Johnny Warren

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John ("Johnny") Warren, MBE, OAM (May 17, 1943 in Sydney, Australia – November 6, 2004 in Sydney) was a football (soccer) player, coach, administrator, writer, promoter and legend of the game in Australia. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia - Football Hall of Fame. The Johnny Warren Medal, awarded to the Australian national league's player of the year, was named in his honour.

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[edit] Playing career

Warren grew up in the southern Sydney suburb of Botany. He was a junior at Botany Methodists, and received his first taste of representative football when selected for the Protestant Churches state team at age 10.

Following a year at Earlwood Wanderers, Warren joined the Canterbury third grade senior team in 1959, aged 15. Later that year he was promoted to the NSW state league club’s first grade team, and by 1960 he had established himself in an attacking midfield position as one of the team’s key players. The 17 year old scored twice in a 3-2 preliminary final win over Apia Leichhardt to earn Canterbury a place in the 1960 NSW grand final. In 1963 he moved to St George Budapest, the start of a 12 year playing stint with one of Australia’s biggest clubs of the era. Over these 12 seasons, St George featured in six NSW state league grand finals (winning three), finished as premiers once and as premiership runners up seven times, and won two state league (Ampol) cups. He could not have ended his playing career at St George more fittingly as he scored the sealing goal in St George’s 4-2 NSW grand final victory over Sydney City Hakoah in 1974, the goal scored after Warren stole the ball in his own defensive half and ran through, evading two defenders, before beautifully curling ball around the advancing Hakoah goalkeeper.

Warren's senior representative career in the Australian team, known as the Socceroos, commenced in 1965 when he played in a 0-0 draw with Cambodia in November 1965. By 1967 he was the captain of the national team, and he played a starring role in Australia’s victory in the 1967 Vietnam National Day tournament, Australia’s first international trophy, won in a war ravaged Saigon. In 1969 he led the Aussies on a gruelling World Cup campaign, where Australia took on Japan, South Korea, Zimbabwe and Israel in an exhaustingly hectic qualifying series, losing out on qualifying for the 1970 World Cup at the last hurdle. In 1970 he captained the Australians on an extensive tour of Asia and Europe, which included memorable victories against the likes of Iran, Israel and Greece, before a 15 month break from the national team due to a bad knee injury.

Warren was a key member of the first Australian team to qualify for the World Cup finals. The Socceroos competed at the 1974 World Cup in Group A with West Germany, East Germany and Chile. Warren played in the 2-0 loss to East Germany, where he suffered a foot injury which ruled him out of Australia’s two remaining World Cup games. Australia's sole point came from a 0-0 draw with Chile.

After playing 62 internationals for Australia, Warren retired from the national team.

Position: Midfield

[edit] International career

  • A–internationals: [1965–1974] 42 games (6 goals)
  • Other internationals: [1967–1974] 20 games (3 goals)
  • All internationals: [1965–1974] 62 games (9 goals) - captain 1967–1970
  • All games (and goals):
    • 1965 [A int] Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia;
    • 1967 [A int] Scotland, Scotland, New Zealand (1 gl), South Vietnam (1 gl), Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea (1 gl), Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia;
    • 1967 [Non-A] Jakarta XI;
    • 1968 [A int] Japan;
    • 1969 [A int] Greece, Greece, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Japan, South Korea, Rhodesia, Rhodesia (1 gl), Israel, Israel;
    • 1970 [A int] Iran, Israel, Greece, Mexico;
    • 1970 [Non-A] Kowloon Bus Company, South Vietman Army, New Caledonia (1 gl), New Caledonia, Jardine Sports Club, Macao (2 gls), Ogheb, Tehran XI, Hapoel, Greece B, Luton Town, Manchester City, League of Ireland;
    • 1972 [A int] Indonesia, New Zealand (1 gl), South Vietnam, South Korea, Philippines (1 gl);
    • 1972 [Non-A] South Vietnam u23;
    • 1973 [A int] Bulgaria, New Zealand, Iran, Iran, South Korea;
    • 1974 [A int] Indonesia, East Germany (World Cup finals);
    • 1974 [Non-A] Ferencvaros, Ferencvaros, St Gallen, Young Boys, Xamax Neuchatel;

