Roar Guru
Joined December 2009
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Those bastions of Warner Brothers cartoons, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd engage in a famous skit whereby Daffy and Bugs try to…
On a spring Friday evening in Gosford in 2018, more than 10,000 fans flocked to Central Coast Stadium to watch a pre-season game. This…
Chances are, if you drop the name Edson Arantes Do Nascimento into a conversation, the football followers in the group would nod and smile.…
There's a scene in Terminator 2: Judgement Day where the teenage John Connor asks Arnold Schwarzenegger's character if there's any hope for the human…
Since the start of the A-League in 2005, it's quite possible Monday's announcement that the Grand Finals - the showpiece event of both the…
In 1997, the band Everclear released 'So Much For the Afterglow', a particularly poignant tune in light of a fateful Socceroos night at the…
There was a time, not so many years ago, before the "C" word sent the world in general and sport in particular into hibernation,…
The word 'fan' derives from the longer form 'fanatic' and being a Socceroos fan is an exercise in fanaticism.
It was as predictable as the Sydney rain - less than 24 hours after Australia's 0-2 defeat to Japan, the rumours were gathering force…
In high school in the late 1970s, our English teacher set an assignment for us.
It was only supposed to be for a few months. Besart Berisha was plucked from relative European obscurity by then-Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou…
On a black-and-white portable TV, with a screen size about one-fifth of today's flat-screen, pristine, HD gems, the old rabbit-ears aerial pointed strategically towards…
Since his passing two days ago, there has been significant reflection on the contribution Frank Arok made to Australian football. My previous article contained…
Former Socceroos coach Ferenc 'Frank' Arok has passed away at the age of 88. He was one of the most influential football figures in…
There are many sportsmen and women who can lay claim to being the greatest at what they do. They can be called champions. They…
The National Rugby League are planning to restart the competition on May 28, despite the probability that most of the population will still be…
A flick through Fox's various sports channels revealed the way in which the pay TV provider was filling the massive gaps left by the…
The 1970s had turned this gangly kid into a football tragic, complete with the requisite muddy role-playing of rain-soaked English games in a northern…
It was a May night in 1972 when my mother and grandmother made a decision that would change my life. They woke me up…
One heel click of the red-and-black shoes and the Western Sydney Wanderers were back where they belong. Not in Kansas, but Parramatta, to the…
John, great to hear from you. Frank was a fantastic motivator and those cage sessions and the goalkeeping sessions with Fred Wall were as physical and as intense as any training I’ve done. YOU were a big part of that – training with you was another level, so all these years later, thank you for that.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
I’m not sure they were a “dominant force” but of course, the All Whites made the World Cup finals in 1982 at the expense of Australia, and they did beat the Socceroos twice in 1983.
Club Australia: Frank Arok's Socceroos of the '80s
JB, Yes, it was 1989 and that crucial game against Israel, which drew a record crowd to the Sydney Football Stadium (a record which was never bettered, no matter how the NRL try to spin it). I remember that players like Krncevic and Yankos had come back from Europe for the game, and were clearly not in tune with the match. It was an era where “some” players had gone to Europe but the squad was still largely home-based, which as you point out, did not gel with Frank’s Club Australia concept. Ironically, had ALL the players been based in Europe, as they were more than a decade later, the Club Australia would still have worked just as well.
Club Australia: Frank Arok's Socceroos of the '80s
Thanks Middy. They have sad lives when they must troll other sports. Best ignored.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
Tigertown, thank you very much for that. Frank, as you can gather, was a big part of my footballing career, along with many hundreds of players who were touched by his genius.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
Tigertown, The book’s proper title is Frank Arok; My Beloved Socceroos, and is written by Robert Lusetich.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
JB
Having now read the Appendix, the suggestions Frank made about the NSL are eye-opening:
– All NSL clubs should be franchised or licensed, thus providing financial stability
– The league must be stable, so there should not be any direct relegation or promotion
– The NSL should try to go professional in the next four years (including a set number of professional players at each club, say six within two years
-An apprenticeship scheme should be implemented at every club
– There should be no more than two foreign players in one club and they should be of first class pedigree
And this was written in 1990.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
jbinnie
I have the book next to me right now and will re-read that Appendix with a lot of interest.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
Loren
What fabulous memories of Frank. Thank you for sharing them. He was an iconoclast, the Frank Sinatra song “My Way” might well have been about him.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
Thanks Daniel, a great man I will never forget.
