AUSTRALIAN SOCCER 1965 to 1977 and Beyond: 1967 AN IMPORTANT YEAR

The year 1967 ranks as very important in Australian soccer, even though it’s relevance has been somewhat obscured by the dust of time. In NSW the year kicked off with St George Budapest winning the pre-season Ampol Cup by defeating Hakoah Eastern Suburbs 2-0 in the final. The team was captained by the great Johnny Warren who was also the club’s full time public relations and marketing officer, an innovative move by a very progressive club. Indeed the Hungarian-sponsored St George club was a leader through encouraging expansive stylish soccer, establishing stable administration via its licensed Soccer House premises at Mortdale and promoting and developing the game through the many junior clubs in the area. I was an avid St George supporter and it’s unlikely any top Australian club since that time has been as influential and successful in all of those respects.

St George captain Johnny Warren with the Ampol Cup

St George's Soccer House on the cover of the club journal

The 1967 St George team was a compelling combination of elegant skill and forcefulness. Coached by Laurie Hegyes, the team included Manfred Schaefer, David Cliss, Vic Fernandez, Herbert Stegbauer, Tibor Zuckerman, Sal Isaac, Roger Hillary and Frank Haffey. Yet it was Johnny Warren who stood above the rest, an exceptional dynamic player with the skill, strength and incredible determination to take a game by the scruff of the neck. I clearly remember a top of the table clash with South Sydney Croatia at St George’s home ground Hurstville Oval where he dominated the game and scored both goals for a 2-1 win. It was common for people in the crowd to shout out ‘give the ball to Warren’ such was his charisma. However, it wasn’t just one team playing entertaining soccer that year. As a young player it was a great education to watch as many matches as possible including an amazing clash between the two Greek-sponsored clubs Pan Hellenic and Canterbury at a packed Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill. Pan Hellenic led 3-0 before finally succumbing 4-5 to Canterbury who refused to surrender, a mixture of high drama and exciting play.

St George Budapest 1967

St George finished second in the premiership but came back to win the Grand Final 5-2 against APIA in one of the all-time great club matches in Australia. Down 2-0 after only 23 minutes, St George rallied to be 2-1 at the break before devastating attacking play and a David Cliss hat trick sealed the win. St George keeper Frank Haffey famously celebrated by balancing on the cross bar with the Sydney Sportsground scoreboard in the background. Andrew Dettre writing in the international World Soccer magazine said: “The atmosphere, the setting and the game itself all blended into a memorable occasion, making it perhaps the best soccer match seen in Sydney for many a long year. Not since that great (World Cup) game at Goodison Park when Hungary trounced Brazil 3-1, did I witness such a dramatic, absorbing match”.

St George goalkeeper Frank Haffey celebrates after defeating APIA 5-2 in the 1967 Grand final

The ASF had reactivated Australian national team that year, starting with a three match series against Scotland. All three matches resulted in narrow losses for Australia and I remember watching the game at the old Sydney Showground at Moore Park in front of 35,000 people. There was little between the teams except for a single goal by Alex Ferguson, the same man who would later have astounding success as manager of Manchester United. For good measure he would come back to haunt Australia in 1985 as manager of Scotland, eliminating the Socceroos from World Cup qualification with a 0-0 draw in Melbourne that seemingly resulted from black magic in preventing our attempts at goal from hitting the back of the net.

Australia (light shirts) against Scotland in Sydney 1967

The great Manchester United toured Australia for the first time in mid-1967 as no less than reigning league champions of England. Proudly led by legendary manager Matt Busby, their team was at full strength and included the likes of Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, George Best, Dennis Law and Brian Kidd. They played eight matches against various state representative teams, amongst them a memorable 3-1 defeat of NSW at the Sydney Showground with two goals from the majestic Bobby Charlton and a thundering reply from more than 20 metres by Pat Hughes for NSW. I’ll never forget the sight of the remarkable George Best juggling the ball as he ran up the field. Manchester United would go on in the following season to win their first European Champions Cup.

Official program Manchester United Australian tour 1967

NSW goalkeeper Ron Corry saves against Manchester United in Sydney 1967

In November 1967 Australia participated in an international tournament held in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) while the Vietnam War was still being waged. The concept came about as a means of showing support to South Vietnam as part of the war effort and the invitation came via the Australian government. While in a sense a grand adventure, it was in fact a serious excursion into a war zone with a very conspicuous military presence and the matches were played at the Cong Hoa Stadium within earshot of gunfire. The coach of Australia Joe Vlasits was known for his work with the Canterbury club in developing young players and he selected a youthful squad who had mostly learned the game in Australia including captain Johnny Warren, Manfred Schaefer, John Watkiss, Ray Baartz, Atti Abonyi and Ron Corry. After the ill-fated games against North Korea in 1965, team management was better prepared and Dr Brian Corrigan accompanied the side to ensure that player illness wasn’t a factor.

