After 600 games, Northern Football League umpire Neville Coutts’ passion for football as strong as ever

Northern Football League umpire Neville Coutts is closing in on the games record after reaching the 600-match milestone.

Neville Coutts is closing in on the record for the most Northern Football League games as an official. Picture: Stuart Milligan.

THE teams are different, players have come and gone and even the league name has changed — but Neville Coutts’ passion for football remains as strong as when he first umpired a senior match in 1984.

The 61-year-old officiated his 600th match last month, becoming just the second umpire in the history of the Diamond Valley and Northern football leagues to achieve the milestone.

Coutts first took up junior umpiring in 1973, before joining the ranks of the Diamond Valley Football League in 1984 as a goal umpire.

The players, umpires and officials he has met since have helped Coutts maintain a strong passion for umpiring and community football.

He said the reasons he had stayed involved for so long were simple.

“I just love the game and being involved,” Coutts said.

“The respect shown by players and club officials to me, as you get older you get fairly well known.

“I can’t be part of the game at my age playing, not that I ever played football ...(and) I just enjoy the game of football and being involved.

“One of the things I pride myself on is concentration, that I can actually go out and wipe everything else from my mind and concentrate on the game.”

In just his second year in the competition, the Eltham resident umpired the Division 2 Grand Final and holds the record for the number of Division 1 grand finals at 18.

He is only 13 games short of breaking the league record set by his friend Terry Maher, who retired at the end of last season.

“It’s great to get to 600 and I’ve looked forward to getting to 600, but I still just enjoy going out and doing what I do,” he said.

“It’s a huge achievement, it probably sinks in when people start to say about the statistics behind it and all that.

“It does mean a lot when you get there and you hear all the good responses and congratulations.”

Coutts has helped ensure the next group of Northern Football League umpires make the right calls on match day by also taking on a development role.

The Melbourne supporter said he was determined to continuing umpiring as long as his body allowed him to.

“I’m not in the game to break records or anything, but I’ll carry on as long as the body allows me to and I can do it at the level I’m doing it,” he said.