“I broke my jaw and arm in the same year and my boss called me in the office and said, ‘Do you want to be a professional footballer or do you want a career?’,” Andriske said.

The field umpire recalled that 1981 conversation ahead of officiating in his 700^th match on Saturday, Thurgoona versus Rutherglen seniors in the Tallangatta District league.

Coincidentally, injury contributed to the single year of umpiring he has missed since then – caused by playing squash, not football.

Now 58, Andriske has blown his whistle in all the region’s leagues, including Hume, Upper Murray, Ovens and King, Albury-Wodonga juniors and Ovens and Murray.

Highlights have included being selected to umpire the NSW side in 1983 and numerous finals, including two Ovens and Murray preliminary finals.

“I remember all my finals, players come along and wish you the best before the game,” he said.

The move away from single field umpires has been a big change over the past 35 years, along with better behaviour from spectators.

“It’s improved threefold from what it was when I first started and the game’s got probably a lot cleaner too,” he said.

Andriske has no plans to retire and intends to keep his 700^th celebrations low-key.

“There’s guys who have done a lot more higher milestone games than I have,” he said. “While I can keep running, I'll keep umpiring.”