The definitive history of the Socceroos has been published, just weeks ahead of Australia taking part in its fourth successive World Cup tournament.
The Encyclopedia of Socceroos by Andrew Howe sheds light on the facts, figures and history of almost 600 men who have pulled on the green-and-gold for Australia as a ‘Socceroo’ will be launched at Broadmeadow Magic FC on Monday 28 May.
Almost 400 pages, running to 200,000 words, with 300 photos and diagrams, and weighing a little under 2kg, the first ever Encyclopedia of Socceroos is a labour of love from Howe, who is an Australian statistician and passionate football fan.
A population expert by day with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Howe has been both the unofficial and official statistician for Australian football for the past 25 years.
The Encyclopedia lists each of the 592 men who had played for Australia in official matches up to the end of 2017, giving facts and figures on their games, goals, their opponents, and biographical information.
There are also detailed tables showing who Australia has played, where games have taken place, the clubs that have had the most players, the captains, the coaches and the record holders.
The Hunter region was the original hotbed of the Socceroos, through the first half of the 20th century. Just over 100 players from Newcastle and surrounding areas have played for the Socceroos.
Newcastle Socceroos include Newcastle Jets’ assistant Clayton Zane, who scored to give Australia one of its most prestigious results ever – a 1-0 win against world champions and number one ranked France at the 2001 Confederations Cup.
Broadmeadow Magic FC was invited by the publisher, Fair Play Publishing, to be the host for the launch venue because of Newcastle’s strong historical connections to the Socceroos.
As well as the details on each player, the Encyclopedia of Socceroos features stories from longstanding journalist with The Australian, Ray Gatt, on each of Australia’s four World Cup captains to date – Peter Wilson (1974), Mark Viduka (2006), Lucas Neill (2010) and Mile Jedinak (2014). The Foreword is written by FOX Sports’ Andy Harper.
The Encyclopedia of Socceroos is published by Fair Play Publishing, a niche publisher of football books that tell Australian stories, and is available from good bookstores, Amazon and direct from the publisher.
For those wanting something more specific to the forthcoming World Cup, Howe and Fair Play Publishing have also combined to produce a World Cup Edition in digital format only, which profiles the Socceroos taking part in this year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Howe will be launching the book on Monday 28 May from 5.30pm to 7 pm at Magic Park, Broadmeadow.
Howe has been Australia’s premier football statistician since the 1990s. His stats, facts and historical analyses are relied upon by FFA, the PFA, FOX Sports and all media. He is the author of the annual media guide for the A-League; before that, the national soccer league; and is the ‘go-to’ man for official stats and data.
Media and the public are welcome to attend; please register here: https://www.fairplaypublishing.com.au/events-1
The Hunter has made a huge contribution to the national team over the past 100 years which the encyclopedia recognises. In Andrew’s database, he has categorised 104 ‘products’ from the Hunter region that have played for the Socceroos, plus another five from elsewhere in NNSW. See below for the list.
| Player | Socceroo appearances | Years |
| Cliff Almond | 17 (3 A appearances) | 1953–1958 |
| George Arthur | 3 (3 A appearances) | 1956 |
| Ray Atkinson | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1957 |
| Bob Austin | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1923 |
| Ron Giles | 59 (48 A appearances) | 1967–1974 |
| Lawson Bailey | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1923–1927 |
| Vic Barnett | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1941 |
| Brett Beves | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1981 |
| Ken Boden | 25 (13 A appearances) | 1979–1981 |
| Dave Bone | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1954 |
| Les Brown | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1925 |
| Les Burnett | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1941 |
| Alec Cameron | 46 (6 A appearances) | 1927–1936 |
| Harold Coates | 13 (0 A appearances) | 1928 |
| Norman Conquest | 23 (11 A appearances) | 1947–1951 |
| Bill Coolahan | 12 (3 A appearances) | 1937–1941 |
| Frank Coolahan | 21 (0 A appearances) | 1927–1928 |
| Dave Coote | 5 (2 A appearances) | 1947–1949 |
| Clarrie Coutts | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1927 |
| Albert Creighton | 3 (0 A appearances) | 1923 |
| Colin Curran | 35 (22 A appearances) | 1970–1979 |
| Jim Cuthbert | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1941 |
