1970-74 SOCCEROOS SUCCESS

The Socceroos, Australia’s national team, have demonstrated an ability over the decades to defeat any opposition. Indeed at various times the side has recorded wins over several World Cup winners including Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, England, France and Germany. The problem has been in achieving those results on a consistent basis at the highest level and that is still a work in progress today. It was in the period 1970 to 1974 that the Socceroos took further significant steps towards realizing the potential of Australian soccer. 

Rale Rasic (centre) with Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (L) and ASF President Sir Arthur George 

Rale Rasic was appointed as Socceroos coach in 1970, having first come to attention as coach of Footscray JUST in Melbourne when they became State League champions in 1969 and also as coach of the Victorian state team. He had an imposing resume starting as a player in Yugoslavia, graduating from university as a teacher with majors in biology and physical education and also graduating with honours in coaching. The Socceroos coaching position in this period remained part time and the coach of St George Budapest Frank Arok was sufficiently impressed to recommend Rasic as his successor at the club in 1971. Rasic made an immediate impact at St George, winning a pre-season four team tournament in Japan against leading Danish club Frem (4-1), Japan B (6-2) and the Japan A national team (0-0) who were reigning Olympic bronze medalists. It remains as one of the best Australian club achievements to date and augured well for the Socceroos with Rasic in charge.

Japan 'A' desperately defending against St George Budapest in 1971

Rasic’s work with the Socceroos had begun in earnest in October 1970 with an extensive tour that included matches in New Caledonia, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, Israel, Greece, England, Ireland and Mexico. Some of the established players couldn’t make the trip due to work commitments but it opened the door for new recruits such as Jack Reilly, Dennis Yaager, Michael Denton, Col Curran, Jim McKay and Peter Wilson. It exposed the Socceroos to a wide variety of conditions and opponents, achieving some notable results including victories over Iran 2-1 in Tehran, Israel 1-0 in Tel Aviv and Greece 3-1 in Athens. By the time the Socceroos arrived at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, fatigue had started to set in after being on the road for more than a month and a 3-0 loss against Mexico wasn’t unexpected. Yet the tour had been a success and along the way had exacted some revenge for missing the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, finally defeating nemesis Israel and at last arriving in Mexico, albeit a few months later than desired. It was the start of a four year plan of preparation that was considerably more ambitious than that attempted by previous Australian national teams.

Ray Richards scores the winner for Australia against Israel in Tel Aviv 1970

Australia's captain Johnny Warren (2nd from L) prior to the 3-1 victory over Greece in Athens 1970 

The Australian team that played Mexico at the Azteca Stadium 1970

While one might have queried over the years whether Rasic always picked the most gifted team, he made it clear that the primary aim had been to select strong characters with mental toughness who would never give up and would accept the disciplined regimen. Consistent with that philosophy was the appointment of no-nonsense central defender Peter Wilson as team captain after Johnny Warren suffered a serious knee injury in 1971, putting him out of the game for several months. Englishman Wilson would thereafter remain as captain during Rasic’s tenure.


Peter Wilson (R) captained Australia against Israel in Sydney 1971

In June 1971 two games against a mediocre touring English FA squad resulted in a pair of 1-0 losses. In November 1971 three games against Israel in Australia were a mixed bag, resulting in one win apiece and a draw. It was in June 1972 that signs of real progress started to become apparent when the Socceroos played two matches against visiting English First division side Wolverhampton Wanderers, resulting in a 1-0 win and 2-2 draw. This improvement was confirmed a few days later when the Socceroos faced the Santos club from Brazil featuring the legendary Pele. The match was played in front of 32,000 people at the Sydney Sportsground, the start delayed by at least 45 minutes due to a match fee dispute between Santos and the Australian Soccer Federation. The action had been worth waiting for, a pulsating match with a stunning low drive from Jim Rooney making it 1-1 and then Ray Baartz equalizing to make the final scoreline 2-2. The athleticism of Pele was poetry in motion and Ray Richards did an exceptional job in minimizing his impact, ensuring that the maestro didn’t score. The intensity of these matches against accomplished opponents was in stark contrast to some of the friendly matches more recently seen in Australia during the modern era.

