AUSTRALIAN SOCCER - A NEW BOOK
AUSTRALIAN SOCCER – A NEW BOOK
The legendary sports journalist and author, Edward (Ted) Simmons, 25 years EXCO Member of the IFFHS and today Honorary Member, wil together with some of the icons of Australian soccer launch Ted’s remarkable new book:
AUSTRALIAN SOCCER – FROM THE BEGINNING
Matilda’s Cap No 1 Julie Dolan, former Socceroo captain Paul Wade as well as a host of soccer celebrities and pioneers will be joining Ted and his publisher, Pip Butler, to celebrate this significant publishing milestone .
Australian soccer came of age in the 20th century and the game’s heroes including Sam Kerr, Lisa Da Vanna, Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Craig Johnston, Ange Postecoglou and Graham Arnold are now household names. But the history of the game down under goes back ... way back.
Ted Simmons has chronicled the fascinating growth of men’s and women’s game across Australia - from an era when teams were formed by factory workers and ethnic clans, through to the modern era of Australia’s surging international success led by the Socceroos and the Matildas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ted Simmons is a renowned soccer writer of more than 60 years’ standing. Aided by this vast experience, his passion for the game and his journalist’s eye for detail and accuracy, Ted has compiled a landmark encyclopaedic, State-by-State history of the men’s and women’s game in Australia.
Throughout his extensive journalist career Ted has covered Davis Cup tennis, Australian cricket tours and men’s FIFA World Cups as well as the 1956 Melbourne and 2000 Sydney Olympics. He has also received a host of awards including Soccer Australia’s 1999 Sports Journalist of the Year, the Australian Sports Medal (ASM) in 2000 for services to athletics and an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2006 for 50 years’ service to journalism, sport and the community.
In addition, Ted was inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame in November 2011 and elected to the FFA Panel of Historians in February 2012, maintaining an active advisory role to current times.
A staunch advocate of the sport, he is an Honorary Executive Committee member of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) and in this capacity, instrumental in creating the Oceania Footballer of the Year Award.
For a glimpse of the book’s content visit the website
www.australiansoccerfromthebeginning.com