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Sheilas, Wogs & Poofters: An Incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren and Soccer in Australia
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.
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.
349 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 24, 2021
An informative and well-written insight into the development of football (soccer) in Australia from the 1960's onwards. It is told through the eyes of someone who was passionate about the game & disappointed with the lack of progress and planning at the top levels of administration. We learn about Johnny Warren's early life and playing career and his love of the beautiful game. So sad that he never got to see the recent successes of our national team, the progress of our connection to Asian football, and the successes of the A League, all hinted at here in this biography.
May 28, 2018
This is an outstanding book. It chronicles the life of one of Australia's best loved footballers, Johnny Warren. Skippy (as he was known affectionately) was not only a charismatic, attacking player, he became the voice of Australian football (aka soccer) and helped the code find its voice against the xenophobic, homophobic, racist positioning of the code by the commentators of competing codes, both forms of Rugby and Australian Rules. Hence the book's title.
Warren helped popularise football to Australia's kids. He often spoke of his dream - an Australia vs Brazil World Cup final. Since his untimely death from cancer, Australia has taken huge strides towards fulfilling that vision - but there is still a long way to go. If Skippy had lived longer,. however, he would have been thrilled by the progress the code has made.
The book is not only a wonderful history of Australian (and Sydney) football in the 50s, 60s and 70s, it's also and excellent pen picture of Sydney (especially) and Australia through those decades. The only other works that reflect the era so well are some of the books of Clive James.
For any football fan, for anyone interested in the cultural growth of Australia, this is a very specal book. It charts many of the steps taken by a backward, inward looking Australia, the home of the White Australia policy, towards its current place as a confident, outward looking country at home in Asia and willing to play its part in World politics, trade and sport. Importantly is shows how narrow minded and backward many of the so-called 'major' segments of Australia were in this era.
To be truly enjoyable, a book must be readable. This biography is - very!! The prose is beautifully constructed, so the collaborators, Andy Harper (himself a prominent footballer and one of the more perceptive commentators on the game) and Josh Whittington deserve much credit. This is an easy, engrossing read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Warren helped popularise football to Australia's kids. He often spoke of his dream - an Australia vs Brazil World Cup final. Since his untimely death from cancer, Australia has taken huge strides towards fulfilling that vision - but there is still a long way to go. If Skippy had lived longer,. however, he would have been thrilled by the progress the code has made.
The book is not only a wonderful history of Australian (and Sydney) football in the 50s, 60s and 70s, it's also and excellent pen picture of Sydney (especially) and Australia through those decades. The only other works that reflect the era so well are some of the books of Clive James.
For any football fan, for anyone interested in the cultural growth of Australia, this is a very specal book. It charts many of the steps taken by a backward, inward looking Australia, the home of the White Australia policy, towards its current place as a confident, outward looking country at home in Asia and willing to play its part in World politics, trade and sport. Importantly is shows how narrow minded and backward many of the so-called 'major' segments of Australia were in this era.
To be truly enjoyable, a book must be readable. This biography is - very!! The prose is beautifully constructed, so the collaborators, Andy Harper (himself a prominent footballer and one of the more perceptive commentators on the game) and Josh Whittington deserve much credit. This is an easy, engrossing read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
June 16, 2013
I really wanted to love it but it was awful. Struggled through it.
August 31, 2020
This was the first non-fiction sports book I ever read and almost 20 years later... oh boy, it’s still my yardstick.
December 5, 2017
Sheilas, Wogs & Pooters: An Incomplete Biography of Johnny Warren and Soccer in Australia (2002) by Johnny Warren, Andy Harper and Josh Whittington covers Warren's great career as a very successful football player and Australian soccer manager, commentator and promoter and provides a simultaneous history of Australian soccer from the late 1950s until the early 2000s.
Warren was in Botany on a street that would, incredibly, provide three representatives of Australia in various sports. He somewhat randomly started to play soccer and was superb at it from a young age, playing in much higher divisions as a junior. As a young man he played for St George-Budapest and encountered European and South American players and styles which had a big impact on him. He also met Les Murray, the great SBS broadcaster while playing for them.
The book goes through the era of clubs made by post-war migration in Australia. The state based competitions were dominated by ethnic Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Jewish and Macedonian based teams.
Warren went on to represent Australia from 1964 until 1974, playing as an attacking midfielder. He also captained the team and was later part of the team that qualified for Australia's first World Cup, that of Germany in 1974.