Official program Australia v English FA 1971

Official program Australia v Santos 1971 with the legendary Pele on the cover

With a view to future World Cup qualifiers, the Socceroos embarked on a six match tour of South East Asia in October 1972 including games against Indonesia (4-1), New Zealand (3-1), South Vietnam (1-0), South Korea (1-1 & 2-0) and the Philippines (6-0). This tour saw the return of Johnny Warren to the Socceroos after injury and the established players in the team now included Doug Utjesenovic, Peter Wilson, Manfred Schaefer, Ray Richards, Jim McKay, Ray Baartz, Atti Abonyi, Adrian Alston, Ron Corry and Jack Reilly. The Socceroos were giving every appearance of being ready for the World Cup battles ahead.  

Branko Buljevic (L) & Ray Baartz (R) for the Socceroos in the 2-0 win over South Korea 

Johnny Warren (L) in the 2-0 Socceroos win over South Korea 1972

In contrast to 1969, the Australian Soccer Federation organized for most of the first stage of World Cup qualifiers to be played in Australia. This took the form of a round robin tournament held in March 1973 with five matches in Sydney and one apiece in Melbourne and Auckland. The opening ceremony at the Sydney Sportsground was impressive and was attended by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The official ASF tournament program (pictured below) stated: “Perhaps the disappointing end to our bid to qualify for the final competition played in Mexico in 1970 was to some degree due to lack of adequate preparation. At that time the Federation was handicapped by a lack of finance and this led to a reduction in the number of preparation matches and training camps being arranged. There is no doubt that we have learnt from the mistakes of the past.”

The performances of the Socceroos ranged from excellent to below par but were sufficient to top the group against Iraq (3-1, 0-0), New Zealand (1-1, 3-3) and Indonesia (2-1, 6-0). The next step was to meet Iran who had already accounted for Syria, North Korea and Kuwait. The first leg in Sydney in August 1973 went according to plan and the icing was put on the cake for a comfortable 3-0 Socceroos victory when Atti Abonyi scored early in the second half with a high, acutely angled shot from the right. The real challenge came six days later at the Aryamehr Stadium in Tehran when the Socceroos were under the pump against a rampant Iran, spurred on by a crowd of more than 100,000. This match was televised live in Australia and it was difficult to watch when Iran led 2-0 after 31 minutes, including a penalty after only 14 minutes. It was only extreme courage under enormous pressure that prevented any further scoring to allow Australia to emerge from the tie as 3-2 victors on aggregate. 

Adrian Alston rises to head the third goal in the 3-1 win over Iraq

Socceroos 1973

The last qualifying hurdle was in October/November 1973 against South Korea, worthy winners of their group after overcoming Israel. Unfortunately a pay dispute with the ASF disrupted the preparations of the Socceroos and a poor display in extremely windy conditions during the first leg at the Sydney Sportsground saw them lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw. The return leg in Seoul two weeks later started no better with the Socceroos 0-2 in arrears before coming back to save the match 2-2 with goals from Branko Buljevic and Ray Baartz, the latter a cracking shot rifling through a crowd of players. It was seventy-two hours later on 13 November 1973 that the playoff match took place in neutral Hong Kong and we watched live on television as Jim McKay hoisted his thirty metre drive into the top left corner in the 70^th minute to give Australia a 1-0 victory over South Korea and at last qualify for the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. In the final analysis it had been a campaign of variable performances but good enough, backed by an incredible never say die attitude and heroic will to win. Where Australia had lost by a fine margin in 1969, the tables had turned with a win by a similar margin in 1973.

Official program Australia v South Korea 1973 

Ray Baartz (no.9) after scoring the second goal against South Korea to make it 2-2

The Socceroos celebrate the 1-0 win over South Korea to qualify for the World Cup  

In truth it was probably on Saturday 27 April 1974 that this Socceroo team reached its peak, playing against more fancied Uruguay in a World Cup warm-up match at the SCG and recording a fully deserved 2-0 win. A few days earlier the same two teams had played out an ill-tempered 0-0 draw in Melbourne but in Sydney the Socceroos found the key to the door before a crowd of 25,708. As a supporter, it was the kind of performance I’d always wanted to see from the Socceroos where they dominated a team of world standing, no less than former World Cup winners. Lou Gautier’s report in Soccer World was headlined “Aussies’ Best Win Ever” and he wrote: “This was a game that had everything from attractive football, end-to-end action and a world class goal to hair-raising fouls, spite and a determined will to win from both sides that belied its ‘friendly’ tag. That Australia emerged on top in its first ever encounter against South American opponents is just another indication how far up the international ladder we have climbed in the Rale Rasic era”.

