It’s 20 years since Johnny Warren, along with Andy Harper and Josh Whittington, published the story of his life in Australian football.
The book’s title is a little unfortunate considering the events of recent days, but it does reflect a not uncommon attitude toward football when the game resided on the periphery of Australia’s popular sporting consciousness.
It landed on my bookshelf just after I’d flown the family coop and moved into a grotty shared apartment at Yeronga in Brisbane’s southern suburbs.
I’d grown up in rural northern New South Wales, playing and avidly following rugby league. But watching rugby league could be tricky, with many an evening spent elaborately positioning the old rabbit-ears antenna to pick up the weak signal from Channel Nine.
It was only a matter of time before the siren song of the ABC’s English Premier League show reached me.
It was a gateway. World Football and the Serie A highlights on SBS were next.
Andy Paschalidis with Les Murray (middle) and Johnny Warren (right). (Image provides by Andy Paschalidis)
I jumped on the Brisbane Strikers bandwagon just before the club reached its zenith, the 2-0 victory over Sydney United to win the 1997 National Soccer League (NSL). I was briefly an intern with the Strikers’ front office and had some very interesting conversations with John Kosmina.
Then came the great Spanish teams – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Deportivo la Coruña – who bestrode European football in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and begat my 20-year love affair with La Liga.
I first read Johnny Warren’s book around this time, when my football mores were largely set. It was still three years before the A-League and John Aloisi’s shirtless dash along Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
John Aloisi during his stint as Roar coach (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Warren was with us long enough to see the A-League concept launched, but not long enough to see it manifest, nor to see the national team compete again at the World Cup and start anew in the Asian Football Confederation.
He described the story of football in Australia as “one of struggle; an incredible, relentless, frustrating and frequently unjust struggle”.
The game’s virtues were mostly ignored, while its vices – crowd trouble and the NSL’s instability – received disproportionate attention.
To describe the history of Australian football as Warren did is not hyperbole. Nor is a complicated past unusual.
The codification of the game in England and the formation of the football association, with its myriad compromises and disputes, was certainly complicated and contested.
The establishment of Spain’s professional league on the eve of the country’s brutal, fratricidal civil war still echoes in Spanish football’s modern hierarchy.
What stands out in Australia are the wild fluctuations – from the game established by British settlers in the late 19th century and played at the elite private schools that were to become bastions of rugby union, to the game subsumed in popular conscience by the rugby codes and Australian rules.
The post-World War II boom, fuelled by migrants from southern and eastern Europe, was accompanied by a ban from international football.
The landmark qualification for the 1974 World Cup was followed by decades of frustration at international level and concurrent instability in domestic football.
Warren personified this era. He played in Australia’s first World Cup finals game in 1974, championed a doomed NSL team in Canberra and choked back tears on live television on the heartbreaking night of 29 November 1997.
There are some interesting parallels between post-war Australian football and the game’s recent history, the past repeating itself behind the game’s new corporate veneer.
Warren’s career took off in the early 1960s, first at Canterbury and then St George-Budapest.
It was the period when the post-war migration boom was starting to reshape football. Old district clubs – like Canterbury, which had grown primarily from English and Scottish roots – were being challenged by clubs formed by the new wave of migrants.
The hostility these clubs and their players faced – pithily summed up in the title of Warren’s book – was not just the prevalence of bigoted attitudes in mid-20th century Australia, but a broader sense of otherness.
The new clubs were seen as closed societies; they didn’t merely exist outside the mainstream; they were proud of it. Who can forget the 12th Man’s preposterous sketch about the Socceroos competing in a “European invitational tournament”?
The rowdy NSL patrons cursing at each other in foreign languages, setting off flares and occasionally engaging in internecine handbags seemingly occupied another world
It was nonsense, of course. Australians from British and Irish backgrounds, like Warren, were most welcome. So was the great Charlie Perkins.
The main reason why the breakaway Australian Soccer Federation had such difficulty with FIFA was the predilection of its clubs for signing footballers from all over Europe and South America, outside official channels.
The A-League was, and is, an attempt to neutralise this perception of otherness; to exist outside a supposed niche and as part of the mainstream. But it could never hold back the tide of history
The latest contretemps between Australia’s football administration and FIFA was primarily about a wrestle for control between a force that had wrested control of the game from another who had been the game.
There had to be a compromise. The National Second Division, if and when it’s implemented, will be strongly debated, hotly contested and almost certainly altered, frequently.
Even though I’m an old Brisbane Strikers supporter and struggle to identify with an A-League club, I don’t want to go back to the good (and bad) old days.
I doubt Johnny Warren would want that either. One of his many frustrations was that, while participation in football was always strong and despite ample coverage of football’s problems, few had any sense of ownership.
It was, as he said, often seen as “just those w*gs having another stoush”.
The two A-Leagues and national teams have changed that. Sam Kerr’s a headline act, whereas Warren, a regular contributor to commercial television and radio, was lucky to get a minute at the end of a broadcast after all the ‘big sport’ had been covered.
In part two, I’ll look at the rest of Warren’s vision for Australian football compared to where we are today.
