Here comes the men in black - David Coldrick
June 25, 2014
Men in Black featuring GAA stars Barry Kelly and David Coldrick
Due to be aired at 9pm, the cameras follow the Meath official as he prepares for the 2013 Ulster SFC final with a club game in Meath and training in the gym at Irish Life where he works.
The film crew also accompanies him to a refereeing meeting at Croke Park where all championship referees meet up and discuss and analyse what has happened in the previous games.
Coldrick is selected to referee the quarter-final between Dublin and Cork but with Dublin advancing to the All-Ireland final, he missed out on refereeing what would have been his third Sam Maguire Cup decider.
"I started refereeing around 1994 and for the next couple of years I combined both the refereeing and the playing," the Blackhall Gaels clubman says.
"I got onto the first part of the Leinster panel around 1997, and was still playing with the club but soon realised that I wasn't able to combine both of them or give enough to both, so I had to choose.
"So, I chose refereeing on the basis that I thought I was an alright player but if there was a chance of actually getting to Croke Park on the third Sunday in September, it was probably more as a referee."
The Men in Black series follows four referees across four sports - David Coldrick, Alan Kelly (soccer), Barry Kelly (hurling) and Alain Rolland (rugby).
It's a must see for all sport fans as not only does it offer a very rare insight into the profession but with all four mic'd up, viewers get to hear the exchanges between referees and players across all four sports.
Funded through the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound & Vision scheme and Setanta Sports Ireland, Men in Black is produced by Æeterno Productions. Tweet
