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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

field umpire in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He rejoined the VFL in 1946 and umpired six

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final 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. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

(including both in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

when

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

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, and

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

. 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 The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), was the highest-level Australian rules football competition in the state of Tasmania. It disbanded following the end of the 2024 TSL season, 2024 season ...

(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. Additionally, 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, and as a member of the Southern Tasmanian High School Football Association; he was made a 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 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

in 1996, together with his father, Jack McMurray Sr. Additionally, 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

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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