Ian Robinson (born 20 August 1946) is a former Australian rules football field umpire who officiated in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
At the time of his retirement from umpiring in 1987, Robinson held the VFL record for most senior games officiated as a field umpire (353), of which nine were VFL grand finals, second only to Jack Elder. Throughout his career, and later as an umpiring coach and administrator, Robinson was a first-hand witness to some of Australian rules football's most memorable on-field incidents in one of the most tumultuous periods of the sport's history, and his achievements have been recognised with induction in both the Australian Football Hall of Fame and the AFL Umpires Association Hall of Fame.
Umpiring career
Robinson first joined the umpiring club at University High School in 1961 as a 15-year-old. He then joined the VFL senior umpiring panel in 1969.
In August 1970, Robinson made it onto the back pages of The Age when it was reported that he had fallen ill while umpiring the reserves match between and at VFL Park. He had reported two players, and revealed that he was not feeling well at half-time. After the match, he was examined by both club doctors before being taken to Allendale Private Hospital by ambulance. He was discharged the following day.
Robinson made his senior VFL umpiring debut in round 1 of the 1971 VFL season in the game between and at the MCG, which the Demons won comfortably by 105 points. Two years later, after umpiring in 18 matches during the home-and-away rounds of the 1973 VFL season, Robinson was selected to officiate his first VFL final—the qualifying final between arch-rivals and at the MCG, which Carlton won by 20 points. After also umpiring the first semi-final which Carlton again won by 20 points, Robinson was selected to umpire the 1973 VFL grand final.
Robinson umpired his third (and fourth) grand finals in 1977, this time in tandem with John Sutcliffe. In what became the second drawn grand final in VFL history, Robinson reported Collingwood's Ray Shaw in the first quarter for deliberately striking North defender Ken Montgomery in the stomach with a clenched right fist; Shaw would be cleared to play in the replay the following week. Robinson was also the umpire who awarded the mark in the dying seconds of the game to Ross Dunne, enabling him to level the scores. As Robinson recalled:
I saw the pack go up and I knew I had to stay focused. It was a huge pack but I saw one pair of hands get a clear purchase on the ball. I blew my whistle...I was determined to keep my concentration focused as I ran in and watched those arms and the ball all the way to the ground. I called ‘It's yours’, and saw it was Ross Dunne who had taken the mark. I do rate it as one of my best decisions. If you don't see it, you don't pay it. I saw it.
The 1987 season would turn out to be Robinson's last as a senior VFL umpire. It was a busy one, too, with Robinson officiating in every round of the home-and-away season and also serving as president of the VFL Umpires Association. The final two VFL matches he would officiate in—the 1987 preliminary final and grand final—provided a number of memorable moments, some of which Robinson was directly involved in.
The preliminary final between (participating in its first VFL finals series since 1964) and reigning premiers at VFL Park is remembered mainly for its controversial ending; for three quarters the Hawks had struggled against the breeze and the Demons had built a 22-point lead going into the last change. In the last quarter, Melbourne had several clear-cut chances to seal the game but was unable to capitalise, while Hawthorn had kicked three goals to bring the margin back to four points. The Demons' young ruckman Jim Stynes then conceded a 15-metre penalty in the dying seconds of the game by running through the mark, allowing Hawks forward Gary Buckenara to kick the winning goal after the siren and send Hawthorn through to the grand final the following week.