In December 1969 Australia played Israel over two legs for a place at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Despite losing the first leg 0-1 in Tel Aviv, Johnny Warren’s Australia were confident of progressing though the return leg at the old Sydney Sports Ground ten days later.
They didn’t progress of course. Australia’s early attacking flurries failed to yield a goal, and Israel gained a foothold in the game. With just over ten minutes to go, Israel captain Mordechai Spiegler put the visitors in front and, while John Watkiss grabbed a late equaliser, Australia’s hopes were dashed.
I recently marked the 20-year anniversary of Warren’s biography by looking at the wild fluctuations in Australia’s football history and how some of this history is manifesting in the present.
Today I look at the genesis of the modern game, born of the fading post-war boom and the chimera that was the 1974 Socceroos.
Warren and his Socceroos colleagues were understandably bereft and exhausted after their failure to qualify for Mexico 1970. They’d given up four months of their lives on an odyssey through Asia, Africa and the Middle East, sacrificing income and relationships in pursuit of a dream.
The reward for their sacrifice was a cheque for $13.27 each from the Australian Soccer Federation (ASF).
Warren, as captain, took the insult harder than most, and it seemed to be the catalyst for much of his work to raise the profile of football and the material rewards for professional players in the following decades.
Four years later the Socceroos seriously considered abandoning their playoff against South Korea and forfeiting a place at the 1974 World Cup unless the ASF agreed to adequately compensate the players for their efforts.
The Socceroos who qualified for the 1974 World Cup received a fairer financial settlement – a sum roughly equivalent to an Australian footballer’s annual salary at the time – and won new admirers at the World Cup in Germany, but football’s post-war momentum in Australia was fizzling out.
(Photo by Heinrich Sanden/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Public interest in the state leagues was in decline. The best Australian players were diffused between these leagues and not many were consistently competing against each other. The pay was meagre and opportunities to play abroad, make good money and improve the prospects of the national team were virtually non-existent.
As then Hakoah owner Frank Lowy put it, “Our support is literally dying out. We have more supporters in Rookwood Cemetery than we do at the games”.
The obvious answer was a national league concentrating the best talent in the same competition and raising the profile of football compared to the rugby codes and Australian rules, which, while not national competitions, were organised across state borders.
When Lowy and Alex Pongrass were establishing the National Soccer League between 1975 and 1977, Warren was on a personal odyssey, coaching young players across Australia and in the Pacific.
He was tempted back to take charge of Canberra City in 1977, the NSL’s inaugural season. Canberra enjoyed limited success in their brief existence. Like most clubs, except the bigger Sydney teams like Marconi and Sydney City (Hakoah), money, or a distinct lack of it, was the biggest challenge.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The biggest chunk of Canberra’s budget in its first three seasons was a sponsorship contribution of $10,000 per annum. They worked wonders on a shoestring, recruiting future Socceroos like Tony Henderson, Harry Williams, Jimmy Cant and Frank Farina and quality players from the UK like Ian Callaghan and Peter Marinello.
Financial instability saw five of the 14 inaugural NSL clubs – Canberra, Brisbane City, Brisbane Lions (forerunner to Brisbane Roar), Heidelberg, Sydney City and West Adelaide – gone within a decade. Footscray didn’t last much longer.
Heidelberg and West Adelaide were briefly reborn as NSL clubs in the 1990s but were just part of an extraordinarily turbulent decade, with clubs appearing, reappearing and departing at a dizzying rate. Only one of the 42 clubs to play in the NSL – Marconi – lasted the distance.
But for all the turbulence, something good must have been happening. The 1980s and early 90s produced many of Australia’s finest players and the national teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
With the benefit of hindsight, the problems with the NSL seem obvious. The big vision was a national league – or at least a league that covered the combined territory of rugby and Australian rules – but it took 20 years to get there.
There wasn’t a team in Perth until 1996. There was a period of three years when Brisbane was without an NSL club. Numerous poorly financed and run clubs from New South Wales and Victoria had short-lived cracks at the big time.
(Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
True to form, the Victorians were suspicious of the NSL from the start on the grounds that it was Sydney-centric. That’s code for it wasn’t Victoria’s idea and they weren’t in charge of it. In other words, stability and incremental growth were subordinate to the quest to go national.
Would it have been better to integrate the state leagues and build social and financial capital gradually through pan-continental knockout or Champions League-style tournaments? The cream would have risen to the top, and the available money and the best talent probably would have followed.
