Vale Gary Power

Football Australia is saddened to have learned of the passing of respected former FIFA Referee and Soccer Australia Director of Referees, Gary Power. 

Power passed away today, Tuesday, 29 December 2020, following a long battle with cancer. He was 69.

Power was an esteemed match official who refereed 172 fixtures in the National Soccer League (NSL) between the 1981 and 1991-92 NSL seasons. 

Following his time as an NSL Referee, Power worked for Soccer Australia as Director of Referees for a decade (1992-2002) and was the National Elite Referees Instructor at Football Federation Australia between 2008 and 2011. 

Throughout his respected career Power also served as Football New South Wales’s first ever Head of Referees, spent time as the Asian Football Confederation’s Director of Referees, and was a Referees’ Expert for the Qatar Football Association. 

Power will be remembered for his significant contribution to football in Australia and throughout Asia. He worked to inspire and nurture the careers of hundreds of Australian match officials, and continually sought to improve the standard of officiating in Australia and abroad. 

On behalf of the Australian football family, Football Australia extends its deepest sympathies to Gary’s immediate and extended family, friends, and those he mentored and refereed throughout his esteemed professional career.