Cranbourne moves to help umpires

By Brad Kingsbury
CRANBOURNE Football Club has gone on the front foot and initiated a system that it hopes will assist umpires and keep them safe and happy after the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) put the club on notice recently.
Cranbourne supporters were involved in a well-publicised flare-throwing incident with Devon Meadows fans earlier in the season and were also accused of abusing a young boundary umpire, causing the men in white to consider placing a ban on officiating at Eagles matches.
Cranbourne Football Club president Luke King said the club launched its own investigation and decided to act immediately to turn the perception around.
“We are not mucking around with this,” he said. “If there is cause we will not have any problem ejecting anyone from the ground who is causing trouble.
“There was a lot of negative reporting done on our behalf.
“We received a report and it was found that it was not a Cranbourne Football Club member but a supporter who misbehaved.
“It was disappointing that the league had found us responsible for the behaviour and we decided to do something about it.”
King drafted a letter to the umpiring fraternity but took it a step further and came up with an umpiring critique that gives the club first-hand feedback of match-day events.
All umpires will now be asked to fill out a form and hand it to a nominated Eagles official before leaving the ground each week.
The form asks the umpires to rate the professionalism of the club, together with the behaviour of members, players and the crowd, so that action can be taken if necessary.
“We wanted to find out exactly what the umpires are feeling with the way they umpire at Casey Fields,” King said.
“Whether there is an issue on the other side of the ground or anywhere at the ground, we want to know.
“Umpires from the Colts, under 18s and senior grades have the opportunity to fill this out and hand it to us at the end of the game.
“We want to make the umpiring experience at Cranbourne as good as it can be. Without umpires the game doesn’t go on.”
King is intending to present the system to every Casey Cardinia league club, and will also propose that a ground marshall system be considered as an added safeguard.