To choose football in this country is to choose the life of the outsider.
We all have our experiences. As a kid, the National Soccer League was a different universe to the playground. It was a secret society unlocked not by password or handshake but by culinary tastes and exotic languages.
My weekend adoration of Zeljko Adzic and Mark Bosnich would switch, from Monday to Friday, to Gary Ablett and Allan Border. This was done without second thought, so conditioned and compartmentalised was the inner working of even a young mind. Your soccer world existed separately to your life as an Australian.
As an adult, little changes. The distant table at the black-tie function watching luminaries from squash and swimming and sailing being inducted into halls of fame. Meanwhile, the deeds of Frank Farina, John Davidson, Mark Viduka, Cheryl Salisbury and Harry Kewell drift anonymously into history; living only in the stories passed from member to member within the secret society.
Football has only two living players, Ray Baartz and Peter Wilson, in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Level with canoeing. Baseball has more players inducted. Hockey has ten; rugby union 11.
At times, in our desperation to be invited to the ball, we are prepared to be strangers in our own game.
Objectively, I always considered football’s story and Australia’s story to be perfectly symmetrical. Yet, despite having punctuated public consciousness in quite profound ways at different times, football has never been embedded as a thread within the orthodoxy of Australian life, be it media or politics or celebrity.
Increasingly, the mythology of Anzac Day and its observance acts as an anchor to define what it means to be Australian or to lead an authentically Australian life. Unlike other sports, football’s connection to the Anzacs is rarely, if ever, eulogised. This flies in the face of history and does a disservice to the contribution of football and footballers to the Australian narrative.
In 1916, the Sun newspaper in Sydney, under the headline ‘Footballers’ Response’, reported that of the 1500 players registered with the Metropolitan Association (one association in Sydney) some 1200 “answered the Empire’s call”.
Letters published in the Gosford Times in October 1916, from the pen of then Labor candidate, Captain HJ Connell, told stories of soldiers on the battlefield playing “soccer”, or at least spending their time looking for “sticks” to erect as goals.
West Wallsend, described by the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate as “one of the keenest districts to be found in New South Wales”, lost so many players to the Great War (44 in total) that it did not have enough to field a team to “defend their second place from the previous season”.
In Newcastle alone, 500 of the region’s 625 registered players enlisted in the Great War.
Ironically, the Newcastle Sun would prophesise a bright future for football, on the back of the football community’s visible contribution to the war effort: “the northern soccerites left for active service in such great numbers that, coupled with the great advance in public favour in which the game has made, bodes well for the future of the game”.
In Football and War – Australia and Vietnam 1967-1972, authors Roy Hay and Bill Murray piece together the tale of a group of young Australians who were dropped in Saigon in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War to play football.
Those Australians would emerge with our first ever international trophy and the tournament would be described as the birth of the Socceroos.
Fast forward 41 years to a Tuesday evening in mid-April.
Paul Lederer stood on stage deep in the heartland of Western Sydney with a trophy under his arm. He arrived in Australia when he was ten years old with his extended family, including his uncle Andrew. In 1956, the Lederer family had become refugees after losing their livelihoods amid the collapse of the Hungarian Revolution and would, under the care of the United Nations, set sail for Australia.
Now, as a billionaire businessman and owner of Western Sydney Wanderers, Paul would hand over the trophy for National Youth League Player of the Year.
The trophy was handed to Abraham Majok – a young man who himself arrived in Australia as a refugee after being born to South Sudanese parents in a Kenyan refugee camp.
This was the virtuous cycle of Australian life in full view. A nation welcoming a European refugee boy to its shores who in turn would build a platform that would allow another boy, two generations later, an opportunity to build a transformative life in his adopted country.
There is no shortage of commentators trying to tell us what it means to be Australian, particularly on a sacred day like Anzac Day. What is Australia if not the sum of our collective experiences and the story of its people? That football is, and has been, an integral part of shaping this nation is inescapable.
Football has given too much to this country to be content with standing on the outside, looking in.
Thanks to Andy Harper for providing reference material relating to World War I which has been developed as a part of extensive research by Ian Syson and Athas Zafiris.
