The NFNL will this weekend celebrate a special games milestone as umpire Craig Herman officiates a record-breaking 667th game in the league.
Herman’s career with the Diamond Valley Football League and now Northern Football Netball League spans more than four decades, first picking up the whistle in 1985.
He has umpired 158 matches as a field umpire along with goal umpiring where he’s overseen 508 matches with the flags and continues to divide his time between field umpiring senior women’s and goal umpiring senior men’s.
Above: Herman (far left) as part of the umpire panel for the 2024 Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 Grand Final between Heidelberg and Montmorency
Along the way Herman has also been an integral part of the Northern Umpires Association, serving as NFNL Goal Coach, VFL observer and several positions on the NUA executive.
Given his choice of match to umpire as his record breaker, he’s chosen the Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 contest between Greensborough and Heidelberg which promises to be a high-quality contest.
The match will be a special one for his family, with his wife Di partnering him as the other goal umpire and his son Ian, a VFL Development Squad umpire, being one of the field umpires for Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Park to make it a truly family affair.
NFNL General Manager of Football Darren Bassett said it was a fantastic milestone for Herman.
“It’s a massive achievement for Craig. When you think about the fact that umpires can only do one or two senior games across men’s and women’s divisions per weekend, it’s a fantastic effort to front up for over 40 years to support the league and reach this milestone,” he said.
“It speaks to Craig’s passion and commitment to the game that he’ll be walking out to become the all-time games holder in our umpiring fraternity.
“On behalf of the NFNL I’d like to congratulate Craig and wish him and his family all the best for this weekend.”
Herman will overtake the current games record for an umpire, held by fellow goal umpire Neville Coutts.
Above: Craig with son Ian and wife Di, who will all be umpiring together in Craig’s record-breaking match.