[edit] Senior club career

  • Canterbury (1959-1962)
  • St George (NSW) (1963-1974)

[edit] Club coaching career

[edit] Retirement and Beyond

Warren retired after playing 62 games for Australia as a mid-fielder. After his playing career, Warren became a champion of the sport in Australia and spent his life trying to promote the game in a country dominated by other football codes. He was a regular television presenter on the SBS network as well as an administrator and public diplomat for the game. Warren frequently argued for abolition of the Oceania Football Confederation, claiming that the OFC offered nothing to either the world game nor to the nations that comprised the confederation. Many Australians agreed with Warren believing that Australia was so dominant within the OFC that the Socceroos suffered from a lack of serious competition[citation needed]. The lack of competition in the OFC was exemplified by the 2002 World Cup qualifying results that featured 11-0, 22-0 and 31-0 scorelines against OFC opponents. (The OFC currently does not have a direct qualification route to the World Cup. Instead, the OFC champion must play another sudden-death series against a single team from either South America or Asia team for the final World Cup berth.) Warren favoured a merger between the Oceania and Asian confederations that would allow the OFC nations to play in a regular qualification series, instead of the sudden-death matches playoffs. Australia eventually moved to the AFC in 2006.

Warren's publicly held belief was that if Australia's strong sporting tradition was focused on the sport then Australia could be a world power in the game. One of his famous quotes on the matter was "I'm sick of us saying, 'When are we going to qualify for the World Cup'? When are we going to win the World Cup? ... Call me a dreamer."[1] His comments came shortly after Australia had defeated England 3-1 in a friendly featuring a full-strength English side, and several Confederations Cup wins over France and Brazil when Australia took third place at the 2001 Confederations Cup in a 1-0 playoff win over Brazil.

Warren claimed that these results showed that Australia was a much more powerful football nation than many gave it credit for. At the time, Australia was reigning world champion in the other international codes - Rugby Union and rugby league. Many, however, believe that Australia will never be taken seriously as a football nation until it regularly qualifies for the World Cup Finals.

[edit] Struggle for National Success

The Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters cover
The Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters cover

Warren wept openly on national television in 1997 when two very late goals by Iran resulted in a 2-2 draw against the Socceroos in the final World Cup qualifying match and sent Iran to the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

In 2002, Warren published a best selling book, Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters, The Incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren & Soccer In Australia which traced the growth of football(soccer) in Australia, especially in the post-WWII years. The title refers to alleged racist and sexist attitudes towards football[citation needed] exhibited frequently by many Australians and especially the major city media in Australia through this period.

[edit] Final Days

After smoking heavily for most of his life, in 2003 Warren publicly announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Several months later FIFA president Sepp Blatter presented a frail Warren with the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit for his services to the game in Australia.

His last public appearance was made during the launch of the new Australian domestic football league, branded the A-League (not to be confused with the American league that previously had the same name), which replaced the previous National Soccer League.

Weeks before death, Warren was asked what he wanted his sporting legacy to be - his answer "I Told You So", a phrase which has become a catch-cry in Australian football and during the 2006 World Cup appeared on the scoreboard in the backdrop of the SBS World Cup studio.

He died of respiratory complications related to his cancer on 6 November 2004, at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He was awarded a full state funeral, the first to be held for a sportsman.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Global game honours fighter Warren Sydney Morning Herald

[edit] External links


Flag of Australia Australia squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup Flag of Australia

1 Reilly | 2 Utjesenovic | 3 Wilson | 4 Schäfer | 5 Curran | 6 Richards | 7 Rooney | 8 Mackay | 9 Warren | 10 Manuel | 11 Abonyi | 12 Alston | 13 Ollerton | 14 Tolson | 15 Williams | 16 Rudic | 17 Harding | 18 Watkiss | 19 Campbell | 20 Buljevic | 21 Milisavljevic | 22 Maher | Coach: Rasic
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