Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters

Book excerpt: A Fascinating account of a great sporting life and an insider's look at the byzantine world of soccer politics. The essential Australian story of the World Game - Bob Carr Johnny Warren received an MBE (1973), ASM (2000) Centenary Medal (2001), OAM (2003) and the FIFA Order of Merit (2004) Johnny Warren is a credit to Australia and the game that he loves. His is a great story which I heartily recommend to all sports fans - Martin Tyler From a nine-year-old who was initially rejected by his local under-12's team because he was "too small and needed to go home and eat more porridge" to leading the Socceroos from 1964 to 1974 through three World Cup campaigns as captain and vice-captain, Johnny Warren witnessed every stage of Australia's soccer journey for over fifty years. From the days you were called a "sheila", "wog" or "poofter" if you played soccer to today when players such as Harry Kewell are celebrated as our brightest sporting stars and prized by overseas clubs; from the curse placed on the Socceroos in 1969 by an African witch doctor through to more than thirty agonising years of trying to qualify for soccer's Holy Grail, the World Cup, Johnny Warren revealed the highs and lows of Australian soccer's past and present, and how its future success can be achieved. Including all the action from the 2002 World Cup - the Cup that caught the hearts and imaginations of Australians everywhere. In February 2003, then-NSW Premier Bob Carr set up a $1.5 million soccer training academy named the "Johnny Warren Soccer Academy" to develop players and increase Australia's chances of securing the 2014 World Cup.