Wallace, a promising junior footballer, ditched his dream of becoming an AFL player in 2012, having trained with Hawthorn in late 2009, and played for Box Hill Hawks in 2010 and '11.

He was subsequently offered an AFL umpiring scholarship and began his new career in the Eastern Football League. Wallace soon ascended to VFL umpiring where he has spent the past two years. He presided over the grand final between his former side and Footscray, and was able to impress sufficiently to land a spot on the league's senior umpiring list.

Nick Brown, Curtis Deboy and Jack Edwards have also been upgraded to the AFL squad, while former grand final umpire Shaun Ryan is returning to the caper after a three-year lay-off. AFL umpires will officially commence pre-season training on January 20 next year.

Wallace, 23, joins former St Kilda midfielder Leigh Fisher as another graduate of the AFL's player-to-umpire pathway. The former Saint made his umpiring debut early in 2013, having been on an AFL list only two-and-a-half years earlier.

The trail was initially blazed by former Carlton and Essendon player Jordan Bannister, who hung up the whistle at the end of 2013. Bannister became an umpire in 2009 after being delisted by the Blues having been sounded out by then umpires boss Jeff Gieschen to become the first player to participate in the pathway, which aims to make umpiring a viable option when their playing days end.

Andre Gianfagna, who had been a rookie at Melbourne and co-captained the VFL's Northern Blues, is another who aspires to make the change, having taken up umpiring at the end of the 2013 season.

Cricket Australia had established a similar program in 2002, with the likes of Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker and Paul Wilson all transitioning from professional playing careers to officiate at the international level.

Having finished coaching in 2009, Terry Wallace is now employed by Croc Media as a football pundit, primarily on radio.