UPDATE 11/06/2024:
The AFLUA has kindly written back to me and confirmed that the recording session did indeed go ahead, and that a CD was released. They managed to find a recording of The Music Men singing the song, one of 4 tracks on the album. I cannot express how grateful I am to them for providing this. The UA has given permission for the song to be uploaded to the archive, and you can find it titled as "The Man in White". I encourage you to check out the AFLUA at https://aflua.com.au/ as they have a great number of resources on umpiring history. Note that the song is under copyright, so please reach out to the AFLUA for any usage.
Send a cheer, over here, when the men in white appear, they will umpire with blood in their boots...
So go the opening lines of a long forgotten theme song - that of the umpires. With that team now having grown to include 4 field, 4 boundary, and 2 goal umpires, the umpiring squad makes up more than half the numbers of an actual team - if you include the 10 people in the ARC review system, you truly do have a team's worth of umpires working each matchday. It seems fitting, then, to revisit the Umpire's song; as the lyrics note, "Without them, the game can't go on!"
The song was written in 1964 by umpire Gordon Watt, after he noted at a Grand Final the lack of an umpires song despite the two club songs being played. The lyrics, which I've copied at the bottom of this post, were penned to the tune of "The Caisson’s go rolling along", also known simply as "The Army Song". According to an article on the AFLUA website, the song would be sung commonly at Umpire Association functions, with Gordon accompanying on trombone.
The song seems to have fallen out of favor after a few decades, only to be revived in 2008 when the then head of the UA organised that it be sung at the funeral of former umpire Bill Dundas. This is according to an article in The Age, which goes onto state that the song was such a hit that a group of umpires - including Razor Ray - resolved to record and release it. The song was set to include new verses that took into account that umpires were no longer only men and no longer wore white, two facts worth noting in a song titled The Man in White.
The recording session, apparently scheduled for February 2008 in an East Brighton studio, was to be accompanied by The Music Men, and released to raise money for the Umpires' Support Fund. However, the singular Age article is all I can find about this supposed session, and no evidence of the track actually being recorded, much less released, seems to exist. I've reached out to the AFLUA and hopefully I'll be able to update with some more information soon. (Please read the update at the top of the page for more information on this!)
Until then, you'll just have to sing along at home. Below is a recording of The Caisson’s go rolling along, along with Gordon Watts original 1964 lyrics - try belting it out next time you see the umpires coming out of the race.
Send a cheer, over here,
When the men in white appear,
They will umpire with blood in their boots.
Wet or fine - rain or shine,
They will keep the stars in line,
It's the basher deserves all the hoots.
Remember human beings,
are not well-oiled machines,
When you think they may be wrong.
But the man in white,
You'll find is always right,
And without them the game can't go on
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