Known bugs:
Searching by match does not incorporate replacement umpires
Sources:
The database began as small project in database design based on the 1897 VFL umpire appointments.
As it became clear that there was no database or real record that placed all umpires against the matches officiated, rather than just totals, it seemed a useful project to complete. Match details would enhance the work completed by diligent secretaries over the life of the association but of which the early years had been lost.
Working backward from 1989 and forward from 1898 overs a number of years, while at the same time adding current appointments, the bulk of the work was completed in 1996 and has been amended since.
Many of the available appointments were simply surnames and required detailed research to confirm their accuracy, gaps required filling. There are still missing appointments and umpires we have been unable to completely identify. The work goes on.
The sources of the field umpire appointments from 1897-1989 were the published pre-match appointments in either the newspaper or the Football record and confirmed by a range of post-match sources such as newspaper reports, following week Football Records or more recently video recordings. Other sources included the minutes of the Permit and Umpire Committee, the Lindsay Lancaster papers and records of the AFLUA.
Boundary and goal umpires’ appointments to 1989 are more problematic. The primary source is the published pre-match appointments. Unlike field umpires there are virtually no post-match reports confirming changes. As a result those appointments do not reflect any changes. Where changes have been identified they have been incorporated, as have known replacement umpires.
A final source was the documentation kept by individual umpires but these were very light on the ground
Since 2000, in cooperation with the AFL Umpiring Departments, the AFLUA have access to all appointments and confirmed changes and any differences in the intervening decade have been reconciled.
For more information on what has been counted over the years see Reflecting Reality: Aligning the presentation of AFLUA and AFL historical statistics
The database is a work in progress and elements such as photographs of umpires and more detailed biographies will be entered over time. It should be used in conjunction with the main AFLUA web site.
Any errors or additional information can be conveyed to the AFLUA Historian-statistician, aflua.historian@aflua.com.au