Today’s European football hierarchy, reflected in the Champions League and the currently dormant European Super League, didn’t happen overnight. Some of the protagonists are propped up by petrodollars, but most of them are products of population and organic prestige.
Is it possible some of this history has provided a salutary lesson to those at Football Australia planning the implementation of a national second division? Or is it a case of parsimony and not really wanting to stir up the hornets nest that the A-League was supposed to neutralise?
Warren seemed reluctant to comment on the NSL in his early-2000s biography. One thing he seemed sure of was the potential of women’s football, and how right he was.
Warren was broadly of the view that the NSL’s original vision and momentum stagnated as administrators were preoccupied with the league’s instability and limited themselves to tinkering with the existing format.
With the NSL often in disorder and with the Socceroos rarely playing competitive games against high-profile teams at home, attention turned to sugar hits: high-profile guest players and friendlies against high-profile teams. Warren himself was integral to bringing the New York Cosmos to Australia in 1979.
The NSL’s demise was probably inevitable, and the A-League has contributed to a much firmer financial footing for Australian football. But reading back over an old book has made me wonder whether we’ve lost something – a dynamism and creative destruction that could never survive the homogeneity of the mainstream.
The 2000 NSL grand final in Perth – still the second-best game of football I’ve ever seen – pitted Wollongong, with their own complicated NSL history, against the insurgent and extant Perth Glory.
Wollongong should’ve lost in the 90 minutes and should’ve lost the shootout on multiple occasions but simply refused to die. Three years later, the NSL perished with them.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The tradition with ethnic clubs seems to be the first generation follow the ethnic club the kids switch to NRL and AFL. You end up with old men and the son of one of the board is on forums pretending there is still support for them. If the successive generations followed the club then a club like Prague would still be around. Remember when AFL clubs were introducing their own NSL teams, the AFL made sure that stopped. The crowd violence was with teams from the Balkans, and more in the state leagues. I haven't heard of any issues with non Balkan clubs in the old days.
Pro Rel NSD
Guest
Second jb writing down some of this stuff otherwise it gets lost with the sands of time
Redcap
Roar Guru
I've said it before JB, you should write this stuff. The Roar probably wouldn't publish your comment above, but there are ways of creating a narrative without getting into what you like to describe as 'dangerous territory.' Please give it some thought.
jbinnie
Guest
AMD - You have asked for more and the problem is where to start. People in some of the comments have stated Lowy was anti ethnic clubs (him coming from a predominately Jewish club). Others here have said he wanted away from the "ethnic social clubs" and this observation is much nearer the truth for there is little doubt that the pre-NSL game was dominated by clubs that had successful social clubs, especially in NSW where poker machines were legal long before any other state in Oz. It was this money ,and it's availability to some clubs, that actually started the cracks to appear in the NSL even after it had only been running for a few years with teams like Hakoah ,St George and Marconi making huge impacts in the comp. Thus a Victoria/ NSW "feud" began to impact on the game and once again money was at the root of the problem. This feud came to a head when Sir Arthur George (a Greek despite the English name) announced he would be standing down from his long term tenure as Chairman of the the ASF. It was now that the Victorian and NSW politicians entered the fray with Greek (Victoria) and Italian (NSW)identities maneuvering to see who would become heir to the supremo position in Australian football. Frank Lowy entered the fray but was soundly thrashed at the AGM voting and walked away from the game for 20 years. The two 'battlers" could not be satisfied and as usual the ASF made one of their gaffe's, instead of sorting out the problem they had a Queenslander take the job under one condition, he would only hold the job for one year. I was at that meeting in Sydney and if ever there was vote rigging went on it was at that meeting. Some years later I was given an official annual report book on the Hakoah Social Club where it was mentioned the new president of the club asked what the $300,000 that had gone to the soccer team the year before had been used for. He got no reply but some months later the Hakoah team was withdrawn from the NSL mid season. As a comparison the budgeted figure for running the football section at Brisbane Lions was $56,000 for the year. This is only a minor expose of the things that went on and hope it will whet your desire for more. Cheers jb.
Redcap
Roar Guru
I thought that bit might get the Victorians going. :happy: I'm from Queensland by the way. I currently live in Brisbane, as I mentioned in part one. I think Lowy was partly right. In terms of broader public appeal, he certainly had a point. In terms of the game's history and future prospects, I think he was wrong about the value of the clubs formed by migrants. You're right that Adelaide clubs were much more stable than those from elsewhere. City nearly made all the way through the NSL. The Sydney/NSW clubs were pretty strong until the end - Olympic and Wollongong won 3 of the last five NSL titles. Even Parramatta perked up a bit toward the end.
