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A History of Football in Australia: A Game of Two Halves
A History of Football in Australia, written by Roy Hay and Bill Murray, is the fascinating story of the fastest growing sport in Australia and the ties it has to our culture and identity. In coming years football will continue to excite sports fans throughout Australia. The Socceroos will contest the world’s leading nations on the international stage. The Asian Football Confederation Cup of Nations will be held in Australia in 2015. The Matildas will defend their Asian championship crown in 2014 and aim to qualify for the World Cup in Canada in 2015. Men and women can also look forward to another trip to Brazil in 2016 for the football competition at the Olympic Games. The beautiful game has grown in popularity and participation since the creation of the A-League in 2005, success in the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and entry into the Asian Confederation in that year.
Football has shown that it can bring the entire nation together in international competition. Football has a long and fascinating history in Australia stretching back to the mid-19th century. It is a rich history, closely related to one of the main themes in this country’s development: immigration and the problems of integration of successive generations into a rapidly evolving national identity. A History of Football in Australia tells the story of the game in a lively and provocative account.
Roy Hay and Bill Murray are respected academics, historians and lovers of the game they have followed throughout their lives.
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
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15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 27, 2017
My Rating: 7 out of 10
Who’s it for?
Football fans who are interested in where it all started in Australia, and how today’s football ecosystem has developed over the years. It’s for the person who wants to go in depth and loves the detail, and definitely not for the casual fan wanting a light read.
My Review:
The time and effort that has gone in to putting A History of Australian Football together must have been staggering. It truly should sit on the bookshelf of any fan of the game in this country. Bill Murray and Roy Hay dive into the depths of Australian Football, from the beginnings in the late 1800s through to 2014 and examine the politics, rivalries, people, clubs, challenges and successes that are the history of our game.
You're left with a sense that being a football fan in this country has never been easy. The in-fighting and cross-code bitterness existed 100 years ago and unfortunately is still more than a little present today.
I have to be honest and say, while I respect and am grateful to the authors for the effort they've put in to researching and writing this book, it wasn't an easy read. I struggled to get through the book at times. There is just so much information. This probably says more about me and my inability to focus - but if you're not a big reader (especially of non-fiction), I expect you'll struggle to read this book too.
Some interesting tidbits
• The Australian national team played in green and gold for the first time and with numbered jerseys in 1924 against Canada in a five game series, which ended with honors even (two wins each and one draw). The two nations decided to play a decider, which Australia won.
• Australia was suspended from FIFA membership from 1960 to 1963, as a result of Australian clubs refusing to pay compensation for international players who came to play in Australia.
• In 1962 the Australia Cup was instituted as the first ever national club knockout competition.
• In 1963 a delegation from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) visited Australia with an informal invitation to join them, but they were not welcomed.
• The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) ran a viewer competition to find a nickname for the women’s national team after they qualified for the Women’s World Cup in Sweden. On 7 May 2995 SBS announced that ‘Matildas’ was the winner.
• Australia and New Zealand competed together under the name Australasia at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics.
• Jimmy Fraser had to pull out of the 1974 World Cup because he couldn't abandon his security dog business.
• Prior to the nickname of the ‘Socceroos’, our national Men’s team was briefly named the Emu’s – a name that didn’t quite catch on with the public.
• A quote we liked: “...you cannot understand the history of Australia without coming to terms with the place of its sports in that story, and the undervalued contribution of football."
Who’s it for?
Football fans who are interested in where it all started in Australia, and how today’s football ecosystem has developed over the years. It’s for the person who wants to go in depth and loves the detail, and definitely not for the casual fan wanting a light read.
My Review:
The time and effort that has gone in to putting A History of Australian Football together must have been staggering. It truly should sit on the bookshelf of any fan of the game in this country. Bill Murray and Roy Hay dive into the depths of Australian Football, from the beginnings in the late 1800s through to 2014 and examine the politics, rivalries, people, clubs, challenges and successes that are the history of our game.
You're left with a sense that being a football fan in this country has never been easy. The in-fighting and cross-code bitterness existed 100 years ago and unfortunately is still more than a little present today.
I have to be honest and say, while I respect and am grateful to the authors for the effort they've put in to researching and writing this book, it wasn't an easy read. I struggled to get through the book at times. There is just so much information. This probably says more about me and my inability to focus - but if you're not a big reader (especially of non-fiction), I expect you'll struggle to read this book too.
Some interesting tidbits
• The Australian national team played in green and gold for the first time and with numbered jerseys in 1924 against Canada in a five game series, which ended with honors even (two wins each and one draw). The two nations decided to play a decider, which Australia won.
• Australia was suspended from FIFA membership from 1960 to 1963, as a result of Australian clubs refusing to pay compensation for international players who came to play in Australia.
• In 1962 the Australia Cup was instituted as the first ever national club knockout competition.
• In 1963 a delegation from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) visited Australia with an informal invitation to join them, but they were not welcomed.
• The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) ran a viewer competition to find a nickname for the women’s national team after they qualified for the Women’s World Cup in Sweden. On 7 May 2995 SBS announced that ‘Matildas’ was the winner.
• Australia and New Zealand competed together under the name Australasia at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics.
• Jimmy Fraser had to pull out of the 1974 World Cup because he couldn't abandon his security dog business.
• Prior to the nickname of the ‘Socceroos’, our national Men’s team was briefly named the Emu’s – a name that didn’t quite catch on with the public.
• A quote we liked: “...you cannot understand the history of Australia without coming to terms with the place of its sports in that story, and the undervalued contribution of football."
July 15, 2016
The gap in general Australian football/soccer histories has been well filled with Hay & Murray's 'History...', though stylistically and editorially it does need some work. Where the authors have excelled is bringing into focus the pre-1960s era, with specific reference firstly to the formation and early era of football, pre -World War One, then the early post-WWII era when non-Anglo immigration and the first stirrings of the national team competing on a major international stage (i.e. the 1956 Melbourne Olympics) happened. There are plenty of great images, some good scholarship about the politics of the sport in Australia as well as the media's attitude. Hay and Murray give a solid and entertaining summary of the first blossoming of Australian football during the Johnny Warren era and the NSL.
However there are problems with the book. Minor editorial issues regarding locations, spelling etc hurt the book. There is also some degree of repetition and padding, which makes one think they could've either cut down the volume or done more with additional material. The Lowy era, which is that we live in now and has effectively transformed the sport in Australia since 2004 is not viewed as critically as it should be. The women's game is given a coda chapter at the end, and unfortunately the timing of the book's release meant it missed both the success of the Wanderers in the ACL 2014 and the Socceroos at the 2015 AFC Cup.
I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to get a better handle on football in Australia, but for more specific interests (e.g. the careers of individual players) there may be other, better sources out there.
However there are problems with the book. Minor editorial issues regarding locations, spelling etc hurt the book. There is also some degree of repetition and padding, which makes one think they could've either cut down the volume or done more with additional material. The Lowy era, which is that we live in now and has effectively transformed the sport in Australia since 2004 is not viewed as critically as it should be. The women's game is given a coda chapter at the end, and unfortunately the timing of the book's release meant it missed both the success of the Wanderers in the ACL 2014 and the Socceroos at the 2015 AFC Cup.
I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to get a better handle on football in Australia, but for more specific interests (e.g. the careers of individual players) there may be other, better sources out there.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews