A football fixture crunch in August due to the beginning of the AFLW season and closing rounds of AFL and state-league football could see the AFL face an "unprecedented" umpire shortage and call upon retired umpires to unhang their boots and bring back their whistle to the AFLW arena.

By the AFL's Round 23 weekend, umpires will be used in a multitude of competitions, including the AFLW, who begin their campaign two weeks earlier in 2025 to avoid a condensed fixture, the men's state-leagues (VFL, WAFL and SANFL), as well as the finals series of the VFLW and WAFLW.

The busy period is set to place a significant workload strain on rookie-listed AFL umpires, who are likely to umpire both AFL and AFLW fixtures over the mid-August weekends, according to the Herald Sun.

The publication reports that the anticipated juggling of numbers has been discussed in meetings between the umpires' association and AFL umpiring and football departments in March.

AFL Rd 3 - Hawthorn v Geelong
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 01: Umpire Nick Foot calls a pause in play due to nearby lightning strikes during the 2024 AFL Round 03 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the Geelong Cats at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 01, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The AFL also anticipate they will have to try entice former AFL umpires out of retirement to participate in "stand-alone" appearances at AFLW level, such as cult figure 'Razor' Ray Chamberlain, who made his retirement after 2024, as well as 426-game umpire Chris Donlon, who too retired after the latest AFLW season.

The league confirmed to the Herald Sun they had reached out to umpires to potentially fill-in during the number crunch.

“Throughout the AFLW season, including the two-week period where the AFL and AFLW home and away seasons overlap, we will be using a combination of AFL, AFLW and state league umpires,” an AFL spokesperson said.

“Experienced former AFL-listed umpires are considered as AFLW stand-alone umpires, and will officiate throughout the season as has been done in previous years.”

Chamberlain told the masthead he would be open to aiding the AFLW's umpiring stocks after a handful of games of experience during his umpiring career.

“I've always supported women's football and loved being part of the AFLW competition,” Chamberlain said.

10 new umpires were promoted to the AFL umpires list in November, while seven women were promoted to the rookie list in their respective disciplines.