The Socceroo Story

Recently when a famous Brazilian soccer player was asked his thoughts about the Socceroos the reply came , Socceroo who ?

Well the Socceroo's is the nickname given to the current Australia soccer team . For the benefit of many people never realised Australia play soccer I thought I would write a brief article about soccer down under .

I'd like to begin the socceroo story by saying that the round ball game is gaining better crowd support than ever before and currently there are more young people registered to play the game than any other football code in the country . In Australia there are four codes of football .
Rugby Union, Rugby League , Australian Rules and Soccer .
For many years soccer was regarded as a sissy game and that had kept many interested players away . The main focus was set on the other three codes . Showing your macho image was the Aussie thing to do . Proving you were tough and as hard as nails often meant playing rugby . It involved smashing heads together , throwing people to the ground and breaking a few bones .If you even thought about wearing shin pads you would have been laughed at and set upon by your team mates . With this kind of attitude soccer had to fight very hard to make it .

This year Australia has qualified for the world cup finals in Germany and more than ever before the beautiful world game has propelled itself in a big way into the heart of Australia .

Every weekend, on fields of green around the country, there are very gifted players playing at semi-professional level . There are more youngsters today looking at making their career in the game . These days the dream of becoming a famous soccer player has become a reality for quite a few Australians who have made it on the world stage .
Australian Soccer has grown up .
The asset of having a good coach has been one of the key factors in Australia qualifying . The determination of the current crop of players has played a major role in their first appearance in world cup competition . After missing out
In qualifying for the 2002 finals in Japan , Australia had a score to settle with Uruguay who where the team that eliminated them . In a penalty shootout in Australia the delicate balance of the soccer see saw went Australia's way .

Now they are on their way to Germany in 2006 to play the best international teams in the world . Being so far away from Australia and their home supporters will make the task much harder for them .

But soccer down under has always had that problem . Being so far away from the rest of the soccer playing countries had left Australia lacking the edge that
Constant top level competition brings . Even though some of the Socceroos have made a name for themselves in top flight teams the team itself have not regularly played together which is a big part of finding a winning formulae and building that confidence in a positive way in a team .

During the off season in the UK when football goes into hibernation some English players and coaches visit Australia to check out what's happening on the other side of the world . They even play a few showcase events with local sides and give support and encouragement to young players.
Only years of experience can give you the edge as a player and as a team .
Being successful in the world game is hard and many of the great players have had to be mentally and physically tough .

Many people aren't aware but Australia's fight to survive in soccer has been tough . I'd like to tell you some of that story that has brought soccer to where it is today .

It was away back in 1880 through the efforts of an English school master by the name of Mr J Fletcher that Australia put together it's first soccer team . They were known as The Wanderers .
Mr Fletcher was the secretary of that club and they played their first game in August 14th 1880 on the Parramatta common before a crowd of about one thousand people . The team they played were called The Kings .
The Wanderers hammered them five to nil .

After that some other teams started to form around the country .
In Victoria four teams came together . Carlton , Prahran , Melbourne Rovers and South Melbourne . The Anglo-Australian Association was formed and the English FA helped to get the ball rolling in Australia . Then with a twenty five pound grant from the English FA the ball was kept alive .
In 1902 South Australia had three clubs .
South Adelaide , Woodville and North Adelaide .

Western Australia then put together a state team . They went on a tour and in 1909 they brought to every state in Australia . The tour was successful with one win , one loss and three draws .

Down under interstate soccer had been born .
Queensland was emerging as the strongest team of all the states .

In 1922 an Australian team went over to play an international competition in New Zealand . It was a real eye opened for many people with the Socceroos
winning nine and losing four out of their fourteen games .

In 1923 China visited Australia for a friendly at the Sydney showground before a crowd of 47,000 .

Now with some international level experience under their belt Australia were growing in confidence as a soccer playing nation .

In the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 Australia reached the quarter finals stage before they were eliminated by India four goals to two .
The final of that competition was played between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia .at the Melbourne cricket ground . Yugoslavia lost, one nil .

The Socceroos first major success at international level was in 1967 where they won a six nation competition in Vietnam beating Vietnam , Singapore , Malaysia and New Zealand .

Their biggest defeat was to an English professional eleven in 1950 when they lost seventeen nil . The game was played in Sydney .

One of their biggest wins came in a world cup qualifier in1981 when they beat Fiji ten nil at Olympic Park in Melbourne .

The Socceroos have had an effect already at home and now they are going to try and have a similar effect on the world stage in 2006 .
They have been looked on as the part timers on the world stage .
This current Socceroo squad want to squash all those rumours and settle all ghosts in the change room lockers .
What ever will happen in Germany will be of great benefit for soccer in Australia .

In its own way Australian soccer has made it .
The Socceroos are part of that experience .
I have written a song for the Socceroos and for your appreciation here are the lyrics of that song .

The Soccerroo Effect

Verse
Let me introduce myself to you I'm a lovely little soccerroo .
Scoring goals is where I'm at ' I hope you don't have a problem with that .

Bridge

The Socceroos play to win we'll have a dig and put one in .

Chorus

We'll play ok socceroos one two run through , its in the net , dead set ,
Everyone stand up enjoy that magic moment called the socceroo effect .

Verse

In Germany we've come to play and in the crowd we're proud to say
Are Aussies barracking for the socceroos they'll stand behind us win or loose
Swerving balls like boomerangs round the walls and down the flanks .

As socceroos we'll do our best to compete with the worlds very best .
We'll try to score and even more we'll find wings and over them we will soar .

The Socceroos will give them some until the world cup has been played and won

Words and music by Paul McCann ÓFebuary 2006

THE END

By Paul McCann