Darren Goldspink (born 12 September 1964) is a veteran

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

. Goldspink was awarded the prestigious All Australian Umpire award three times over his career in 1993, 1995 and 2005, earning himself an

AFL Grand Final The AFL Grand Final is an Australian rules football match to determine the premiers for the Australian Football League (AFL) season. From its inception until 1989, it was known as the VFL Grand Final, as the league at that time was the Victori ...

appointment on each occasion. He also umpired in the 1998, 2000 and 2006 AFL Grand Finals. Two rounds later (in Round 17), Goldspink umpired his 350th

VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

match. Prior to the 2007 AFL season, Goldspink was dropped by the AFL umpiring panel due to lack of fitness. He returned, after attaining the levels required, and umpired again in Round 10, 2007.

References

Australian Football League umpires 1964 births Living people {{AFL-bio-1960s-stub