Eleni Glouftsis reveals wonderful gesture from AFL players

The AFL's first female field umpire has revealed a number of brilliant gestures from players during her debut game.

The 25-year-old schoolteacher Eleni Glouftsis became the first woman to ever officiate as a field umpire in an elite-level Australian rules football match in Essendon's win over West Coast on Sunday.

There were wonderful scenes prior to first bounce as a number of Bombers and Eagles players sought her out to congratulate her on the momentous achievement.

West Coast veteran Luke Shuey made a point of finding Glouftsis to shake her hand, as did Essendon's Dyson Heppell.

Glouftsis officiated well and got some pleasing feedback from AFL umpires' boss Hayden Kennedy.

But an unusually soft relaid strip of turf in the centre of Etihad Stadium made it difficult for Glouftsis to elevate the ball high enough at centre bounces.

She had a number of sub-par bounces, but after the game revealed some incredible encouragement she received from the players.

"A lot of them have seen me through the VFL and the SANFL a few years ago," she said.

"When I had a poor bounce a lot of the boys were like 'just keep going, be confident', which is really lovely.

"They've been really supportive, which was great."

with AAP