Fremantle winning by kicking a goal after the siren; this followed a number of earlier umpiring decisions that resulted in goals to Fremantle. Head was later cleared of any wrongdoing. In 2020, Head broke his silence and recalled the infamous night in an interview with Tony Jones as an SEN exclusive. The incident is considered one of the most controversial in the history of AFL umpiring. Nowadays, Head can be found on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

handle, @MattHead16_, commenting on current umpiring decisions, and is often sourced on television and radio.

References

1975 births Living people Australian Football League umpires People educated at Marcellin College, Bulleen 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1970s-stub