Johnny Warren OAM MBE

Johnny Warren OAM MBE (1943-2004), footballer, football administrator and commentator, grew up in southern Sydney where he played his first games of soccer, as his game was then known, for the Botany Methodists. In 1959, when he was fifteen, he made his debut with the Canterbury-Marrickville club, quickly progressing to first grade. In 1963 he began his twelve-year stint with St George Budapest, during which the team won three NSW State League grand finals, one premiership and two state cups. Meanwhile, he played 42 international matches, including the Australian World Cup appearance in 1974; he captained Australia in 24 international games. His final action as a player was to score a match-winning goal for St. George in the 1974 NSW State League Grand Final. After retiring from play, Warren helped establish the Canberra City team and coached them in 1977-1978, bringing many overseas players to train at his Gold Creek property in the 1980s and 1990s. From the 1980s onward he commented on the game on ABC and SBS television, wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald, and lobbied for Australia's separation from the Oceania Football Confederation, which he claimed retarded the development of the Socceroos. His autobiography, Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters (its title referring to Australian popular attitudes to soccer players in the postwar years) was published in 2002. A committee member of the 'Crawford Report' of 2003, investigating the governance of football in Australia, he never lost faith that Australia could field a world-class football side. Thus, his catchcry, 'I told you so', is invoked whenever Australia does well in a football game. Following his death from lung cancer, he was accorded a State funeral, from St Andrews Cathedral, Sydney.

Purchased 2011