Sport
Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association member John Paterson celebrates 500th senior game
It took a fair bit of convincing to get John Paterson to umpire.
He didn’t even like them back in his playing days.
But as Paterson sat having an adult beverage after officiating his 500th senior game on Saturday, players and supporters offering another coldie as they walked past, he must have thought, ‘this is all right’.
Echuca-based Paterson is now a certified legend of Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association (GVFUA), and his record is as impressive as his reputation among players and supporters.
He doesn’t take crap. He does enjoy a laugh on the field.
But most importantly, he admits when he’s wrong.
“Just the rapport with the players, that’s what I like,” Paterson said.
“Still being involved in football, talking to the players and that’s what the players say: ‘Beauty, we’ve got you Pato, we can have a chat’.
“If you let them talk to you and then talk to them in a civil way, they’ll talk to you the same way out there.
“But if you try and dominate them and talk at them instead of to them, well then you’re going to get resistance.
“And that’s what I’ve found all the way through, have a joke, have a laugh and admit you’re wrong. Because we always get something wrong, we’re only human.”
Paterson’s love affair with footy began many moons ago.
He started his playing career in Melbourne before moving to Dookie United and later Picola United.
And when injury struck an unexpected door opened for Paterson.
“I played then I broke a bone in my ankle and I had to give it away,” he said.
“I didn’t do anything for a couple of years and then my son started playing in the under-12s at the local club out at Picola.
“They got me to umpire some of the young blokes, then I was playing cricket and some of the senior umpires had seen me umpiring the kids and they talked me into coming down.
“I didn’t want to go to start with ... but I took it up and grew to liking it.”
In the ensuing 27 years, Paterson has gone on to umpire numerous grand finals in the Goulburn Valley, Murray, Kyabram and Picola District leagues and the Northern Country Women’s League.
He is also a past committee member of the GVFUA and held the president’s position for six years.
His 500 senior game tally likely may have a further 500 amongst it due to unrecorded junior and reserves matches, as each one is a “bonus,” according to Paterson.
Finals are his favourite.
Paterson was in his element, bringing up his 500th game at Stanhope, in the qualifying final between Lancaster and Nagambie.
However, as he educates the new wave of young umpires he prefers to palm them off to the new lot in the latter stages of his umpiring journey.
That’s just the sort of bloke ‘’Pato’’ is.
“It was good to get it over and done with before the end of the season, I can go and retire now ― if they let me,“ he said with a laugh.
“No, I won’t give it away yet. I’ll see what happens in the off-season and then just come back and take every game as it goes now.
“For me to do 500 it takes a lot of sacrifice by the family, not being around weekends and the wife, all the cleaning and washing of gear ― it doesn’t always come off as clean as this some days.
“It’s just the backing of them that supports you and helps you get through it.”