Jack McMurray Jr. (17 August 1915 – 20 May 2004) was a leading

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

Victorian Football League 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 ...

(VFL) in the 1940s and 1950s. He started umpiring in the Melbourne Boy’s Club Association and umpired in the VFL in 1941 and 1942 before serving in the army during World War II. He rejoined the VFL in 1946 and umpired six

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

(including both in 1948 when

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 ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

tied the first match). His umpiring career spanned from 1941 to 1955, and in total he umpired 216 games, including 16 finals matches. He umpired Grand Finals in 1948 (x2), 1949, 1950, 1953, and 1954. McMurray umpired Grand Finals and Carnivals in most States under the system of exchanges and carnivals that were in place during his career. All games were umpired under the one field umpire system. After retiring from VFL umpiring Jack Jnr decided in 1956 to accept appointment to the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) umpire coaching role after an offer to take up either Perth or Hobart positions. Following this move McMurray umpired the TFL grand final umpire in 1956, which was his last senior game and then he retired from umpiring. However he continued as Coach of TFL Umpire Association from 1956 to 1967 and a second stint from 1971 - 1974 inclusive. As well Jack McMurray continued to serve football as: - Member of the TFLUA Umpire Appointment Board from 1956 to 1978 - TFLUA Chairman of Board from 1975 through 1978 - Served on the Southern Tasmanian High School Football Association - Life member of TFLUA McMurray was inducted to the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

in 1996, together with his father, Jack McMurray Sr. As well in 2005 McMurray was inducted as a Legend in the

Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame The Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame was established to help recognise outstanding services and overall contribution made to the sport of Australian rules football in Tasmania. Any participant of the sport, including players, umpires, media person ...

in recognition of his umpire coaching contribution in Tasmania.

References

*
Australian Football Hall of Fame
1915 births 2004 deaths Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Football League umpires Sportspeople from Melbourne Australian Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Melbourne {{AFL-bio-1915-stub