Foot and Ball
Roar Rookie
That is a great idea, the establishment have not got the forsight.
Foot and Ball
Roar Rookie
Npl teams will trott out NSD teams as their primary teams of their clubs, then there may be brand new clubs as well ie. Canberra and FC Tasmania.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Thanks JB.
jbinnie
Guest
Brainstrust - You have obviously been "conned" by publicity re the foundation of the NSL and where the idea was germinated. Let me refresh your memory. A team in Brisbane was "selling" a player to a Sydney club and part of the deal was that they ,the Sydney team (Hakoah), would visit Perry Park and play a friendly match against the local team. This was to be achieved by the home team meeting all expenses for the trip provided they, Hakoah ,travelled on the same day, played the match and returned home that same night. The Hakoah manager Davie Marnoch agreed to all these terms. A sponsor was gained, Marwood Motors, who agreed to underwrite any losses up to $3000. A goodly crowd turned up and the "losses" were never attained, in fact Latrobe only missing out to the tune of $75. As the bar at PP had been quite busy on the day a request to the QSF to pick up the "loss" was rejected. !!!!!! What's new?. Now the die was cast and Latrobe were immediately phoned by another Sydney club ,St George, to see if they could make the same trip. No problem, and this time the game' s returns evened costs out Another call from Apia's Tom Anderson, requested a date to make the trip and it was accepted but when Tom was rung back with a date he said he had to cancel the request as his management had ordered the cancellation. Three weeks later Apia arrived in Brisbane to play Azzurri at their home ground in Newmarket!!!!!. THE BUBBLE WAS BURST,POLITICS HAD TAKEN OVER. Now I ask you to consider the Wiki history as to the start of the NSL. It clearly states the idea originated in Sydney from 2 sources, Frank Lowy's Hakoah, and Alex Pongrass' St George, don't those names sound familiar. Hakoah and St George had visited Brisbane and the year was 1973, 4 years before the start of the NSL So do you think it was these men who proved interstate football was possible or was it that little club in Brisbane that took the chance and proved a point. The story doesn't quite end there for Rale Rasic had gone into print and said he was not getting any matches for his Socceroos, yes the 1974 heroes. A phone call to Rale and the Socceroos were on their way to Brisbane and surprise surprise, the QSF wanted the game changed to a Queensland v Socceroos trial but when challenged about the $3000 guarantee they very quickly reneged. so a mob of young local Brisbane players got their dream of a lifetime, playing against a fully fledged Socceroo team. Hope this interests you. Cheers jb.
jbinnie
Guest
AMD -yes I can help you there, Les Schienflug was at Prague FC in those days. When we were drawn to play them in the Australian Cup, Les did not play against us as he was playing for Australia in a friendly match the next day. Another Prague player absent for the same reason was a young Scotsman was called Westwater, whose father, Willie, I had seen playing countless times back in Scotland. You may also remember a boy playing for the Socceroos ,called David Lowe. His father Roy Lowe and Westwater Snr played for the same team before emigrating to Australia. Great memories.Cheers jb.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
That comes down to structure and leadership .... The plan for many years was to have an A & B league.... so why would not both be controlled by the same group with P & R between. Lets pick say 32 teams 16 in each division...in a population of 25.5 million and other well established codes in AFL & NRL, plus a lot of others.... 32 teams is a lot to support.... So if we make a plan to have 32 teams... ie an extra 20 teams most who try should make it .... but they can't return in the NSL model... they have to return in an A-League model... In 10 to 15 years we can start thinking of a third division to get new team in.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Thanks Midfielder, As you can probably tell, I'm a bit torn on this one. It's folly to ring-fence the games history and pretend it's not important. But so much is invested in the new façade. In-principle, I support the NSD but its hard to envision how it co-exists with the ALM's licensing system and broadcast deals. Smarter people than me probably have answers...
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Yes, JB, although my memory is struggling to get the facts straight in my head. I think your memory tells me your spot on with your facts. Anyways, moving on with Prague FC (Sydney), some will argue that Ron Lord, was the greatest ever Australian born goal keeper who kept goal for Prague FC in their hay days. He was great, but I think he lost all his confidence when he was selected to play for a NSW representative team to face the touring Everton FC, when Australia was remitted back into FIFA (in a friendly) at the SCG in front of 50k, he retired soon after. (I was there, at the SCG), a record crowd back in those days. As I remember as that game unfolded. Leo Baumgartner (then an Apia player) played a magnificent long ball to a player, Les Schoeman who went past his defender and crossed it back inside for a young Canterbury player, Brian Smith, to slot home. NSW 1; Everton 0; We all went crazy with joy. There after Everton moved up a gear and Ron Lord faced a barrage from the touring Everton’s attack where they put 12 goals past him. Les Schoeman, an ex Hungarian international player, who played for Croatia FC (Sydney), was carried off in the first half, and replaced, after NSW scored their only goal. In those days I played for Sydney Croatia in their lower grades (two seasons). Memories I will cherish.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
AMD Great read. Loved JW .... Issue is how you interpret what he said... But that's an article in itself . It's a complex analysis our pass 30 years or so who can forget the channel 7 email, St George bank, Looking to the future I see good things mostly. What won't happen is a return to the NSL as we should not return to a failed system. But we can learn from the NSL teams and invite them back to the Aleague not to the NSL. Still lots to change but I have always believed that change needs to happen at the park team level we need to change the behavioural patterns of the park teams.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Brisbane club were known for paying Sydney clubs to go to Brisbane pre NSL. So that would indicate they were richer than Adelaide clubs at least. The situation in Brisbane has gotten worse, Perry Park is a nice location, and would have been provided free of charge, now you have the choice between lose heaps of money at Suncorp or play at Redcliffe stadium and lose money because of small crowds from the bad location. Why dont Brisbane Roar simply play daytime matches at other locations in Brisbane. They would get a 50% increase in crowds from playing a third of their matches at other locations.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Nicely summed up, Grem. My old rugby league teammates, who often gave me a hard time about liking football and then leaving to play it (badly), and who expressed disdain for the game (learned from parents most likely), all knew who Johnny Warren was.