| Reg Date | 12 (5 A appearances) | 1941–1953 |
| Peter Doyle | 12 (4 A appearances) | 1922–1923 |
| Jack Drinkwater | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1927 |
| Jackie Drinkwater | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1957 |
| Clarence Edgington | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1933 |
| Jack Evans | 40 (11 A appearances) | 1933–1941 |
| William Forrester | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1933 |
| Jack Foster | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1959 |
| Ron Giles | 3 (3 A appearances) | 1965–1967 |
| Jack Gilmour | 3 (2 A appearances) | 1923–1924 |
| Keith Grant | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1959 |
| Troy Halpin | 6 (6 A appearances) | 1998 |
| Max Hamilton | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1959 |
| Jim Harden | 10 (3 A appearances) | 1936 |
| Arch Harris | 19 (0 A appearances) | 1925–1928 |
| Tom Harris | 3 (0 A appearances) | 1937–1939 |
| Alec Heaney | 6 (4 A appearances) | 1947–1951 |
| Lou Hearne | 5 (3 A appearances) | 1953–1954 |
| Andy Henderson | 4 (2 A appearances) | 1923–1924 |
| Alf Henwood | 4 (2 A appearances) | 1933–1939 |
| Eddie Hodge | 4 (0 A appearances) | 1927 |
| Jock Hodge | 14 (4 A appearances) | 1948–1951 |
| Jack Hughes | 20 (6 A appearances) | 1933–1941 |
| Ron Hughes | 19 (8 A appearances) | 1947–1949 |
| Graham Jennings | 78 (44 A appearances) | 1983–1989 |
| Allan Johns | 36 (10 A appearances) | 1948–1955 |
| Richard Johnson | 3 (1 A appearance) | 1999–2000 |
| Ernest Kemp | 5 (3 A appearances) | 1947–1951 |
| Kevin Lake | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1951 |
| Arch Lambert | 2 (1 A appearance) | 1924–1925 |
| Jack Lennard | 17 (6 A appearances) | 1953–1959 |
| Percy Lennard | 13 (3 A appearances) | 1923–1925 |
| Ron Giles | 7 (5 A appearances) | 1967–1969 |
| William Lonergan | 3 (0 A appearances) | 1941 |
| David Lowe | 4 (3 A appearances) | 1986–1991 |
| Bill Mahoney | 10 (1 A appearance) | 1950–1957 |
| Jack Mannion | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1927 |
| Aub Mascord | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1938 |
| Bill Maunder | 18 (9 A appearances) | 1922–1925 |
| Henry Maunder | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1924 |
| Jim McCroarey | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1925 |
| Jimmy McNabb | 29 (10 A appearances) | 1933–1939 |
| Roy McNaughton | 11 (2 A appearances) | 1924–1927 |
| Robert Middleby | 5 (5 A appearances) | 2002 |
| Bill Morgan | 9 (1 A appearance) | 1933–1941 |
| Bruce Morrow | 25 (5 A appearances) | 1956–1967 |
| Jack Hughes | 10 (0 A appearances) | 1931 |
| Gordon Muncaster | 2 (0 A appearances) | 1941 |
| Cyril Nichols | 8 (2 A appearances) | 1950 |
| Sam North | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1951 |
| Jack O`Brien | 4 (0 A appearances) | 1927–1933 |
| Jackie O`Brien | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1957 |
| Kevin O`Neill | 57 (12 A appearances) | 1949–1959 |
| Tommy Oliver | 8 (4 A appearances) | 1923–1924 |
| Jimmy Osborne | 24 (7 A appearances) | 1933–1941 |
| William Owen | 4 (3 A appearances) | 1923–1927 |
| Bill Paddock | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1955 |
| Hedley Parkes | 5 (0 A appearances) | 1949–1951 |
| Jock Parkes | 12 (6 A appearances) | 1933–1939 |
| Frank Parsons | 26 (7 A appearances) | 1948–1951 |
| Phil Peters | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1955 |
| John Pettigrew | 11 (4 A appearances) | 1955–1959 |
| Albert Phillips | 3 (0 A appearances) | 1923–1925 |
| Billy Rorke | 4 (1 A appearance) | 1965 |
| George Roe | 2 (1 A appearance) | 1923–1924 |
| Billy Rorke | 9 (8 A appearances) | 1965–1967 |
| Gavin Russell | 6 (0 A appearances) | 1931 |
| Joe Senkalski | 2 (2 A appearances) | 1978–1980 |
| Nick Sokoloff | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1959 |
| Marshall Soper | 29 (5 A appearances) | 1983–1986 |
| Darren Stewart | 4 (3 A appearances) | 1992 |
| Peter Stone | 16 (11 A appearances) | 1976–1978 |
| Jack Taylor | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1933 |
| Aub Teece | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1937 |
| Bryan Turner | 1 (1 A appearance) | 1971 |
| Jack Wallace | 4 (0 A appearances) | 1941–1947 |
| Doug Wendt | 5 (1 A appearance) | 1953–1955 |
| Harold Whitelaw | 2 (1 A appearance) | 1937–1938 |
| Jack Whitelaw | 1 (0 A appearances) | 1939 |
| Jim Wilkinson | 27 (7 A appearances) | 1933–1941 |
| Cecil Williams | 3 (2 A appearances) | 1924 |
| Clayton Zane | 16 (14 A appearances) | 1999–2001 |
| Other NNSW | ||
| Craig Foster | 29 (29 A appearances) | 1996–2000 |
| Terry Greedy | 36 (16 A appearances) | 1983–1985 |
| Jade North | 41 (41 A appearances) | 2002–2013 |
| Howard Tredinnick | 2 (1 A appearance) | 1981 |
| Peter Tredinnick | 6 (3 A appearances) | 1979–1983 |
