Special Feature: Kris Griffith Jones – The accidental referee who made it to the top

He has been an A-League referee for three seasons and a NSW Premier League for about five or six.
Griffith Jones is currently in China on a short trip which is part of the FFA?s exchange program for referees. After officiating in China?s equivalent of an A-League match, he will head home. And in the winter months, home is definitely the NSW Premier League.
The 33 year-old is really an accidental referee. Whilst trying to juggle football and cricket, he realised that playing both wasn?t possible and therefore took up refereeing instead.
?I started refereeing as a hobby,? he said. ?I was playing first grade cricket for Parramatta and I was playing for APIA Leichhardt [under 20s] back then in football.
?The football tournaments changed, went to summer and I stopped playing. I got to first grade in cricket and played about 100 games there, but I needed to do something in winter to keep fit, so that?s where it all started.?
Griffith Jones, despite his high profile in both the NSW Premier League and the A-League, still works elsewhere. In fact, he sells swimming pool equipment, but that hasn?t prevented him from seeking to further his career with the whistle.
?I?d like to try to make FIFA and do international games, but we?ll see how I go,? he said
?Refereeing is rewarding career absolutely: the rewards are great. You travel the world, referee at a high level and it has a great social aspect as well where you meet many friends.
?You also learn man-management skills and how to handle people. They are skills that only refereeing can teach you.?
Griffith Jones, who played for the APIA Leichhardt Tigers from the age of 13 until 19, loves being the man in the middle even though at times it can feel like the loneliest place on earth.
?It can be a bit like that but you have always got the assistants out there helping you out,? he said.
-By Joe Russo