Beitzel, 87, lost sight in one eye during the middle of the year as a result of a tumour. He recently suffered a fall, which led to his hospitalisation in his adopted home town of Sydney, where he has subsequently endured heart complications, and is under 24-hour watch. One of his three daughters - Kerrie - is keeping a bedside vigil, while his other daughters Julie and Cherie are keeping in touch from overseas.

Beitzel became an ambassador of the Sydney Swans five years ago, a role of which he remains immensely proud.

"He was in tears when he shared with me how much that meant to him," his son Brad said on Friday.

"He's been a regular attendee at both Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney matches," Brad said.

Father and son attended the Swans' thumping preliminary final win over North Melbourne together. While his sight was failing him, Beitzel snr remained focused on the game.

"In his inimitable style, dad could pick scenes and patterns, and be a critic of some players. He had not lost that," Brad said.

Having played reserves football for Fitzroy, Beitzel first gained prominence during a 13-year VFL umpiring career, during which he presided over 182 games, highlighted by the 1955 grand final. He served two years as the league's umpiring director in the early 1980s.

It was after turning his hand to the media though that Beitzel gained a foothold in the public imagination. For three decades after umpiring his last game in 1960, Beitzel cast a sizeable shadow, with roles across radio, TV and print.

Perhaps his greatest legacy is the international rules concept which continues to this day. It was Beitzel who in 1967 organised to send an Australian team - nicknamed 'the Galahs' - to Ireland to play a series of composite games.

His reputation was tarnished somewhat after he was imprisoned for 18 months in 1994 after pleading guilty to defrauding an elderly couple to the sum of $1.8 million relating to the "soccer pools" lotto game.

He later moved to NSW after marrying his second wife, Karolyn, and has been largely accepted back into the football fold, maintaining contact with former umpiring colleagues, along with the likes of Kevin Sheedy and Kevin Bartlett. Beitzel was inducted into the Australian football hall of fame in 2006.

"He was very, very touched to be a hall of famer, that's for sure," Brad said.