Episode 21 - Jason Goldsmith and Surfing for England; Paul Nicholls; Mt Isa

Download and listen to episode 21 here.

Oh, nuffies and public libraries.

And we recount the famous soccer people we overlooked from the previous week's Spencer Gulf discussion.

Ian thanks Garry McKenzie for wrecking his life, having found soccer references and photos in Mimag, the official publication of Mount Isa Mines. What are the ramifications for how Ian (and the rest of us, I suppose) understand Mt Isa's soccer history? Listen also to the weary bitterness creep into Ian's voice as he talks about the overwhelming isolation of living in Mt Isa...

And then opines about his upcoming Newcastle trip, and what he hopes to achieve while touring the Hunter.

Then Ian reads out an extract from 'The Bonds of Empire: Sydney 1925', a creative non-fiction piece sent in by Paul Nicholls - an attempt to create a mythology for Australian soccer.

After the break, we talk to Jason Goldsmith, the author of Surfing for England a book about the best players never to have played for the Socceroos. We cover the following:

• Craig Johnston, the originator of the term 'surfing for England' - a term that's become infamous and unfairly so.
• Tony Dorigo, and why he didn't get the stick that Johnston did for not playing for Australia.
• Andrew Durante and interesting decisions about citizenship, where the convergence of career progression and other motivations meet.
• The different international football situation in the 1980s - no international breaks.
• The Serbs and the Croatians, and the questions about loyalty asked of some and not of others.
• The Tim Cahill story - and the story of how his eligibility became a cause celebre for Australian (and later worldwide) soccer.
• The irony of trying to exploit the existence of players with multiple eligibilities, whereas once we railed against it.
• The idea that Christian Vieri could've so easily become a concreter in Sydney's western suburbs.
• The incredible story of Sasa Ilic, and an ambush of Ian Syson.
• How many Western Australians should make the cut for the revised edition?

I don't know why, but Ian's microphone isn't working during early parts of the segment with Jason.

We finish the episode with 100 Years Ago Today - Victorian results; Toowoomba and the tensions of returned servicemen not wanting to play for services teams after the war; and finally to Newcastle.

Episode 18 - Victor Brincat, George Cross and the Australia Cup

Download and listen to episode 18 here.

A little bit on listener Paul Nicholls' father Don reuniting with an old teammate Bruce from their days playing together Gladesville Methodists 70 years ago.

Garry McKenzie finds the original source for an 1870 game of soccer mentioned in Peter Kunz's Chronicles of Soccer in Australia - and the problems of figuring out where the 19th century and early 20th century Australian press sourced their stories from.

Then on to a TV clip that came up on Twitter discussion, about the time the 1970s American cop drama McLeod filmed an episode in Australia, which included a game with APIA as part of their story.

Following is a quick digression about what soccer films exist in Australia, including ex-NSL player Leigh Tsoumerkas' recollections of the VIS team's cameo in The Heartbreak Kid.

And for some reason some chat about Craig Johnston and comments he made about political correctness.

After the break we chat with Victor Brincat, soccer historian interested in the club now known as Caroline Springs George Cross. We cover:

• The difficulty of getting any information from the early days of clubs like George Cross.
• The practical priorities of club committees ignoring the importance of the proper maintenance of historical records.
• George Cross' bridesmaid's role during the 1960s and 70s in Victorian soccer, and the hollowness of the eventual title breakthrough in 1977.
• The 1964 Australia Cup, and the permanent donation of the Australia Cup to George Cross, after its rescue from the rubbish and its subsequent restoration.
• The assumption by many that Sydney clubs, with their superior financial backing would dominate the Australia Cup.
• The habit of Australia Cup winners - Yugal, Slavia, Melbourne Hungaria - of eventually going defunct.
• The decline of clubs soccer alongside the demise of the Australia Cup.
• Victor's recollections of the 1964 Australia Cup final.
• George Cross' excellent presentation of history in their social club.
• The mini-documentary made by Ben Coonan for Fox Sports, of the Australia Cup being presented to George Cross including footage of the 1964 Australia Cup final.
• The story of how that footage came to light.

Then 100 Years Ago Today where we being with Dockerty Cup results, and where does Preston play? Next we go to Bowral, aka the middle of nowhere; then to Lithgow, and what else is there to do there? And accusations of sabotage!