Typical Sydneycentric tripe
Guest
"That's code for Victoria didn't invent it...." Pretty typical Sydney thinking and why we think what we do about you lot. If you actually read Frank Lowy's book, he talks about the creation of the NSL and how it was a mistake to go with the ethnic social clubs and it was noticeable very early in the NSL, and that was before he got involved again in the post soccer collapse days in 2003. He explained it too, he said that tv companies and advertisers could not get on board such a small cult following of teams. In the end of the NSL, it was only the Victorian and Perth clubs that made a fist of the old league. Where were the Sydney and NSW clubs? Either going bust or only staying in the competition to use poker machines. Adelaide did alright too, but NSW and QLD clubs were bloody shite.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Glad I'm keeping you on your toes, JB :happy: I am familiar with some of Wilson's work, and I know of that book, but haven't got around to reading it. I'm a little more interested in the socio-cultural/political history of the game, which is why I love Spanish football and writers like Phil Ball. I tend to disagree with your assessment of Barça's current status. They can't flash money around because they don't have any at the moment. The club's actually mostly promoting from within - Nico, Gavi, Ferran Jutglá, Ezi Abde, Mingueza. The guy who looks like being their best player for the foreseeable - Pedro González - was signed for very little from Las Palmas.
jbinnie
Guest
Mis -This latest offering is a bit disheartening for anyone who is interested. You are right in your assertions of the mistakes made by football admins over the years but it is in the apparent acceptance by someone like you as to whether it can be fixed that is causing the bile to rise. As I've said before we can but hope. jb
jbinnie
Guest
AMD =It appears you have a penchant for getting into situations that require investigation if the truth has to be uncovered!!!! Take Barcelona. Over the last 10/15 years they have gone through more coaches than players and luckily for the fans of Barca those players were good enough to keep the team at the top of the heap but now with the passing of time those same players are moving on and the now management don't appear tp know how to replace them except by flashing money as a lure. That method, as having been proved a hundred times in football, does not work, look up Sunderland back in the 1950s when they attempted to buy a team of international players from all around the country and finished up fighting relegation at the end of the season. Real are a different kettle of fish. They won 5 European Cups 1955/60 and bui;t the reputation as a "super team" That too was not to last and after another European Cup they faded somewhat then tried the "money lure" trick which as you know took some big names to the club but at what cost .? We'll never know. Italy was slightly different they hired a South American coach/cum psychologist who introduce a style of play into the country that almost sent the Serie A broke, with fans, seeking entertainment, staying away in their thousands. Johnny Warren never played with high league teams in Europe so if you don't mind a suggestion, a book, Inverting the Pyramid, written by an investigative journalist called Jonathon Wilson, is an excellent place to start your task in following the football nuances, not only in Australia, but in the worldwide game. Hope you find this helpful, Cheers jb.
Redcap
Roar Guru
I'd love to hear more, JB.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Afternoon BT, The Cosmos story is crazy - there's a great chapter about it in Warren's book. I still don't see why the so-called ethnic clubs were seen as problems, aside from the occasional bouts of crowd trouble which were always sensationalised by media. They weren't closed societies, they merely tried to carry on a tradition that had started in Europe. All were welcome. In multicultural, 21st century Australia, it makes little sense to not celebrate the game's tradition, including its European roots - that's as Aussie as it gets. The game's still riding demographic change and probably - and hopefully - always will.
Redcap
Roar Guru
Thanks Midfielder, We're far from alone there. It's not like league or cricket have always been run well. The story of rugby league in France makes football in Australia look like a picnic. Union's been a bit of a basket case for a while now - I'd argue it always has been. Looking abroad, Spain and Italy lurched from disaster to disaster until fairly recently. Real Madrid and Barça remain in precarious financial positions. It's only a matter of time until the super league gets off the ground. Major League Baseball - a multi-billion dollar industry - is effectively in stasis because the players and management can't agree a new CBA. A player strike is still a possibility. It'd be unusual if a sport like football - the fortunes of which have always been linked to social change, migration especially - was not dysfunctional. I think we should be aiming as high as possible and embracing the history of the game.