Socceroos defender Doug Utjesenovic (no.2) under pressure from Uruguay at the SCG in 1974

The one downside of the victory was significant, losing Ray Baartz to a karate chop by Uruguayan defender Luis Garisto who was sent off for his crudity in the 75^th minute. It permanently ended the career of Ray Baartz who was seriously ill after the match and suffered temporary partial paralysis. Yet if a player had to go out, it was the most stylish of exits with a superlative Baartz goal in the 59^th minute, running past three or four defenders before unleashing a vicious shot that swung and dipped into the top right corner of the net. Peter Ollerton added the second goal from a Ray Baartz pass with six minutes to go after the desperate Uruguay keeper Fernandez gambled and lost by straying too far upfield, allowing the ball to be played into an empty goal.

Ray Baartz (out of shot) scores for the Socceroos against Uruguay in the 2-0 win in 1974

Socceroo Peter Ollerton (no.10) worries the Uruguay keeper at the SCG 

The core of the squad selected by Rasic to travel to West Germany remained more or less the same from the later qualifying matches including Peter Wilson, Doug Utjesenovic, Col Curran, Manfred Schaefer, Ray Richards, Jimmy Rooney, Jim McKay, Johnny Warren, Atti Abonyi, Adrian Alston and Branko Bulgevic, along with goalkeeper Jack Reilly who returned to the team. It was a combination of players who had learned the game in Australia and those who had done so overseas. The World Cup draw for West Germany 1974 wasn’t a friendly one for Australia and the subsequent results against East Germany (2-0), home team West Germany (3-0) and Chile (0-0) were creditable under the circumstances, placing Australia fourth in the group. Unfortunately the encounter with East Germany proved to be Johnny Warren’s last international match after a painful foot injury. With high quality players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Wolfgang Overath, West Germany went on to win the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Holland in the final. It was a nice gesture that had allowed Ray Baartz to travel to the World Cup with the Socceroos but it will always remain open to speculation as to what he might have brought to the team with his ability to succeed against almost any opposition. 



The Socceroos squad for the World Cup in West Germany 1974

West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer & Australia's Peter Wilson shake hands before their World Cup  match in 1974 

Lou Gautier in the Soccer World newspaper said: “Mission accomplished – that sums up Australia’s first ever World Cup campaign. The main objective had been splendidly achieved. We were never outclassed, never made to look ridiculous, even against super teams like the two Germanys”. Mike Renwick in Soccer World considered where the Socceroos needed to improve to match it with the best and concluded that it wasn’t lack of effort, stamina, strength or courage but “they could not match, in either skill or maturity and certainly not in fluent teamwork, any of their three opponents”. And on the front page of Soccer World, Paul Posetti wrote: Never has the time been more opportune for the Australian Soccer Federation and NSW Federation to introduce a quota system to restrict the number of imported players…Positive guidelines should be set down now to limit the number of imported players to two per season…A similar proposal was rejected last year (1973) at the NSW Federation AGM but it is now up to the ASF to lay down the law…Unless the game in Australia now builds on a solid foundation of locally developed talent, we can only go backwards…If we are ever to become a real world power, we must start developing our own talent and style of play at club level… Australia has been, seen, didn’t conquer but learnt a lot…We’ve only just begun - a restriction on the number of imported players would be another great step forward - even more significant than a national league”. It was recognition that if the Socceroos were going to succeed at the highest level in the future, then Australia would have to develop its own players with the requisite ability.

Overath (out of shot) scores for West Germany against Australia in 1974 

Despite the great achievement of the Socceroos in making it to the World Cup in West Germany, it didn’t translate to domestic success at home. Crowds declined in club matches and the administrators didn’t appear able to leverage further success. The Soccer World headline at the end of August 1974 said “Sydney Crowds Have Sunk to New Low” and the report stated that attendances were the lowest since 1958, speculating that the feast of World Cup activity had spoilt the fans. The sometimes prickly Rale Rasic didn’t endear himself to the Australian Soccer Federation and his coaching term wasn’t extended. Instead the ASF made a series of unwise coaching appointments in the years ahead and the negative flow onto the Socceroos was inevitable. It was one of the factors that would incrementally contribute to Australia remaining in the World Cup wilderness for the next 32 years, abetted by FIFA with some characteristically difficult qualifying assignments. The ASF never implemented a quota system on imported players. It was only after the advent of Football Federation Australia in 2005 that significant recognition of former Socceroos occurred, including a 40th anniversary function for the 1974 Socceroos with a celebratory dinner in Hong Kong. 

Australia's Adrian Alston (centre) receives close attention from the West Germany defenders in 1974