John Didulica is a licensed legal practitioner and the chief executive of Professional Footballers Australia. A former National Soccer League player, Didulica was awarded PFA Life Membership in 2008 for his services to football.
This article was originally published by the PFA as On the outside, looking in.
Andre Krueger
Guest
Good Story. If you want to read more about Captain of the Socceroos go to www.PeterWilson.info
poles
Guest
It's so 'embarassing' to appeal to a sport that interest the majority of its audience. It's not Australia's (or USA's) fault we and they have other more interesting sports that has grown as organised as soccer is and is less of a snooze-fest to watch.
Kangajets
Guest
Great article I’ve said before, Australia v Vietnam should be an annual or biannual contest.in football . the two countries share great relationships now and will do in the future
Redondo
Guest
Joy, listen - you’re not very good at this. Is Grobbelaar in today? Get him to read your drafts and tidy them up for you before submitting.
The Joy Of X
Guest
@ Chris 17.5 7.11 am Since the creation of GWS in 2012, junior Australian Football District competition teams in Sydney's Western Suburbs have grown from about 67 teams in 2012 to 175 teams in 2018, from U9 upwards. Not including Auskick. Auskick (below U9) there is also booming -this explains why the biggest growth in team numbers is U9/U10's. This bodes well for the future of WS District competition numbers. Primary and secondary school numbers in Western Sydney are also growing well since 2012 -off a small base. A. Farrugia, in her above speech, touches on this about her school, Our Lady Of Mercy in Parramatta, where females will start playing school Australian Football. In Sydney's Eastern/Northern/Inner suburbs, since 2012, junior District competition numbers (from 8 y.o) have approximately doubled to about 435 junior teams in 2018. Not including Auskick. Auskick numbers are also thriving there, as are primary and secondary (govt. and private) Australian Football numbers. A NSW STATE-wide (ie including country privateschools), private secondary school female Australian Football competition has been recently formed.
Redondo
Guest
DB - I did nothing of the sort. The article was primarily lamenting Football's outsider status amongst Australian sports and in Australian culture. The author explicitly mentioned the fact that Football excellence still goes unrecognised by mainstream institutions in Australia. The author's history lesson challenged that cultural blindness by highlighting the significance of Football in key national events in the past. A natural extension of the author's historical discussion is to consider whether Football will remain an outsider in the future. I argued that the Australian sporting landscape is evolving - both in participation and commercial terms - away from some of the previously dominant sports. It's quite logical to conclude that a global game like Football will benefit from that evolution in Australia. That is particularly likely given that the codes most in danger - the Rugbies - dominate the northern states, where the AFL has always struggled to make an impact. I mentioned other sports because there is something significant happening to sport in general that is fragmenting previously unassailable icons like cricket. It's not code war - those who react like it is code war are paranoid. They should stick to the tabs where people don't make factually confronting comments about their sports.
The Joy Of X
Guest
@ Redondo 17.5 9.22am Re your 'non-answer'. You are responding with Straw Man "arguments" -neither I, nor Amanda Farrugia, nor the AFL has ever stated that Australian Football's progress depends on it becoming a large sport overseas. I have challenged you, above, several times on your incorrect comments that, paraphrasing, "AFL will die in the future"; the "AFL has nowhere to go (ie expand)"; and that the "AFL is culturally divisive". You (again) have not rebutted my comments that Australian Football .is experiencing strong participation growth around Australia, including NSW and Queensland . 2017 Official AFL Registered Participation Numbers of 1,596,660 are very close to the 2017 Official FFA Registered Participation Numbers of 1,631,041 (Albeit both have a majority of 'fluff' Gala Day, non-competition/ double counting of numbers etc.) . is trending to surpass soccer participation numbers in 2018 (or very soon after). This is due to its explosive recent growth. And the embryonic, profound 2017 AFLW creation. When the 'big' AFL Clubs Richmond, Essendon, West Coast, Hawthorn, Geelong, and Sydney -big by Sydney standards-join in the next few years, female participation will again inexorably surge.
Ian
Guest
You are struggling. AFL is not the biggest sport for half of Australia. And not cared for anywhere else. ;-) ;-) Poor lad.