chris
Guest
Brains I was at the Cosmos game as a kid. It was crazy. People jammed in like sardines. A team with Beckenbauer, Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto. There were people lined around the sidelines 6-7 deep. Imagine that today lol
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
AMD, My all time favourite football player was Franz Beckenbauer, (even to this day). His nick name was "the Kaiser". There was no way I was going to miss out, on not seeing this player play in the flesh. You know something, I can't even remember the score line of that match. It was such an event that, you had to struggle to stand upright and not being crushed or trampled upon. I can remember however, on that night, because so many patrons who turned up on that night without tickets, or couldn't buy them at the gate, broke through the gates. It has been suggested that the crowd, was estimated to be over 50k+. It was the first time in my life, I did actually feared something bad was going to happen, because of the overcrowding of an inadequate stadium that, lacked proper security, and proper seating for the sheer weight of numbers. Nonetheless, thankfully, the pundits were well behaved, and in a good party mood and nothing bad happened. The NY Cosmos, were full of international super stars, from Italy, Holland, and Germany. So many football tragics I guess, wanted to see their heroes in the flesh.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Great article.... enjoyed the read.... Many mistakes have been made along the way by Football admins in Australia.... for over 70 years... tis near impossible to fix in the short term... whether or not there is the willingness and long term support to fix is questionable .... Just maybe its time to reset the expectations
Redcap
Roar Guru
Thanks Para+, I really enjoyed reading the book again - it's been 20 years since I first read it and given how much has changed since then it was like reading it anew. I only covered what Warren wrote about in his book and, as you and JB have said, there's so much more that could be written about. I do hope you both consider writing some follow-up pieces about what I've missed or simply glossed over. The NY Cosmos affair is one of the more entertaining passages of the book - the financial demands, tens of thousands of people forcing their way through the gates of the showground, people who actually purchased tickets being locked out and eventually having to be refunded, the organisers getting into trouble with the ATO about the payments made to Cosmos players. What a debacle!
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
AMD, Congratulations, on a brief shorten, retrospective of Australian Football’s history. I told you that, I was looking forward to your part 2 edition and you haven’t disappointed. I can tell you that, I go back to the days of Johnny Warren’s junior days coming from the same grass roots junior football club in the Canterbury Football Association District---where many other talented Australian football players went on to represent the Socceroos, (unfortunately I was not one on them, but I did enjoy my time playing at the lower levels). That said, Johnny Warren and John Watkiss, came from the Earlwood Wanders junior football club (my junior grassroots club). The Canterbury District Association, in those days, were a real hot bed of potential Socceroos. Brian Smith, Dennis Yagger, George Barboutis and Peter Raskopoulos (in that order over the years) to name some of them. The Israel game, at the SFS stadium (you mention), where a few of my football mates and I, sat behind the goal on the hill. We witnessed that disappointing elimination match at the old SFS. We went there with high expectations. We thought we were going to see the Socceroos go on to Mexico, but as we know the end result, we left heart broken. To touch on another story: the 2 tours of the New York Cosmos (I attended both), which were bizarre to say the least---with the first tour that involved Pele. The teams were stuck in the dressing rooms and the stadium was packed, waiting, waiting, and waiting for the start of the match. Only to find out later the NY Cosmos, were not going to take the field, until they were paid up front with US dollars---such was the State of the financial affairs of the ASF in those days. Oh, the memories! Anyways, thanks again, AMD, for your time and good articles. We could go on for another 12 episodes, as JB, points out---there is so much to talk about in those early days of Australian Football history.
Redcap
Roar Guru
My pleasure Chris, glad you enjoyed it.
chris
Guest
Thanks for the article AMD. Bought back lots of memories of going to those games with my dad. Seems like a life time ago. Tonight will be a nervous encounter. Lets hope the Melbourne crowd come out in force and lift the boys to 3 points.
jbinnie
Guest
AMD - while I am sure Waz could fill you in with more details there is a political agenda behind what happened to Brisbane Lions ,at the time of the NSL ,maneuverings that saw the club descend from being the wealthiest football club in Australia to the "throwaways" out of the league after finishing last in the comp. Imagine ,they had a constant flow of income from their bingo sessions held in their own property in nearby Inala, they owned their own ground freehold, had finished 6th in the NSL in 1980, also winning the Philips Cup in Canberra beating West Adelaide in the final. What also wasn't recognised was that at that time they had a reserve team ,made up of all amateur players, who finished second in the local league. All players in that team were under 18. What wasn't widely recognised is that the first team always fielded at least 3 local players in their run on teams and the "bench" usually consisted of more locals. One of those players J Ogden is still working at the club coaching youngsters. What happened.? I'll leave that to Waz but I can assure you it was more political than football. Cheers jb.