First female umpire to control AFL grand final

The first female umpire to officiate in the grand final of one of Australia's most macho sports, Australian Rules football, says she cried when she received the news.

Goal umpire Chelsea Roffey will break through the gender barrier when she umpires in Sunday's Australian Football League grand final between Hawthorn and Sydney, in front of 100,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Roffey said "I've been dreaming about this day for a long, long time. Getting the phone call (from umpires boss Jeff Gieschen) I was pretty much speechless. I think Jeff said 'congratulations' and I teared up and had a bit of a cry."

Australian Rules matches are controlled by two goal umpires, three field umpires and four boundary umpires.