After playing he went on to manage and then promote soccer and helped the establishment of the NSL in the late 1970s. He coached Canberra and also helped to bring the New York Cosmos out for exhibition games in Australia.
Warren had written as a soccer journalist since the 1960s. He then joined up with Les Murray and became part of the soccer broadcasters at SBS that did so much for the game in Australia.
As well as being autobiographical the book successfully intertwines a history of the game in Australia, Warren's love of the game as an international game and a history of the Australian national team in Warren's era.
For anyone interested in Australian soccer this book really is a must read. In conjunction with The Death and Life of Australian Soccer it provides a great view of Australian soccer in the post war era. As well as providing the autobiography of Warren the book provides more details of the teams while Warren played and highlights the huge role that SBS played in popularising soccer in Australia.
Warren was in Botany on a street that would, incredibly, provide three representatives of Australia in various sports. He somewhat randomly started to play soccer and was superb at it from a young age, playing in much higher divisions as a junior. As a young man he played for St George-Budapest and encountered European and South American players and styles which had a big impact on him. He also met Les Murray, the great SBS broadcaster while playing for them.
The book goes through the era of clubs made by post-war migration in Australia. The state based competitions were dominated by ethnic Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Jewish and Macedonian based teams.
Warren went on to represent Australia from 1964 until 1974, playing as an attacking midfielder. He also captained the team and was later part of the team that qualified for Australia's first World Cup, that of Germany in 1974.
After playing he went on to manage and then promote soccer and helped the establishment of the NSL in the late 1970s. He coached Canberra and also helped to bring the New York Cosmos out for exhibition games in Australia.
Warren had written as a soccer journalist since the 1960s. He then joined up with Les Murray and became part of the soccer broadcasters at SBS that did so much for the game in Australia.
As well as being autobiographical the book successfully intertwines a history of the game in Australia, Warren's love of the game as an international game and a history of the Australian national team in Warren's era.
For anyone interested in Australian soccer this book really is a must read. In conjunction with The Death and Life of Australian Soccer it provides a great view of Australian soccer in the post war era. As well as providing the autobiography of Warren the book provides more details of the teams while Warren played and highlights the huge role that SBS played in popularising soccer in Australia.
September 19, 2018
If you want to understand the past, present and future of football in Australia, this is the best book to read. It's a mix of a biography of Johnny Warren, and an intelligent analysis of intersectional issues about racism, classism, Australian culture and toxic masculinity.
January 12, 2025
Goat of Australian Football. Simple as that. Would be so proud to see the state of Australian football today (and frustrated)
Don't call yourself an Australian football fan if you haven't read this thanks
Don't call yourself an Australian football fan if you haven't read this thanks
October 22, 2023
My bible
November 2, 2015
This was a fascinating book about something I know nothing about - soccer in Australia. To be honest, I saw it in a second hand shop in Tasmania and couldn't resist the title. However, reading it was properly worthwhile. Warren has an enormous amount of energy and love for the game and his frustration at the systems in place that have thwarted the growth of the sport in Australia are palpable. I loved the stories of playing in war zones and the Socceroos epic World Cup qualifying journeys. However, I think the beauty of a great autobiography is when the author opens up, and not just to have a whinge at FIFA. Warren comes across as incredibly private - not ideal when telling a life story. He mentions a daughter a couple of times, but there's no mention of any marriages, or any wives, living or dead. In that sense, he comes across as a bit of a machine; a player who dedicated his life monastically to the game at the expense of any romance, friendships or life outside football. Maybe he did give everything to the game, but that makes his book only of genuine interest to those who are interested in Australian soccer the best autobiographies are interesting to everyone. I got a bit worn out by the gripes at various soccer authorities but that aside, Warren comes across as a humble, dedicated and inspirational champion of the sport.
July 28, 2011
Excellent autobiography of Warren's life, a life whose struggles mirrored the struggles of Australian football. Anyone who wants perspective on where the game is today, should definitely read this book.
March 29, 2017
Passionate recount of football in Australia focusing on Johnny Warren's career and football circles. Teaches the reader about relatively unknown but hugely important achievements by individuals and teams to get football in this nation to where it is now. Reading this thirteen years after his death allows us to see how much of Warren's prophesy came about; and surprisingly a fair amount has. He fought for something like the A-league; Australia joining Asia and the Socceroos qualifying for a world cup. All these dreams have been achieved and it is with the pillars that he helped construct, that football continues to build in this relatively young nation.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews