It is with great sadness that in the early hours of Saturday 11th of December WANFLUA Life Member and Hall of Fame umpire Mike Ball passed away.
For more than two decades Mike was a leading umpire in the WAFL, VFL and AFL.
He was at the forefront during the greatest period of change in the game when he became the first non-Victorian appointed to the VFL Umpiring panel in 1987 at the start of the transition to a national competition. He umpired 301 Senior games including 45 in the VFL/AFL competition. He was the first non-Victorian to umpire a VFL/AFL final – a drawn final between West Coast and Collingwood at VFL Park in 1990.
Mike umpired 4 WAFL grand finals and 6 State games. He was a member of the AFLUA in 1990 and 1991; was made a life member of the WANFLUA in 1990 , was inducted into the WANFLUA Hall of Fame in 1996 and was inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
Not just an on-field contributor Mike was the President of the WANFLUA from 1989-1990 and was involved as an umpires’ coach and as the Umpire Development Manager after he had finished umpiring. Even after these roles were finished, he has also shown a keen interest and involvement in the development and journeys of young umpires.
Mike Ball
- WANFLUA Member – 1973-1992
- Games – 301 (248 WAFL, 45 AFL/VFL, 6 State, 2 SANFL)
- AFL Service 1988-1990
- AFLUA Member 1990-1991
- AFL Finals – 1 (First Non-Victorian)
- WAFL Grand Finals – 4 (1983,1984, 1986, 1989)
- WAFL Finals – 13
- WANFLUA President 1989-1990
- WANFLUA Life Member 1990
- WANFLUA Hall of Fame 1996
- WA Football Hall of Fame 2017
For those wishing to celebrate Mike’s life, the funeral service will be held at Midday on Thursday 16th December at the Fremantle Cemetery West Chapel.
The thoughts of the umpiring community are with Mike’s wife Liz and his children Kendell, Kasey, and Jamie at this difficult time.