Hayden Kennedy (born 16 October 1965) is a former

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 ...

field umpire 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 ...

(AFL) and is also a teacher at St. Bernard's College, Melbourne. After five

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 ...

s and a then-record 495 games, Kennedy announced his retirement on 10 August 2011.

Early career

Kennedy was a very promising junior footballer with St Christophers Football Club in the Oak Park Junior Football League, a club which also produced AFL legends Simon and Justin Madden. Kennedy completed his secondary schooling at St. Bernard's College, Melbourne where he now currently teaches as a

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

and a maths teacher. Kennedy commenced a career as an umpire in the

Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition c ...

in 1983. After one season there, he was recruited into the VFL cadets squad. In 1986, Hayden Kennedy umpired the under 19 VFL grand final, and by 1987 had been promoted to the senior list. At this level he umpired the VFL reserves and country football matches.

Career in the Australian Football League

Kennedy had his

umpiring debut in 1988, officiating a game between

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

and

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

. Kennedy's partner on the day was fellow 300 game umpire Peter Cameron. In the 1995 AFL season, Kennedy umpired in all 22 weeks of Home and Away games, and a further 4 weeks of

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He was the first umpire to achieve this in 38 years, and the 11th field umpire to do so. He umpired his first AFL Grand Final in 1995. The game, involving Carlton and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, was shared with boundary umpire Allan Cook. Both Kennedy and Cook had been field umpires together on the cadet squad at the beginnings of their careers and both reached the pinnacle of achievement on the same day having followed very different paths. Kennedy continued his dominance at the top of the AFL umpiring ranks, umpiring Grand Finals in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003 as well as taking part in every finals series. Kennedy has also obtained many other prestige appointments and honours including three State of Origin appointments and being named All Australian Umpire in 1997. He attained Life Membership of the AFL Umpires' Association in 1993. After reaching the milestone of 300 games in 2002, he qualified for a life membership with the AFL. At that stage he had umpired 294 premiership season games, as well as 22

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

matches and three

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

games. In 2006 he umpired the match between St Kilda and Fremantle, along with Matthew Nicholls and

Michael Vozzo Michael 'Billy' Vozzo is a former Australian rules football field umpire in the Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commi ...

, where the officials missed the full-time siren. He umpired his 400th match on 8 June 2007 between

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

versus

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

. and was quickly catching

Rowan Sawers Rowan Sawers (born 19 October 1954) is a former Australian rules football field umpire and umpire coach in the Australian Football League (AFL). Over a career that spanned 21 seasons at the highest level, Sawers became the first field umpir ...

in the umpiring record books. He finally surpassed his former colleague on 8 September 2007 when he umpired in the first elimination final between

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

at the

to break the 410 game record held by Sawers. Kennedy achieved yet another umpiring honour when he was appointed one of four field umpires to officiate in the

AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match The AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match was a one-off all-star game between two representative sides organised by the Australian Football League to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Australian rules football. The match was intended to celebrate the ...

played on 10 May 2008 at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

.AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match Report
accessed on 7 September 2008

Personal life

Hayden is married to wife Maree and resides in Aberfeldie with their three children. As a boy he had followed North Melbourne.

Footnotes

External links

Hayden Kennedy Bio on Whats Your Decision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Hayden Australian Football League umpires 1965 births Living people People educated at St. Bernard's College, Melbourne Sportspeople from Melbourne