Andrew Curtis is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 goal umpire

Umpire (Australian rules football)

An umpire is an official in the sport of Australian rules football.-Origins:Unlike many other codes of football, where the official is called a referee, in Australian Football, the officials borrow their title from the game of cricket, which is played on the same types of fields and was an...

.

WAFL

Curtis began his career as a goal umpire with the North Pilbara Football League in 1988. He was transferred by his employer BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

 to Launceston, Tasmania where he continued his umpiring career with the Tasmanian Football League

Tasmanian Football League

Tasmanian State League is the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia.The league has a long and convoluted history which dates back to its founding on 12 June 1879 Tasmanian State League (TSL) (formerly known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), Tasmanian...

. In 1994, he returned to Perth, Western Australia and joined the Western Australian Football League. He umpired in the 1996 WAFL Grand Final between East Perth Football Club

East Perth Football Club

The East Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Royals, is an Australian rules football club that is a member of the West Australian Football League...

 and Claremont Football Club

Claremont Football Club

The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club in the West Australian Football League . Its official colours are navy blue and gold....

. By the time of his retirement in 2006 he had umpired 143 WAFL league matches.

In 2003, he was inducted as a Life Member to the West Australian National Football League Umpiring Association.

AFL

Curtis joined the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 umpiring panel in 1996. In 2000, he was appointed to his first AFL final and was also selected to officiate in an exhibition match held at The Oval in London. Between 1996 and 2006 Curtis umpired 107 AFL senior matches which included 10 finals.

He was appointed to umpire in both the 2003 and 2005 International Rules Series

2005 International Rules Series

The 2005 International Rules series was the 8th annual International Rules Series and the 14th time that a test series of International rules football was played between Ireland and Australia and was won by Australia....

 matches between Australia and Ireland, played at Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval

Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...

 in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

.

Curtis was appointed as a goal umpire in the 2004 AFL Grand Final

2004 AFL Grand Final

The 2004 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 25 September 2004. It was the 108th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...

 played between Port Adelaide Football Club

Port Adelaide Football Club

The Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...

 and Brisbane Lions Football Club. This was the first interstate AFL grand final between AFL football clubs not based in Victoria. In 2006, he was chosen to officiate in an exhibition match in Los Angeles, USA on the UCLA campus.

Retirement

In August 2006 Curtis created a controversy in the last quarter of the Round 21 Western Derby match between West Coast

West Coast Eagles

The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...

 and Fremantle

Fremantle Football Club

The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...

when he indicated goals using his thumbs rather than the customary forefingers.

Curtis was awarded life membership with the Australian Football League Umpires Association in 2007.