Rampaging Roy Krishna returns to Australia this week, leading his Indian Super League team into battle against Central Coast.
The famous Fijian international will be hoping Odisha FC have enough strike power to defeat the Mariners. Each team will compete this Thursday night, in an AFC Cup showdown.
Yet, this is not the first time Indian football has graced our sunny shores. Rewind the clocks back, folks, more than eighty years ago.
Long before the inter-zonal semi-final, an Indian national team arrived Down Under in 1938 to play sixteen games of football, including five test matches against Australia.
In the book, Chronicles of Soccer in Australia, Peter Kunz writes how the men initially sailed here by boat, departing Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Arriving in Fremantle, they traveled from the west coast, eventually utilising the Trans-Australia Railway, which boasted the longest strait stretch of track in the world.
Indian football fans at the AFC Asian Cup. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
Mostly partaking in exhibition matches, the sporting stars visited every state in Australia except Tasmania.
It’s important to note, many brave players also participated in bare feet. Instead of wearing traditional leather boots, they wrapped fabric bandages around their tender toes.
The theory was this gave them superior ball control, allowing players to manipulate the ball with their talented foot digits, including pulling it backwards.
The tour happened in winter, with Indian manager Mr Patrika Gupta applauding the fine conditions. “The Indian sunshine bites,” he said. “But the Australian sunshine kisses.”
When playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, however, the hardened pitch lead to surface issues, resulting in cut feet. Victoria was certainly very different to the lush fields of mother India.
Heading to regional Woonona, north of Wollongong, the Indian’s beat the local lads, attracting around 3,000 curious fans.
Before the match, the overseas team was given the privilege of reopening Ball’s Paddock, after ground improvements were completed.
Roy Krishna during his time with Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The match began promptly at 4pm, with the Indians wearing red, and South Coast donning blue and white colours.
Acting as a makeshift grandstand, the Royal Hotel backed onto the pitch, delighting patrons with amber ale, as they happily drank on the elevated verandah.
After the final whistle, the visitors traveled to the Masonic Hall at Bulli, celebrating their 6-4 win. The men were guests of honour at a lavish dinner, whereby the tourists were praised for their stoic attitude.
The website Trove states the Indian coach experienced “unfailing courtesy in Australia, which was very encouraging to persons from a faraway country.” Such was the power of sport, connecting the two cultures.
Fast-forward forty-five years, and the Royal Hotel (formerly Hoopers) was sadly demolished back in 1983. Today, there’s a few black and white photos floating around Facebook, under the Lost Wollongong page.
And as for Woonona FC, they’re currently nicknamed the Sharks, celebrating 135 of Australian football, established way back in 1889.
Brendan
Roar Pro
“Although India failed to win, they gave Australia an object lesson in the finer points of the game.” - Trove My favourite quote. Passively spicy! Dear Ange is ageless. Some even say he invented the game. :happy:
Redcap
Roar Guru
Yeah, very contrasting styles and weaknesses. Much as that old article suggests, Australia struggled with the pace and movement along the ground, relying heavily on the goalkeeper in Brisbane especially. Good crowd too. Maybe Ange-ball was copied from the Indian version of tiki-taka about 70 years earlier - I always said Ange was an overrated plagiarist. :happy:
Brendan
Roar Pro
Cheers, Connor. I’m a fan of history, especially football.
Connor Bunnell
Roar Rookie
Great piece! Always interesting to learn these chapters of ancient sports lore, especially when they parallel current events in some way
Brendan
Roar Pro
That’s their secret recipe, which only Colonel Sanders knows.
Brendan
Roar Pro
Cheers, Redcap. A 16k crowd in Brisbane are impressive numbers. They remind me of Roarcelona figures. Trove is a great website. Similarly, I read the visiting team was skilled, but were overwhelmed by long-balls being lobbed into the air.
Garry
Roar Rookie
what about KFC ? :stoked: all those herbs and spices!!
Brendan
Roar Pro
Cheers, Grem. I’m hoping the local council get behind the match tonight, making it an event. I acknowledge WSW are still our most successful team in Asia, but it’s been a long time between drinks. Masterfoods could make a lot of money tonight, that’s for sure. It’s an opportunity for cross-promotion, with a large audience overseas eagerly watching.
Redcap
Roar Guru
It sounds like it was quite the test series too. Australia won 3-1 but had a very hard time of it, including what sounds like a rollicking 4-4 draw in Brisbane which the local press appreciated, "they treated the crowd of 16,000 to a display of speedy soccer such as is rarely seen in Brisbane. Playing with machine-like precision, they seldom lifted the ball from the ground" https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/98003718/10213683
Grem
Roar Rookie
Lovely story Brendan. Travelling here for 5 test matches – shows how the football calendar would have been leaner in those days. It would be good if the Socceroos and Matildas could play a few test matches at home over summer or winter, but there’s no chance these days. The bare feet makes sense for control, but not injury. I still do some running and I usually do a Zola Bud and run in bare feet. I also prefer to drive my car with bare feet. I feel more in control. I am also really hoping our mighty Mariners can take another step forward in the Cup – how good for the coast to win an international competition. Does Masterfoods have some hot and spicy sauces for the influx of new Indian customers?