Air traffic controller by day, referee by night - Lachlan Keevers officiates his first A-League game

Air traffic controller by day, referee by night

Lachlan Keevers (pictured second from the left) has a fairly stressful day job.

Based at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport, he is responsible for controlling the air traffic coming into Perth airport.

Despite the stressful nature of his day job, the adopted Victorian, says it was nowhere near as stressful as having to make a big call during his first game in charge at A-League level last weekend.

“Making a penalty decision on your debut game is definitely more stressful that controlling air traffic,” he said.

Originally from Wollongong, Keevers moved to Melbourne six years ago to spend more time with his partner, who is from Melbourne.

He started refereeing as a 13 year old, while he was playing junior football. “I suppose I was encouraged by Dad, who had himself been a Rugby League referee. It worked well as preferred to be earning money whilst enjoying the sport I loved, as opposed to working in a supermarket or similar, which is what a lot of my mates were doing at the time.”

When Keevers moved to Melbourne, he already had a few years’ experience in the NSW NPL and has since progressed to be one of Victoria’s most experienced officials.

“We have great support in Victoria. Michael Fabian works closely with us, reviewing every single game and providing us feedback each weekend.”

After six years in the NPL, he made his debut in the A-League last weekend in Campbelltown for the game between MacArthur and the Newcastle Jets.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be. I felt good.  I did have a big decision to make early on, in the 25th minute for a penalty against MacArthur. I felt I was in a good position and had seen it quite clearly, so had no hesitation in calling the penalty against Mark Milligan.

“Chris Beath, who was the VAR for the game, asked me to do an on-field review. To ensure I was comfortable with the decision and upon review, I was happy with the original decision. I have to admit, running over to the screen to do the review, my heartbeat did pick up a bit,” he said.

“The added bonus for me was that my debut A-League game wasn’t too far from my family and friends in Wollongong, so it was great to have about 20 friends and family there to support me on a pretty special day,” he said.

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