Chris Blain
Chris Blain was inducted into the Capital Football Hall of Fame in 2016, in recognition of his significant contribution to Capital Football as a referee, assessor, and Chair of the Referee Technical Committee.
Chris Blain moved to Canberra in 1991 from Queensland and refereed at the highest level in Canberra and NSW. He soon became a highly valued and respected referee and was selected to the NYL and NSL Assistant Referee panels in 1992 as one of the outstanding referees then refereeing in Canberra.
During his lengthy refereeing career in Canberra, he was decorated with many awards including refereeing the Federation Cup and First Grade grand final on numerous occasions, as well as winning Referee of the Year as voted by the clubs.
Over the years, Chris continued to invest his time and effort into the game of football. He was always available to provide advice to many referees and he was instrumental in the production of many excellent referees over the years.
In later years, Chris took on the role of Chairperson of the Referees Technical Committee as appointed by the CEO of Capital Football. In this role he worked tirelessly with other individuals to ensure that the technical standards and education of referees were not just maintained, but enhanced, to ensure the continued development of all referees.
Chris was recognised as ensuring the progression of younger referees, female referees and referees for women’s football and the maintenance of high professional standards.
Chris represented the ACT Football and Refereeing community as a Referees Assessor at the national level. He assessed many games at NYL, W-League and A-League levels.
Chris Blain is one of the individuals who has ensured that the Canberra refereeing community has consistently maintained high standards at a local, national and international level; a standard which has ensured that ACT referees continue to be very highly regarded throughout Australia and the region.
