Murray Williams, more affectionately known as Muzza by Broadbeach Cats faithful, was an elite runner by trade but fell into umpiring when he was told his football career wouldn’t progress any further.

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“I played a bit of football at a junior level but because of my weight, I was pretty light and I was told I was too young and not big enough to play seniors so they said why don’t you run the boundary for us,” Williams said.

Williams continued to umpire club footy for 12 months when his father reached out to a few contacts in the then known VFL, spruiking his son for any additional umpiring opportunities.

After spending a few years umpiring VFL reserves, Williams finally got his opportunity in the senior league in 1969 at age 21 when one of his seniors retired.

By then, he was a three time Victorian half mile champion, a Victorian mile champion and had also won the professional Victoria marathon championship.

At his peak, he was running 100km a week, 23km on game day and running up to 15km the day after a game for recovery in the Dandenong Ranges.

Williams went on to umpire 320 games, 25 finals and four grand finals.

He was even there for the 1970 decider between Carlton and Collingwood, deemed one of the greatest grand finals of all time and punctuated by the Blues chasing down a 44-point margin, when a record 121,696 people crammed the MCG.

“I remember there were so many streamers on the ground, I could barely see the boundary line on the ground,” Williams said.

“It biggest game I’ve ever run.”

One of the more humorous moments of his career came when he was sent up to Sydney to umpire a Swans game just after they’d entered the league.

Known then as a ‘theatre crowd,’ well known former umpire and SCG public relations man Harry Beitzel took it upon himself to hype up the crowd.

“I went from being a Victorian mile champion to the Australian mile champion,” Williams said.

“As we came out onto the ground, they introduced us by these fake titles and we got a standing ovation from the crowd who obviously didn’t know anything about the game.”

Williams retired from umpiring after the 1985 season to go into business with his brother but returned to footy in 2000 as the Victorian state coach of AFL Boundary Umpires.

“I had 26 umpires under my tutelage and that was hard work because they all had completely different personalities,” he said.

“I did that for seven years and then was more of an observer until 2010 and would help critique their performance.

“Eventually I couldn’t see from one end of the MCG to the other!”

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In 2014, Williams and his wife decided they were in need of a sea change and relocated to the Gold Coast.

Wanting to engage with his new community, Williams drove to his local club, the Broadbeach Cats where he met Dave Moran and volunteered to help the club go to the next level.

“I didn’t know anyone but I literally just went down there and told offered my services and told them I had a background in running and umpiring in the VFL,” he said.

“I just said I’d help out where I can and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Now Williams volunteers his time to coach running sessions each weeknight for male and female players at the club and is a fixture on game day, often leading the umpires out onto the ground before each match.

Williams even helped craft former Suns AFL talent and Broadbeach junior Connor Nutting into a running machine when he was dropped by the Suns academy.

“I love watching the development of everyone at the club, young or old and I’ll continue to do it as long as I’m around,” Williams said.

“I hope I’m transforming people, not just physically but as a person and crafting good citizens.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re the worst footballer or club, or the best, everyone is equal as far as I’m concerned.

“Nothing but success will do for me in Broadbeach Cats.

“We’re all volunteers at the club and we get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of what we do.”

The Mark: Right there with Jezza

IT’S the enduring image from a grand final for the ages.

Carlton legend Alex Jesaulenko soars over Collingwood ruckman Graeme Jenkin during the second quarter while his team hangs on by a thread.

A clash between the two sworn enemies, it drew an unbeaten crowd of 121,696, witnessed the greatest comeback, and signalled the birth of the modern game.

Commentator at the time Michael Williamson immortalised the moment with his call of “Jesaulenko you beauty.”

Now kids scream those three words as they launch onto the shoulders of their siblings, attempting to replicate the man who started it all.

Murray Williams was only 15 metres away from the now iconic mark.

Riding the boundary for the biggest grand final in history, it’s one of the few moments he vividly remembers.

“It was a fabulous mark,” Williams said.

“To do that in a grand final, we’ve seen better marks but in a grand final, he rose beautifully.”

Williams was gifted a ringside seat to one of the biggest moments in Aussie rules history.

But not even the confessed footy tragic could afford Jesaulenko too much admiration.

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“You can’t afford to get lost in the moment,” Williams said.

“Believe me, people say the game is fast now but it was fast back then.

“You didn’t have time to stop.”

Having spent over 40 years in the game in an official capacity, Williams has seen some iconic marks but rates Jesaulenko’s within his top half a dozen.

Williams was also party to the moment Collingwood midfielder Des Tuddenham attempted to line up Carlton fullback Kevin Hall.

With the Blues down by 40 odd points, Williams was just five metres away when Tuddenham ran straight through his teammate and Collingwood’s leading goalkicker Peter McKenna, leaving him concussed.

“That changed the game,” Williams said.