1965 - 1989
A Radical Change in Our International Relations
Western Australia branches out into Asia. Organised women’s football arrives. Interest in the junior game explodes. Sandra Brentnall creates Australian football history. A sustained period of growth and stability is followed by upheaval.
1965
Roy Simpson captains an Australia XI which goes down 2-0 to Torpedo Moscow at the WACA Ground on Tuesday 23 February.
Administration of junior football comes under the umbrella of the Soccer Federation of West Australia.
Poland-born Ted ‘Bude’ Budziszewski becomes the first match official from West Australia to be apppointed to the FIFA pool of referees.
East Fremantle Tricolore’s incredible run of 32 league games without loss comes to an end at the hands of Kiev, who triumph 3-1.
1966
Italian giants AS Roma come from behind in the final 20 minutes to defeat Western Australia 4-2 at Perry Lakes Stadium.
Cracovia clinch the Division One crown, becoming the first team to do so the season after gaining promotion. A large part of their success is attributed to Polish imports Zygmunt Pieda, Wladek Musial, Pawel Sobek and Henryk Lukoszek.
The first penalty shoot-out in Western Australia has Azzurri defeat Slavia Port Melbourne 4-3 in the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup.
1967
Referee Roy Stedman sensationally issues Denis Law his marching orders for dissent as Manchester United thump Western Australia 7-0 in front of a record 21,000 crowd at the WACA Ground.
Western Australia features at the Merdeka Cup tournament in Malaysia. The State team wins two of six games to finish ninth.
Westralian Soccer Coaches, the state’s first coaches association, is formed with Dr Oscar Mate elected president and Frank Schaper secretary.
1968
Organised Sunday football commences with the establishment of the Westralian Amateur Soccer League. The season commences with four teams but the league expands quickly to an eight-team competition.
1969
State team captain John O’Connell is sensationally sent home from the Kings Cup in Thailand by SFWA president Julius Re.
Lake Monger Velodrome becomes the home of SFWA, who are awarded a 20-year lease by the Perth City Council.
1971
The Vel-Belles take on the Beauts in a friendly at Subiaco Oval as a curtain-raiser to the men’s State team game against Moscow Dynamo. The women’s teams play further games in Rockingham and Kwinana.
‘The Sunday Times’ journalist Richard Bales forms the Australian Girls Soccer Association in July. Four months later Oscar Mate becomes the first chairman of the association, which is renamed the Western Australian Girls Soccer Association.
John Van Oosten scores all four goals in Azzurri’s 4-1 defeat of Swan Athletic which clinches the league title with four fixtures remaining.
1972
The inaugural meeting of the Junior Soccer Association of Western Australia is held on Monday January 10.
The inaugural season of women’s football kicks off on July 7. Swan Athletic win the league without defeat, five points clear of runners-up Azzurri.
1973
Harry Croft commences what will become a 17-year tenure as president of the junior association.
1974
Western Australia’s Under-13s, coached by Jim Crone, become the State’s first national champions of any age group.
The women’s association alters its name to the Western Australian Women’s Soccer Association.
1975
The Perth Friendly Soccer Association kicks off with Belmont Cloverdale becoming inaugural league champions. The body is later renamed the Perth Amateur and Social Soccer Association.
Coached by Alan Vest, Western Australia clinch their first international silverware at the Marah Halim Cup in Indonesia. Ernie Hannigan and Nick MacCallum find the net as the State team defeats South Korea 2-0 in the final in front of 40,000 fans.
The State team claims one of its most famous victories, beating Scottish giants Rangers 2-1 at Perry Lakes Stadium on Sunday June 22. Goals from George McMillan and Ray Ilott send the crowd of 9,000 home jubilant.
An undefeated Western Australia win the National Women’s Championships in Brisbane. Teresa Kozak, Sharon Mateljan and Linda Mateljan were honoured with selection in the tournament ‘All-Stars’.
Kwinana United defender David Jones becomes the first Australian-born player to win the Gold Medal as Western Australia’s best player.
A memorable year for West Australian juniors is capped when the Under-12s, Under-13s and Under-14s win their respective national championships.
The first ‘A’ international to be played in Perth has Australia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics finish in a scoreless draw at Perry Lakes Stadium on Sunday November 16.
1976
The Amateur Soccer Association of Western Australia is the new name of the amateur body.
It’s back-to-back Marah Halim Cup successes as the State team again defeat South Korea in the final. The 2-0 victory is achieved through goals from George McMillan and Nick MacCallum.
1977
The West Australian women’s team takes part in a ground-breaking tour of Malaysia and Singapore, becoming the first Australian female representative side to venture into Asia.
1978
Gary Marocchi wears the captains armband for Australia in the mid-year friendly series with Greece.
A second National Women’s Championships crown goes home with Western Australia, who win four and draw once.
Teenager Anna Senjuschenko is named in a World XI after starring for Australia a the World Women’s Invitational Tournament in Taiwan. The Australian squad features seven West Australians in Sandra Brentnall, Julie Clayton, Barbara Kozak, Sharon Loveless, Judy Pettitt, Senjuschenko and Teresa Varadi.
1979
17-year old Sandra Brentnall becomes Australia’s first ‘A’ international goalscorer when, on Saturday October 6, she bags the opener in a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
1980
The West Australian women’s team take part in the Third Asian Cup hosted by India. “It is an experience I would not like to go through again,” says team manager Barbara Gibson of the ill-fated tour.
Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton, 41, makes three guest Night Series appearances for Azzurri.
Sandra Brentnall scores Australia’s first international hat-trick in a 3-2 win over New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday May 24.
Len Dundo collects his seventh Golden Boot in nine years after scoring 18 times for Kingsway Olympic.
1981
England’s World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore gains two appearances with Inglewood Kiev and one for Rockingham United. Shortly after, England midfielder Mick Channon makes a guest appearance for Gosnells City.
A star-studdded Azzurri go unbeaten to win the league title with a record of 16 wins and two draws. In a memorable year, the club also win the Night Series and D’Orsogna Cup under coach Gordon Ferguson.
1982
‘Sunday Soccer’ begins broadcasting on community radio station 6NR. The show features match reports, interviews, competitions and live broadcasts.
Alan Ball, a member of England’s 1996 World Cup winning squad, plays three games for Floreat Athena.
Frank Faraone, Tony Franken and Roy Jones represent Australia at the under-19 João Havelange Trophy tournament in Mexico.
1983
A crowd of 2,000 watch George Best find the back of the net in Osborne Park Galeb’s mid-year fixture with Melville Alemannia.
Goals from Steve McCaffrey and Ronnie Campbell give the State team a 2-1 win over the Australian national team at Inglewood Reserve.
1984
Goalkeeper Tony Franken is the national league’s Under-21 Player of the Year after a break-out season with Canberra City.
West Australia go down 1-0 to Chinese club Liaoning FC in the final of the DCM Tournament in India. The year had started with the State team contesting the Kings Cup in Thailand.
1985
Brothers Craig and Gareth Naven along with Scott Racey gain selection in Australia’s squad for the Under-16 World Cup in China.
West Perth Macedonia make it a hat-trick of league titles when they pip Spearwood Dalmatinac by way of superior goal difference.
1986
The ‘Soccer Task Force: the Future Direction of Soccer in Western Australia’ report is completed. The report, which recommends the establishment of an administrative home base for the game, is rejected by the SFWA membership two years later.
1987
The Western Australian Amateur and Social Soccer Association is formed through a merger of the Amateur Soccer Association of Western Australia and Perth Amateur and Social Soccer Association.