Ian
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godrahujOHFLflnhgfjfj I wonder why it is only certain men in Australia that peddle this. Men in other countries don't share this belief. Weird. Of course because being as brave and tough as you are, you volunteered to join our armed forces ...right?
Ian
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X - AFLW is free to attend. which football code had the first women's comp? No doubt the Matildas annoy you too. In terms of northern states - The AFL does not care about the Brisbane Lions or the Gold Coast Suns. Queensland is dead to them and it irked the administration no end when the Lions won 3 titles in a row. It has paid that back in spades. AFL partakes in different endeavours for the sole purpose of spoiling the growth of other sports. AFLX is a perfect example. In fact even an AFL supporter on this forum wrote an article and mentioned the Gold Coast Suns were put in to spoil the growth of other codes......not for specific actual growth of AFL. AFL also purposefully acts against the growth of football (channel 7 and NSL coverage/world cup bid) AFL's participation rates are not predicted to be above football. You know this. AFL has no cultural resonance for me. Just because AFL markets an ANZAC Day clash does not make you Australian. But fans like you continually bang on how your sport is "aussie''....you have nothing else to market on (knowing your sport came from gaelic football). AFL cannot conquer all of Australia and has no relevance at all anywhere else. It is not representative of Australia. It hurts for you to admit this. I remember that advertisement for AFL with persons representing other nations - a chinese person, an Italian, American cowboys/gridiron players - all amazed at AFL. Tapping into our psyche for international relevance - AFL used foreigners pretending to love the sport to sell it back to Australians. How sad.. This article has no doubt given you food for thought about a few things but keep banging on AFL is culturally relevant because Melbourne designated, ridiculously, a public holiday for it.
DB
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Why is it Redondo, you took a great article about soccer and turned it into an anti every other mainstream sport in Australia spiel? You then wonder why they get so defensive.
DB
Guest
Why is it Redondo, you took a great article about soccer and turned it into an anti every other mainstream sport in Australia spiel? You then wonder why they get so defensive.
Redondo
Guest
Joy I specifically referred to AFL’s global market and player base, which are tiny verging on non-existent. You are banging on about AFL’s attempts to expand its domestic market. The civil war over which sport Australians play has been raging for 100 years, with no end in sight. Despite the AFL’s recent discovery of ‘women’, the AFL Is having a dog of a time winning the civil war, let alone embarking on a world war. My point was that AFL cannot risk losing the civil war because there is nowhere else for AFL to go outside Australia. That is the source of AFL’s existential angst and the reason you guys leap into battle every time anyone mentions the problem. My original point, which has been obscured by your attack of the vapours, was that Football will inevitably become more mainstream in Australia, meaning the author’s experience as a Football-loving child will not be replicated in future generations.
chris
Guest
You need to drive around the western suburbs of Sydney to see what's really going on
chris
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lol - very funny
Redondo
Guest
It's better to be the undertaker than be the undertaken.
The Joy Of X
Guest
@ Midfielder 16.5 10.47 pm Can you provide some factual information how "for a long while the Granville Magpies (soccer team) were more popular than the Parramatta Eels" League Club?
The Joy Of X
Guest
@ Redondo 16.5 10.06 pm How SPECIFICALLY are my comments (pointing out your inaccuracies) "lame"? Or are you claiming GWS Captain Amanda Farrugia's comments, in her linked speech above, are "lame"? Re the strong growth of Australian Football into NSW and Queensland, you have provided no factual arguments to rebut what I, and A. Farrugia, have stated...because you are unable?
Midfielder
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paceman I grew up in Yennora and can tell you for a long while teh Granville Magpies where more popular than the Parramatta ells
Redondo
Guest
It doesn't irk me - it fascinates me. What is particularly interesting today is the obvious decline of previously entrenched sports like the 2 Rugbies. As they decline a void opens up to the north of the Barassi line. It's a race between Aussie Rules and Football to fill that void. I find that fascinating. Will Australia further retreat from the world in favour of a one-country sport, or, will it embrace a global game? I have no idea but the answer will certainly say a lot about Australia as a sporting nation. I'm a bit bemused that you think discussing bare facts is passive aggressive behaviour but that's your problem, not mine.