HAYDEN Kennedy's path to the Australian Football Hall of Fame as its 15th member from the umpiring fraternity started in the same fashion as so many of the elite umpires in the game.

From a strong football family, played the game and loved it. Came to the realisation that he was too small to play at any decent level before stumbling across a notice in the local newspaper looking for umpires.

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He ran the six kilometres from home to the nearby Aberfeldie Athletics Track in Melbourne's north-west. Once there, he ran another four kilometres as the warm-up and then took part in the actual training.

He had no aspirations, nor expectations, but he decided to persist. But what sealed his love of umpiring were the developing years when, for wont of a better description, he was "sent up the bush".

Barely out of his teens, it delivered so many lessons about football, and life. As part of what was then the VFL's reserves grade, he would take the train from the old Spencer Street Station, arrive in some country town close to the South Australian border around 3am, find his motel, catch some sleep, umpire the game and then hang out at the local pub that night, mixing with players and supporters, before making his way back to the train station at midnight for the trip back to Melbourne.

"It didn't teach you to be a good umpire, necessarily," he said.

"But it did force you to mix with people you didn't know. It was character-building and it taught me some resilience."

The latter trait is pretty much mandatory for umpiring – the loneliest role in the game – and it helped get him through 57 games of country footy before League football came calling.

He umpired the 1986 under-19s Grand Final and by 1988 made his senior debut late in that season, in an incredible Carlton-North Melbourne game in which both teams kicked 20 goals and the Blues just won after a late goal from Adrian Gleeson. He was 22.

But the learning experience came the following week at Kardinia Park.

According to Kennedy, Richmond midfielder Craig Lambert "was giving me hell all day", so afterwards, at the post-match function, he grabbed two beers, went up to Lambert, handed him one and they talked through it all. And they had a terrific relationship thereafter.

It helps explain how umpiring changed during his 495-game career, which when it ended in 2011, was the League record.

He started under the two-umpire system. Players were part-time in what was still known as the Victorian Football League, and the players and umpires would get together for a drink and a chat at was known as the ‘post-game function'.

And he has tales from all the great suburban venues – Victoria Park, Moorabbin, Whitten Oval, Princes Park and Windy Hill among them.

Getting on a plane to umpire a game outside Victoria was still a novelty in 1988, albeit a far more comfortable journey than the country trains when he was just breaking in.

His mentors when he started were the likes of Bill Deller, then the League's director of umpiring, as well as Glenn James, Rowan Sawers, Ian Robinson and Chris Mitchell. He came through the ranks with highly regarded umpires such as Brett Allen, Andrew Coates and Darren Goldspink.

And before too long, he was among the very best in the game.

"The first aspect was decision-making, getting more right than wrong, which was really important," he said.

"And I think that physically, I could handle it. That created longevity, because I always loved the hard aspect of training and people will probably say that was a strength of mine.

"But ultimately, I thought I just probably had empathy for the players.

"I think I had a good understanding of most circumstances and how to react to it, and I understood how difficult the game was, so that enabled me to have strong relationships with players, and I think that probably held me in good stead."

Kennedy umpired five Grand Finals, all between 1995 and 2003.

The Adelaide-St Kilda decider in 1997 stands out because it was a rare occasion where he didn't get the nod for either preliminary final the week before and he thought he was finished for the year despite being named the All-Australian umpire.

He recalls seeking a meeting with then AFL footy boss Ian Collins for some clarification early in Grand Final week and while waiting for the meeting, seeing an article in The Age indicating he had been given the nod.

The Grand Finals are unquestionably a highlight. But so is performing at such a consistently high level over 24 seasons.

"There are some games where you come off the ground and you feel euphoric for being part of a great game and there's nothing better than when you've done OK and it's a great feeling to be able to be there," he said.

"But I must say with most of them, you go out there, you get the job done, tick a box and move on."

Apart from the Grand Finals, memorable games he umpired included the manic Essendon-Carlton game in early 1993 when Blues captain Stephen Kernahan kicked out on the full after the siren, and the game ended in a draw.

And he was there for 'Sirengate' in Tasmania in 2006 when, due to a timekeeper error, play continued for several seconds after the final siren, during which time St Kilda kicked a point to draw with Fremantle. The game was handed to the Dockers on appeal later that week.

Having a front row seat to watch some of the greats of the game has been a privilege and the banter was memorable as well. Much-loved ruckmen Justin Madden and Ben Hudson are two who were great on the lip.

Kennedy has devoted a lifetime to umpiring.

Once he hung up his whistle, he picked up a clipboard and was the AFL's umpires coach between 2013 and 2021.

These days he holds the same position in the VFL. The umpires of tomorrow are in Hall of Fame hands.

Hayden Kennedy

Born: October 16, 1965
Career: 1988-2011
Games: 495 (record-holder at retirement) plus three state games
Grand Finals: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003
Finals: 39
All-Australian umpire: 1997
AFL umpires coach: 2013-21