1965-66 BEGINNINGS

Australia had a very active soccer scene long before the advent of the ‘A-League’ in 2005 and before the Socceroos spectacularly qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Domestic Australian soccer in the mid-1960s at the elite level was dominated by semi-professional ethnic-based clubs and they played in the various state league competitions around the country. While there had been an Australian national soccer team competing in official international matches as far back as the 1920s, there had not been a consistent national team program beyond periodic meetings with mostly other British Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand, South Africa and India. Against that back drop, this is my journal (as a supporter and player) of an important period from 1965 to 1977 – the era leading to Australia’s first World Cup appearance in 1974 and the first Australian National League in 1977.

In 1965 I commenced playing competitive soccer for the Ramsgate under 10 team in the St George area in Sydney. It was coincidentally the first year that Australia attempted to qualify for the World Cup, the only task being to defeat the ‘unknown’ North Korea in order to play in the finals to be held in England in July 1966. The two matches were played in November 1965 in neutral Phnom-Penh Cambodia, ending with Australia being comprehensively beaten 6-1 and 3-1. Johnny Warren was one of two vice captains in the squad and although not selected in either game, he later commented that the Australian team had been thrown in at the deep end and likened the situation to walking into an ambush. The side contained some talented players such as captain Les Scheinflug, John Watkiss, Roy Blitz, Pat Hughes, Stan Ackerley and Bill Rorke but there had been a comprehensive lack of preparation along with inexperience. The Australian national team spirit or culture had also yet to really evolve. 

Johnny Warren

While the 1965 team had trained for a month in Cairns to prepare under Yugoslav coach Tiko Jelisavcic from the Hakoah Eastern Suburbs club, there had been no serious practice matches and indeed very few international matches in the period after Australia was re-admitted to FIFA in 1963. Australia had been excluded from FIFA in the late 1950s because the ethnic-supported Australian Soccer Federation (ASF) had usurped the Australian Soccer Association who had previously administered the game. Unfortunately the ASF was so inexperienced that they didn’t schedule any warm up games in Asia prior to the World Cup matches. The hot and humid conditions in Cambodia, together with the health hazards posed by the local food and water, seriously affected the Australian team. And the capacity crowd of 60,000 in the stadium was expected to be neutral but instead vociferously supported North Korea. The Australian players in this era were part timers with limited experience while the North Koreans were revealed in the official match program to be highly disciplined fulltime professionals with up to 70 international caps apiece who doubled as army personnel. The enormity of the challenge only became obvious when it was too late.

Defender Stan Ackerley played for APIA & Australia

Learning these hard lessons would help Australia considerably in the years ahead although curiously, some Australian coaches in the 21st^t century have lamented our lack of experience in Asia. A degree of consolation could be taken from North Korea’s subsequent performance at the 1966 World Cup when the team shocked the world by defeating Italy 1-0 and led Portugal 3-0 in a quarterfinal before succumbing 3-5 thanks to four goals from the mighty Eusebio.

North Korea at the 1966 World Cup in England

At club level in NSW the Italian-sponsored APIA Leichardt was a dominant force, winning the 1965 Grand Final with a 2-0 victory over St George Budapest. The following 1966 season produced a bumper haul of trophies for APIA including the Ampol Cup (v Hakoah 1-0), Federation Cup (v St George 3-2), Australia Cup (v Hakoah 2-0) and the Premiership. The club attracted a large following, being blessed with an array of skilful and formidable players such as Phil Bottalico, Johnny Giacometti, Ricardo Campana, Archie Blue, John Watkiss, Pat Hughes, Stan Ackerley, Cliff Van Blerk and goalkeeper Bill Rorke. The 1966 Grand Final appropriately brought together APIA and Hakoah Eastern Suburbs who were the top two teams in the premiership that year. It was the first Grand Final I’d attended and it was played in torrential rain at the Sydney Sports Ground, the best soccer ground in Sydney in those days for both spectators and players. One memorable incident occurred when APIA striker Giacometti took a free kick from the edge of the penalty area and nonchalantly placed it over the defensive wall into the top right hand corner past Hakoah goalkeeper Peter Fuzes. The referee immediately found a problem and ordered the kick to be retaken with Giacometti calmly putting the ball into the exactly the same place and this time the goal stood! It was audacious skill worthy of the premiership’s top scorer with 22 goals for the season. Hakoah were nevertheless not going to be denied and they stole the show with a late disputed goal by Gerry Hood to record a 2-1 win. The early sending off Ricardo Campana never helped APIA’s cause. Johnny Giacometti went on to finish with a remarkable 103 goals in 104 matches for APIA in the 1963 to 1968 period.

Johnny Giacometti



APIA Leichardt

Soccer has evolved over the years and the style of the game has changed but many would be surprised at entertainment value of the best games of those times. Unfortunately very little film or video footage exists from NSW club matches in the 1960s and 1970s. The ABC televised some of the most important matches and some games were covered live, all in ‘glorious’ black & white with the smooth commentary of Martin Royal. The atmosphere at the grounds could often be electric with the ethnic rivalries between the teams adding substantial needle like a mini-World Cup, tempers occasionally bubbling over but nothing like some rugby league commentators of the day would have had you believe. The various sporting codes and media were very parochial and soccer had to fight for whatever coverage it could obtain. Each NSW first division club had a first grade, second grade and third grade team, providing a full day of entertainment for only a few dollars admission. Whoever wanted to view the games really had to be at the grounds because the internet, youtube, tablets and mobile phones had yet to be invented.



St George goalkeeper Frank Haffey in action against APIA in the 1965 Grand Final