Football lost a true champion when Les Murray died yesterday morning, aged 71.
Les was the voice of the round ball code as much as Richie Benaud was the voice of cricket, and Ray Warren the voice of rugby league.
Three icons of sporting commentators.
‘Benords’ and ‘Rabs’ had a far easier ride in sports long accepted as they rose to the top.
But Les had a mountain to climb seeking the code’s acceptance on the Australia sporting landscape. That he achieved the seemingly impossible does the Hungarian migrant as a 12-year-old with his parent proud
Born Laszlo Urge on the outskirts of Budapest, he was schooled in Wollongong where the name Laszlo Urge gave him no little grief, so he changed to Les Murray.
There were two rungs in Les’ ladder of life – soccer and the lead singer in a classically named rock group called The Rubber Band.
Les began work as a journo in 1971, moving to Channel Ten six years later.
It was there he started a lifelong friendship with the late great Johnny Warren, and it was that friendship that gave soccer a giant lift.
They were kindred spirits, two peas in a pod of passion and dedication.to soccer – Les the commentator, Johnny the footballer on the way to becoming the captain of the Socceroos 24 times in 42 caps.
To give Roarers the picture of how soccer was viewed at the time, Johnny wrote a best selling book called ‘Sheilas, Wogs, and Poofters – an incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren, and Soccer in Australia’.
In that superb publication, Johnny described soccer as ‘wogball’, there were precious few Anglicised names playing.
In over 50 years of writing sport, there have been no better days of being in Les and Johnny’s company, hearing how they were coping with lifting the game they loved with such passion.
Not once in 30-plus years were there any doubts in their minds that soccer would become a major sport in Australia.
Not long before he died of lung cancer in 2004 aged 61, Johnny was asked how would he liked to be remembered.
He replied “I told you so”, meaning soccer had made it.
Johnny’s death devastated all those who had the privilege of knowing him, but more so for Les soldiering on in his own inimitable way until 2014 when he hung up his microphone.
Les’ death is just as devastating. His passion, his dedication, his never-say-die promotion of football, his sense of humour, and his on-going communication skills, can’t ever be forgotten.
It would be a nice touch if a statue of Les Murray was erected alongside Johnny Warren’s at the SCG on the avenue of Australian sporting legends so the yet to be born kids can salute the two close mates who put football firmly on the Australian sporting map from a cold start.
One of Les Murray’s many attributes was coining the phrase ‘The World Game’.
Today the football word and beyond mourn the loss of a true champion.
Marty Boy
Guest
Vale Les Murray! My own grandfather was an English migrant, but none of his descendants play soccer, 2 of his sons played for VFL Geelong, none of the earlier German or Italian migrant children played soccer much either, so some credit has to be given to Les Murray & Johnny Warren (& George D) for getting general Australian interest in the "world game". Les Murray stated in his auto-bio that his greatest fear, was not about whether or not the socceroos qualified or not for the world cup, but the very nature of the game itself. Les felt the modern game was becoming more stale & predictable & goal scoring was much lower than it was in Les childhood days in the 1950s. The "golden" days of Maradonna, Pele, George Best & Ferenc Pushkas had long passed & these "new" players were commercial professionals, more interested in their salary cap, rather than the love of the game itself. And of course soccer's low-scoring set-up makes it vulnerable to max-fixing (as seen by biased referees against the socceroos & England). I used to love soccer when I was a kid, but just after seeing AFL Richmond (many of it's Greek fans were also one time soccer fans) & it's 2 fantastic finals, Yawn..modern soccer ,no longer does it for me. RIP Mr & Mrs Soccer
mwm
Guest
"Primarily played by ethnics"...? Growing up in wollongong , the suburb next to mine formed their football club in 1883. The Australian national football team has been playing since 1922. ... and yes football ( not rugby league or AFL). Football has a long history in this country. It did exist before the A League, NSL and the post WW2 migrant boom
John From Melbourne
Guest
Soccer in this country went from a game that was primarily played by the ethnic community, to a game played by all community's. Les Murray's input into soccer will never go unnoticed to those of us that have followed. I join David in paying my respect to a man who will forever be known as Mr Soccer.
anon
Roar Pro
Australian soccer is poorer for his passing. Vale Mr Soccer. Actually, Australian broadcasting is also poorer for his passing. He was the face of SBS for decades. Consummate broadcaster and communicator and that's despite a thick eastern European accent and serious solemn demeanour. That's how good a broadcaster he was.
Nemesis
Guest
Matt Jones P*$$ OFF We are showing respect for a great football man who has passed away. If you can't show him a modicum of respect even when he's dead: Go Back To Where You Came From.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
No, we aren't talking semantics here. Les was known universally as "Mr Football", and that's how he should be referred to in any obituary.
Matt Jones
Guest
Semantics, give it a rest
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
David Les' correct and popularly known moniker was "Mr Football". It seems a tad disrespectful to refer to Les as Mr Soccer. It's also worth adding that while there is little doubt that the post-war immigration boom saved football in Australia, the game had always had people of British stock involved, and in fact, in the Socceroos' first ever world cup game in 1974, no fewer than 8 of the starting 11 were of a British background.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
He was always a gentleman and a gentle man. You said his Hungarian surname Urge gave him grief at Wollongong. Well, it would given him grief in Budapest as well. Literally translated, Urge means gopher.
mad mick
Guest
I heard the Rubber band play long before I knew of Les Murray. They were a fantastic cover band. What a wonderful contributor he was to our lives.
Ben Sewell
Roar Pro
Thanks Les, you will be missed.
Duncan Smith
Guest
Thanks Les for bringing us those World Cups on TV. Good memories. You'll be missed.