According to The Irish Times, the referee is often "centre stage" during All-Ireland SFC finals.[2]
Men who referee a final that ends in a draw cannot also referee the replay. This rule was highlighted in 2019, when David Gough — thought by consensus to have had a good game — was replaced by Conor Lane for the replay. Colm O'Rourke in the Sunday Independent column, "The GAA's view that the referee of a drawn game cannot take the replay defies common sense and logic. Why disqualify a referee when he has done a good job? If the referee is not up to it then certainly he should be left off, but when there is almost universal agreement that he is the best referee in the country then give him all the big games and replays too. The players want the best referees".[3]
Brian White was the first to benefit from the rule change when he got to referee the 2000 replay.[4]
Referees are chosen by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) for their impartiality and their assessed performance scores over that championship season. A clue to the identity of the final referee may be found among those chosen to referee All-Ireland quarter-finals.[5] In recent years, a referee who has overseen an All-Ireland SFC semi-final is never chosen for the final. However, he has tended to have refereed a quarter-final.[5]
A referee who has officiated at one of the semi-finals is traditionally overlooked when deciding the referee for the same year's final.[6]
When the decision is made, the identity of the referee chosen is revealed following the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals and ahead of the final. A period of media attention may ensue, sometimes even before the announcement has been made.[5]
^ abcDiallo, Raf (13 August 2019). "The David Gough 'Ref-erendum'". Retrieved 13 August 2019. To discuss the matter, … former inter-county referee Pat McEnaney joined us … said it's not the only instance when referee selection was a bone of contention. 'If we go back even to 2015 and Dublin vs Kerry, David Coldrick refereed it and there was quite a bit of talk about that one as well,' said McEnaney… McEnaney emphasised that Coldrick acquitted himself well in 2015 despite all the talk. He also discussed the process of selecting final referees, including how 2019 would progress… 'If you look at how they went about it this year, David Gough did a quarter-final. [You also had] Paddy Neilaan[sic], Joe McQuillan and David Coldrick as your four referees. So you'd fancy one of them to come from that quarter-final and to me it's looking like David Gough. Because if you even look at the appointments for the quarter-final actually, he refereed Dublin and Cork,' said McEnaney… 'And I think that was the game he went to his umpires and turned it around. From memory, I thought he was very good that day. It's probably based on that performance that he's possibly favourite for the All-Ireland final.'
^ abcdefghiO'Connell, Cian (9 December 2016). "1916 All Ireland referees remembered". One hundred years ago Dunphy and Walsh took charge of the All Ireland Finals, while Boland, who reffed the 1914 Football decider and replay, was also remembered.
^Duggan, Keith (18 July 2009). "One man's decades of dedication to the cause". The Irish Times. Tull (he never knew the origin of the nickname other than it had been passed through the family from his grandfather's time) did it all — he won two All-Irelands with Galway as a player in 1934 and (as captain) 1938; he was trainer — and more — to the championship-winning team of 1956 and to the deathless side that won All-Irelands in 1964, '65 and '66; he was still on the sideline when Galway lost three All-Irelands in succession in the 1970s; he was a referee (he whistled Jack Lynch's football All-Ireland in 1945); and he was an administrator with an impeccably conscientious and fussy streak, taking as much care about recording the minutes of obscure county meetings as he did with the famous pinstripe band on the socks the invincible mid-60s maroon team wore.
^"O Hehir criticised for Spillane comments". The Kerryman. 11 November 2010. Spillane went down injured before half-time and Seamus Murray, the Monaghan referee, was seen making several attempts to get Spillane off the turf.
^ abcdCummiskey, Gavin (11 September 2003). "White to referee final". The Irish Times. It will be White's third final as he was also the man in the middle for the 1997 final between Kerry and Mayo and the 2000 replay between Galway and Kerry.
