Meet octogenarian Lawrie Barnett, Victoria’s oldest field umpire

At 84 — 85 on Anzac Day — Lawrie Barnett is Victoria’s oldest umpire, and he has no plans to hang up the whistle any time soon.

Octogenarian umpire Lawrie Barnett is officially Victoria’s oldest field umpire. Picture: Peter Rolfe

Octogenarian umpire Lawrie Barnett is officially Victoria’s oldest field official.

Aged 84 – turning 85 on Anzac Day – the Order of Australia member is a familiar face in the Yarra Junior Football League where he umpires boys and girls up to 80 years younger.

But the senior citizen his mum named after Lawrence of Arabia before the book had been turned into a hit 1960s movie still gets a kick out of wielding the whistle.

On Sunday he umpired a record 1000th match for the league, an under-13s clash between Camberwell and Canterbury, and is not finished yet.

“It’s just another day in a sort of a way, but it is a great experience to get to 1000 games,” he said.

“It is a great thing to happen … of course not too many umpires would get to a thousand. In fact I believe I’d be the only one.”

Lawrie Barnett will turn 85 on Anzac Day and has no plans to hang up the whistle. Picture: Peter Rolfe

Mr Barnett, who still works at the Hawthorn printing business he opened 57 years ago, said umpiring “keeps me off the streets and I keep fit.”

Asked how he was still umpiring at his age, he said the secret was a “good diet, don’t eat rubbish. Don’t drink too much and … get out keeping fit and keeping the brain going.”

While his wife Leonie worries he will fall over and his family urged him to give it away years ago, Mr Barnett is determined to keep umpiring as long as his legs carry him.

“I‘ll just give the kids a warning about bad tackling and looking after me and ‘don’t kick the ball too far’ because I might not be able to catch up.”

Taking into account senior and amateur games, Mr Barnett reckons he would have umpired about 1500 matches in total.

AFL head of officiating, Stephen McBurney, confirmed Mr Barnett was the state’s oldest field ump, and congratulated him “on his enormous umpiring milestone”.

“It’s an amazing achievement and he should be very proud to reach 1000 games,” McBurney said.

“I’ve had the good fortune of watching Lawrie umpire in the YJFL.

“The passion and energy Lawrie brings to each match is a testament to his dedication to officiating, which we also see in the way he helps mentor and support the young umpires coming through the ranks, it’s fantastic.”

Mr Barnett reckons he’s umpired over 1500 games in total. Picture: Peter Rolfe

Mr Barnett started umpiring in the Doncaster & Districts League, before it amalgamated with Hawthorn Districts to become Yarra Juniors – now the largest stand alone junior footy league in Australia.

He was a coach too, mentoring the likes of former AFL stars and current league coaches Brad and Chris Scott and Adam Kingsley.

Recruiting and retaining umpires has been a perennial issue in grassroots footy.

But it’s never been a problem for Mr Barnett, who sings the praises of giving back to the community and keeping his motor running.

“There is a lot to learn being an umpire but once you’re on the ground and running around with the kids, whether it be boys or girls, it’s just a great experience and you just feel that you’ve done a great day’s work,” he said.

And while umpires often draw the ire of passionate fans, Barnett reckons he is yet to encounter a problem.

“Never had any problems umpiring with players or spectators, so I must have been doing the right thing,” he said.

Originally published as Meet octogenarian Lawrie Barnett, Victoria’s oldest field umpire