Ernest 'Ern' Jenkins was an 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...

 player, coach and 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...

. Jenkins was uncle of Fitzroy player Horrie Dawson

Horrie Dawson

Horrie Dawson was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League .Dawson was the nephew of two Fitzroy premiership players, Fred Fontaine and Ern Jenkins. Recruited from Old Scotch, he started his career as a forward and was Fitzroy's second leading...

.

Playing career

Jenkins played for the Fitzroy Football Club

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1897 and 1908 and again in 1910.

Umpiring career

Jenkins later joined the VFL as a 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...

making his debut in VFL senior football in 1920. By the time he retired in 1927 Jenkins had umpired 132 senior matches, including five grand finals.