Jordan Bannister Biography

Jordan Bannister announces his retirement from umpiring, citing increasing work and travel commitments.

"I have absolutely loved my time in umpiring and encourage all footballers at all levels to consider it," Bannister said.

"Unfortunately my work commitments have increased and it saddens me to walk away from such a terrific group of people."

AFL umpire Jordan Bannister takes to Twitter to admit he made a mistake during the Hawks' clash with Melbourne.

Bannister concedes he paid an incorrect free kick to Hawk Kade Stewart after the debutant ducked into a James Harmes tackle during the fourth quarter of the game, with the scores level.

The decision created widespread discussion on social media, but the experienced umpire nipped the issue in the bud by acknowledging via his Twitter account that it was a "s*** free".

"We average a couple of errors a game & always try to learn from errors," Bannister tweeted.

AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy says he was surprised by Bannister's decision to publicize his mistake.

"It was great he was able to do that (and) stop the conversations that were going on," Kennedy said.

"We do make a fair few mistakes each week, so we don't want the (umpires) every time we make a mistake to tweet out that 'I apologise'.

"We don't want to make a habit of that, but I'm happy with it."

Jordan Bannister will return to AFL umpiring after stepping down last year to help care for his injured brother.

Jordan will return to training with the senior umpires immediately and he will do a pre-season over the coming months to enable him to return to duty once the season is underway," AFL umpiring director Wayne Campbell said.

"He has retained a good fitness base but will still need some time to get back to AFL level.

"Jordan has a unique skill set for an umpire, as a former player, that made him well-respected across the competition and we are delighted he is now able to return to umpiring."

FL player-turned-umpire Jordan Bannister has hung up his whistle, admitting he was starting to 'break down' as he tried to balance AFL and his family commitments.

Bannister's brother Rick became a quadriplegic after falling from a horse in April this year.

The accident has taken a heavy toll on Bannister and his family, and he has given away the game to spend more time with his brother.

"I obviously thought about it all year once my brother's accident happened, and you know, struggling with a full-time job and obviously my family commitments, something had to give," Bannister said.

"I was dealing with a fair bit of stress. My main priorities were obviously my family and then work, so they came first."

Former footballer, turned umpire, Jordan Bannister will officiate his first final on Saturday.

"It was very surprising to get the news the other night. I was rapt," Bannister told SEN's Morning Glory program.

"It's pretty rare that an umpire gets a final in his first year. I've just had a lot of support from the coaches and the other umpires that has fast-tracked me to get to this stage."

Former Bomber Jordan Bannister will take charge of Saturday's North Melbourne-Essendon clash in his AFL umpiring debut, becoming the 81st former VFL/AFL player to umpire a League game.

"His improvement over the summer was immense and what we saw in the NAB Cup was an umpire who continually ran to the right positions and made the right decisions," AFL umpires manager Jeff Gieschen said.

Ex-Carlton and Essendon tagger turned umpire Jordan Bannister says more players could make the transition into the umpiring ranks.

"A lot of players have a feel for the game but I think if they can try and grasp the positioning - as I'm trying to at the moment - and just getting to the right spots," he said.

"A lot of players are probably not suited to it, the bigger type players. There's a lot of running the umpires do. I've never met a bunch of fitter guys in my life."

Jordan Bannister, Adam Hartlett, Adam Bentick and Jake Edwards have been delisted by the Blues.

Rookies Darren Pfeiffer, Luke Stanton and Lachlan Hill will also not be offered contracts for 2010.