Grem
Roar Rookie
His book was a great read and he was such a wonderful ambassador for our sport. His cutting through into mainstream media - television and newspapers really gave our sport some impetus at a time when the title of his book summed up many people's attitudes to our game. He seemed to be a great bridge between old football and new football during a different era. He would be a great asset to still have now as we try and bridge new football to old football.
jbinnie
Guest
Para - this latest comment got my memory into gear. You mention Prague FC and I first came across that club in 1967 when it fell to me to take a young Latrobe team to meet Prague in the then Australia Cup. As I hadn't long been in Australia I did some research into them before we left Brisbane and nearly died when I saw the make up of their team, Austrian and Australian internationals dotted everywhere through the team, with even the coach, Josep Venglos, a former international player, who went on to hold high positions all over Europe. I can laugh now but having witnessed the Italians playing "catenaccio" in Europe we decided to try and " hold what we had" and were actually doing it quite well until our young 18 year old goalie dropped a cross ball at the feet of an Aussie international and that was the end of our "experiment." Watching Venglos during that first half was an eyeopener as ,having seen the defensive game played elsewhere, he knew what was happening and ran up and down the touchline trying to get instructions to his players. The Prague "bubble " burst when they were accused of importing players from a strife torn Europe and signing them without paying transfers to their former clubs. This matter came to a head when a Glasgow Rangers player, Willie Stevenson, decided to "emigrate" to Australia and play out his career. Rangers reacted and demanded that the 17,000 pound transfer fee be paid. The matter went to the highest body in football and AustralIa were threatened with a total ban from FIFA if they did not clear up the matter at once. Stevenson returned to Britain where he was signed and had a long career with LIverpool FC. That was the beginning of the end for Australian clubs signing international class players from Europe without fees being paid. A great trip down memory lane. Cheers jb.
jbinnie
Guest
AMD -One thing that should be clear on your mind, the owners of Brisbane Roar have no more than a passing interest in the club, Lions FC, still based at the former freehold asset that was owned by that club in it's halycon days. That major asset has now been totally taken over by the social club The Lion, which now dominates the site. How did that happen? That's another chapter for the continuing story. Cheers jb.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Hi BT, I'll probably touch on the NSL and how it evolved in part two. As for the NSD, we don't know what it's going to look like, whom it's going to comprise or what its relationship with the A-League will be. There not that much to comment on yet. I watch La Liga, the A-League* and go to a few games at Perry Park and Richlands here in Brisbane. I don't know how much, but I'd watch at least some of the NSD. * Have Foxtel, haven't subscribed to PP yet given all the scheduling drama.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Yes, I was there for that one too the old SFS. Great memories.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The lesson to be learnt from 60's,70;s pre NSL that the two big comps Sydney and Melbourne , they imported bigger name players there because they didnt have to pay the travel costs of the NSL. An ethnic comp at state level makes more sense you can have 10 different ethnicities represented. When you get to national level you cant have 10 different ethnic clubs for every city. The NSL was introduced too early should have been delayed till the 90's, and then with non ethnic teams. Prague was well before my time, so what happened to their supporters. I cant figure out where you expect the second division to get any supporters. If people cant watch the A-league over euro football there will be next to no one watching the second division and you seem to be part of that group. The push for the second division seems to be about people looking at the so called value of the APL and A-league licenses like a bitcoin and replicating it.
Redcap
Roar Guru
I can't think of any more of the Austrian contingent from Prague FC. Les Scheinflug was also there around that time I think. I love the story about Warren from the 1974 grand final between St George and Hakoah. He scored a brilliant long-range goal to seal the win, ran straight off the pitch and substituted himself (he was captain-coach), went straight into the dressing room and decided to retire before the match had even finished. Decisive!
Pro Rel NSD
Guest
What about fixing the footbal rather than trying to fix everyone :silly: ?
Pro Rel NSD
Guest
Definetelty watch A League. But it's a hard slog to watch in the hotter months. I would rather watch NSD teams run in the colder months as they can run out a full 90 minutes.