The long-serving Otago referee will box up his whistle at the end of the season.
He has been refereeing for 40 years.
Forty.
That deserves its own line.
The 69-year-old has put more back into the game than just about anybody and he does not regret a day of it — not even the cold, wet afternoons.
He contacted the Otago Daily Times about his impending retirement, not to draw attention to himself, but because he is on a crusade to recruit new referees and remind a minority of spectators to stay respectful.
‘‘I think one of the things that's changed over the years is we seem to have lost our respect for each other,’’ the retired fireman said.
‘‘And one of the sad things is that we struggle to hold on to referees because they get an earful and that seems to be the end of it.’’
‘‘Why would you give up your time to be abused? But I think it's a very small minority and there are some lovely people out there.
‘‘Most people understand that the referee is giving up their time.’’
Richards took up refereeing in 1986. He had just finished playing and he wanted to put something back into the sport that had given him so much joy.
He started off refereeing in the social grades, moved up to the colts grade and First XV rugby, and really enjoyed refereeing in the country competitions, which were ‘‘great fun’’.
He never refereed in the Dunedin division 1 competition. He did not feel he had the skills and was happy refereeing at a lower level.
‘‘You take, take, take, take and then when you're finished, you walk away. So I was determined that I was going to put something back into rugby.
‘‘I coached for one year, which I really enjoyed but then with shift work and the fire service, it was difficult to be there every Saturday.’’
‘‘A friend talked me into refereeing and, yeah, no regrets whatsoever.
‘‘What I would like to do now is to encourage people.
‘‘We struggle to get referees, and if I can have a wee crusade that encourages people to perhaps go and give it a go.
‘‘There is tremendous support out there from my organisation, the Otago Referees Association, and also soccer and netball and hockey.
‘‘There's help out there and support and if people could just give up a wee bit of time to put something back into a sport that they really enjoyed playing.’’
Richards struggles to keep up with the play now, which is why he is retiring. He is not planning on walking away from the game, though.
He has already started prowling the sidelines to offer support to the younger referees and to remind the odd spectator or two, who cross the line from friendly banter into abuse, to pull their heads in.
