Country umpire Des Fuss still on the ball at 72

IF DES Fuss has his way he’ll die on the football field.

IF DES Fuss has his way he’ll die on the football field.

The cricket pitch would be his second choice but it is on the football oval where the Yorke Peninsula legend feels truly at home.

“If I could pick a place to die it’d be on the football field,” he says. “I absolutely love being involved in football.’’

Des estimates he’s been involved in close to 1500 Australian Rules matches in his life – more than 500 as a player, and about 900 as an umpire.

At age 72, he still umpires A-grade football on the Peninsula and, if his body holds up, he’ll be in the running to umpire a league-record 11th A-grade grand final in 2014.

The Moonta Bay local first donned the whistle almost by accident after a Peninsula umpires strike threatened to cause the abandonment of games.

By 1986, he began umpiring full-time.

“Most of the players are pretty good,’’ Des says.

“Probably the only thing I don’t like is the occasional village idiots in the crowd who don’t understand the rules and they give you a bit of flak.’’

Des has seen controversies in his time. One of the more infamous moments was a preliminary final in the late ’90s when the crowd erupted as a kick after the siren to win a match fell short.

“I was the non-officiating umpire so I sprinted to the goal line to keep an eye on the goal square and next thing you know the player took his kick and there was an eruption from the crowd,’’ Des says.

“I had no idea what had happened but it turns out the player on the mark had dropped his shorts to put the kicker off.”

Both umpires were suspended from the grand final for failing to award the player another kick for goal because the distraction tactic was illegal.

But the highs have outnumbered the lows for Des, who has earned life membership of the Yorke Peninsula Football League.

He’s also a life member of the Moonta Cricket Club and continues to open the batting for Wallaroo’s B-grade, where he still keeps wicket.

Des is also the umpiring director on the Peninsula and says attracting umpires is becoming a major issue.

“It worries me big-time,’’ he says.

For information on how to become an umpire call Curtis Deboy at the SANFL on 8417 6656