Australian captain Johnny Warren with the South Korean captain before the final in Saigon 1967

The larger than life atmosphere in Saigon helped to generate an incredible team spirit and Johnny Warren later credited the tour as being the real birth of the “Socceroos”, a name for Australia’s national soccer team that was bestowed by Daily Mirror journalist Tony Horstead (writing as ‘Hotspur’) in 1971. On the field the Australian team delivered the goods, winning all five tournament games against teams such as New Zealand, South Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, including the final 3-2 against South Korea. Australian striker Atti Abonyi won the award for top goalscorer with a tally of seven. With other friendly games afterwards, the tour record was played 10 and won 10, including Australia’s first national team trophy in Asia. It showed what could be done with the right team and the right preparation, even under the most difficult conditions. I was one of a large crowd that welcomed the Australian team home at Sydney Airport, a pity that the mainstream media didn’t make more of the achievement. It was nevertheless an exciting and inspirational season for a 12 year old boy playing soccer.

The Australian team returning home from Saigon with the tournament trophy in 1967

It must be remembered that all players from the top NSW clubs had other jobs at this time and players such as Vic Povey (winger Sydney Prague & Pan Hellenic) and Johnny Warren could be seen working part-time in Arthur Chapman’s sports store at Rockdale on a Saturday morning, together with other famous sportsmen including those from the very successful St George Rugby League team. That situation might seem hard to believe in the present day but this was before big business came to sport in Australia and before the pay cheques became exponentially larger.

Dynamic winger Vic Povey (stripes) in action for Pan Hellenic

Johnny Warren & Frank Haffey

Johnny Warren (team captain St George & Australia) and Frank Haffey (goalkeeper Celtic, Scotland, St George & Hakoah) were friends of our family and it wasn’t unusual that they would visit our home at Monterey in the St George area in Sydney. On one very unforgettable occasion when I was 14 years old, I’d arrived home after soccer training only to find all of the house lights out. I was soon rendered speechless when the lights came on to find that it was a surprise party and both Johnny & Frank were there to wish me happy birthday. To this day, Johnny is the only person I could never beat at table soccer and I tried a few times on different occasions. His passion for soccer and determination to promote the game was extraordinary and it was an inspiration to spend time with him. Johnny Warren went on to win several cups and a premiership with St George Budapest, participated in three World Cup campaigns with the Socceroos, was named dux of the international FIFA coaching course conducted by Dettmar Cramer and became a great icon of Australian soccer, both on and off the field.

Johnny Warren in 1969

Prior to the 1969 season in Australia, Johnny Warren spent five months in England to learn about playing, coaching and management in the UK. He wrote of his experience in the April 1969 edition of Soccer Monthly News: “I do not agree that British youngsters are superior (to those in Australia) in the normal skills of the game…the big difference is the way British lads apply themselves…the coaches deserve credit for this. They take a bunch of kids at the right age, spend hour after hour working with them, and deliberately set out to mould them into an inter-dependent unit. If Australian clubs worked on these lines and if they had such willing pupils, there is no reason at all why we shouldn’t emerge as a soccer country of consequence. Australia, and in particular NSW, has quality among the youngsters. It also has quantity. What we are terribly short of is professional know-how, which can only be picked up through experience in a truly professional soccer set-up”.

Johnny Warren with the youngsters at a coaching clinic in Rockdale, Sydney

Frank Haffey was a born showman and he delighted in giving meaning to the old adage ‘goalkeepers are crazy’. Yet he was a brilliant player on his day and had the best technical knowledge of goalkeeping that I’ve ever encountered, along with the ability to impart the knowledge. I was very fortunate that he became my goalkeeping mentor. It’s a good start to have natural ability but honing it with first class technique is essential. Frank made some 200 appearances for Glasgow Celtic and played twice for Scotland in full internationals, along with three appearances at Under 23 level. He had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of Scotland’s heavy loss to England at Wembley in 1961, a goalkeeper’s worst nightmare to be playing behind a defence that turns to water on a big occasion and when the opposition includes a legendary goal scorer like Jimmy Greaves. Somewhat typically of the press, Frank’s first appearance for Scotland at Hampden Park was less mentioned, being a creditable 1-1 draw with England that included a penalty save from a future World Cup winner in Bobby Charlton. Frank came to Australia in 1965 after an ankle injury prematurely ended his tenure at Celtic and he went on to play for both St George Budapest and Hakoah Eastern Suburbs, with representative honours for Sydney in 1969. He was an Ampol Cup & Grand Final winner with St George in 1967 and later with Hakoah won two premierships in 1970 and 1971, along with the State Cup in 1971.