Richard started his umpiring career in 1996 in the Eastern Football League. Growing up playing the game for Boronia till he was 16 he then revisited playing at aged 20 with the Aquinas. Mills never thought years on he would be a 180+ game umpire of VFL footy.

He has reached many milestones in his journey at the VFL including the most repected achievement of VFL Life Membership having umpired 175 Senior matches in the competition.

The 34 year-old began umpiring at the state league level in 2003 and has gone on to officiate in 14 VFL finals, including three preliminary finals. Although Mills never made it to the big time, he has thoroughly enjoyed and is proud of more than a decade of football at the best level after the AFL.

In 2010, Richard felt he wanted to give a bit more to the group as a leader, and served for two years as president of the Victorian Football Umpires Association. This was an important period where he was part of the negotiations of employment conditions and policies for the VFL Umpires. He felt his time on the Executive was well spent for both umpiring and life skills. “It was a good opportunity to have an influence on the group and try to progress the association into a new era”, he said.

Richard was awarded with VFUA life membership in 2013 for his service to umpiring and the association.

Outside of umpiring Mills fills his time by running his own photography business. If you ask anyone but Richard what he does, they wouldn’t know. It’s believed he has owned and sold more businesses then he has had hot dinners. His photography business is now giving him the opportunity to travel interstate for many functions, including weddings, and he feels he needs to devote more time to the next chapter of his life.

If you heard that he participates in modelling, you would be correct and that’s another one of his successful businesses – ‘Mills Modelling’. When asked how many modelling offers he got, he interrupted with, “I was published in the Herald Sun once, for the ‘Chefs on the Run’ piece’ ”, (with a laugh).

Richard is father to a little girl Makedde, aged nine, and partner to Emily, who have supported him through his time as an umpire by attending games and allowing him to continue in recent years. He wants to give back more time to his family now though, as umpiring has taken up plenty over the years.

Over his career, Mills has umpired with some legends of the game. He mentions Rob Findlay, Shane Stewart, Michael Jennings and Andrew Mitchell as some of the best umpires around during his time, but running with guys that didn’t make it to the next level like Dan Beard, Matt Brown, Brent Pawley and Cameron Nash were always highlights. Mentored by coach and close friend Kevin Mitchell for most of his career, Mills said that Kevin was one that he looked up to. “He was a feared and revered figure who brought out the best in all of his umpires”.

More recently, current coach Cameron Nash, who Mills umpired with in the mid-2000s, continued to believe in Mills over the past two years by allowing him to officiate at the state league level. Nash said that, “In the later years of his career, Richard continued to umpire to a high standard on a consistent basis which warranted his selection in state league footy. By continuing to umpire to these high standards, he’s become a good role model for the young guys coming through the ranks.”

You may ask why this article is titled ‘Just About’? Richard’s career turned into a journey of ‘Just About’ based on a Peter Donegan quote during a TV game where he said “Mills was ‘just about’ the best umpire in the VFL.”

“A few boys ran with that and the line kind of stuck”, Richard said.

This weekend, Mills will smash the footy into the hallowed turf at the MCG on Saturday morning in the Northern Blues v Collingwood game that will also be broadcast on Channel 7 – his final match.

When asked if the VFUA could publish a story on his retirement, he said “Sure, no problem at all, I love this sort of stuff ‘’.”