Vale Frank Arok: A man ahead of his time
George Best was an absolute genius, no doubt about it. That he never got to perform at a World Cup finals is a complete shame.
Diego: A genius unbound
Ren
The two I was thinking of were Muhummad Ali and Pele, as Midfielder espoused in a comment below.
Diego: A genius unbound
I think making comparisons is unhelpful. The NSL was the highest level a player could attain in this country while it existed. It was not fully professional (no sport was until the late 90s), and to play in it, you had to make a lot of sacrifices. Training 3-4 times a week after already working a full-time job, having to arrange for time off if there was a midweek game to play, very often sorting out your own medical needs given that even a full-time physio was a luxury at some clubs…And yet the league produced some outstanding talent, without the advances in professionalism that a modern A League club provides. What it also had was a proper Youth League, not the farce of today. It existed in its own time and space and I think should be appreciated for pioneering the concept of national club competition. I am a rusted-on A League fan and have a team to follow, not something I had in the NSL. But I played in the NSL, with and against some of the finest players and greatest blokes I’ve rubbed shoulders with. It was a wonderful experience and honour. I think that, understandably, some of the great players of that era felt disrespected by the way their achievements were dismissed as “old soccer” in the early years of the A League. It was a slap in the face that NSL records were not even included in official statistics for at least the first half decade of the A League. That would be like saying Liverpool have never been English champions because they’ve yet to with the Premier League.
NSL dinosaurs need to ease off the contemporary Australian footballer
I wouldn’t necessarily agree that WC qualification is now a “walk in the park” compared to past campaigns. From 1985-2005, Socceroos qualification was ultimately dependent on one home-and-away play-off match. The opponent for that one match was a South American nation 4 times (including 1989 when the Socceroos didn’t make it to the final stage), a European nation once and an Asian nation once. Yes, that one tie was tough, but everything leading up to that was far less so, with only New Zealand and Israel providing a stern test from time to time. Qualifying through Asia is absolutely fairer but easier? I’m not so sure.
NSL dinosaurs need to ease off the contemporary Australian footballer
A really in-depth analysis which would have taken a helluva long time to compile. Great stuff.
However, I think the reasons that the league shifted to summer in 1990 still hold true today. Ground availability is one thing.Ensuring a quality surface is another, which would be extremely difficult if sharing a ground with rugby. There is also the issue of the already-crowded winter sports calendar, which would further limit the A League’s already minimal press coverage.
The A-League stadium situation: Part 2
Which only proves you missed the point.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Beni, that’s a pretty ridiculous comment.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Forty Twenty
fair point, and it’s not like I DON’T want to see the NRL start, or all the other sports. But I don’t want to see sport operating in a bubble when the rest of society is still under restrictions. That’s the point I’m trying to make. I appreciate there is a financial aspect to this, and I don’t begrudge the NRL for trying to get back to playing. However, most health authority and medical experts are advocating the continuation of the current conditions for longer than June.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
That isn’t scaremongering, it’s a real situation. If you can’t see the connection between that and watching NRL players smash into and lay all over each other, then with respect, you haven’t been watching the news.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Max Power
Atmosphere, pure and simple. It’s soulless.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Duncan
Cafe owners might not necessarily agree with you. As for “normal” circumstances, I get the point, but playing games in empty stadiums is not something that I personally will watch. I know many people will have a different viewpoint, but I’d rather games not go ahead until spectators can safely attend in some capacity at least. That was what the heading of the article was alluding to.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Greg, thanks for a really detailed response to the article. I’d have been shocked if everyone did agree with it!
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
Forrty Twenty, I must admit, I don’t understand what your comment is trying to convey. Why would my “instincts” be any different in June? That comment is based on the fact that people are being asked to stay home and avoid social contact for safety reasons. Yet NRL players will be required to do exactly the opposite if the competition resumes. If we are all still required to be doing this in June, my “instincts” will be the same. If by June, many of those restrictions have been lifted (and unfortunately, the prevailing wisdom of medical professionals suggests that it won’t be that early), then the idea of watching a collision sport might be more palatable.
A message to the big leagues: Don't play until we all can
AndyAdelaide, That is the most delusional analysis of the game I’ve read. But congrats on the victory!
VAR blunders produce yet another A-League comedy act