Peter Peter Cameron (born 1951) 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 An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

, who umpired 306 matches between 1977 and 1993 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 ...

, including nineteen finals and three

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. Prior to 1990 it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league was then known as the Victorian Football Leag ...

appearances. Since completing his umpiring career, he has continued to maintain a public presence through appearances in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game. He also worked at schools in Melbourne Victoria Australia including Wandin Yallock Primary School and Wallarano Primary School. He retired from teaching in 2017.

Umpiring career

Cameron began his umpiring career in 1977, the 279th field umpire to participate in VFL/AFL football. He quickly established a reputation as a fine umpire and practical joker, with one umpire remembering that he used to "cut the crotches out of our (underpants)." After just two years as an umpire, he received his first taste of the big time, being selected to officiate the night Grand Final between Collingwood and Hawthorn. It was another six years before he was appointed to his first day Grand Final, umpiring the Essendon-Hawthorn match of 1985. In all, Cameron officiated in three-day Grand Finals (1985, 1986 and 1988) and four-night Grand Finals (1979, 1981, 1985 and 1988), and at least one VFA Grand Final. Cameron finally retired in 1993, aged 42. During his career, Cameron also won the Bishop Shield, an award given to the AFL Umpires' Association's most outstanding field umpire for the year. He received this award in 1985.

Post umpiring

Cameron remained in the public eye due to his status as a long-serving umpire. He went on to work with a number of local football leagues in their umpiring departments, most notably and recently as Director of Umpires in the

Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League The AFL Yarra Ranges was an Australian rules football and netball organisation based in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges within Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The organisation operated the Yarra Ranges Senior Football league and the Yarra ...

. He has also appeared in several

E.J. Whitten Legends Game The E. J. Whitten Legends Game was an annual charity all-star Australian rules football match played in Australia. Retired star players were reunited, along with selected non-footballing celebrities, in a State of Origin interstate game between ...

s, and has emerged as an outspoken critic of the bounce in football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Peter Australian Football League umpires Victorian Football Association umpires Living people 1951 births Place of birth missing (living people)