“As his friend, it’s an emotional moment. I saw for 40 years how he fought and struggled, the pains and rejections he went through in his fight to have Australians embrace the game. His immortalisation is a very touching moment for me personally.”

Three years ago Anthony Siokos and Warren’s daughter Shannon Warren co-founded the Johnny Warren Community  (JWC) which aims to continue Warren's football mission and share the history of Australian football online.

Shannon Warren

Shannon told FourFourTwo that it’s imperative to share the legacy of her father’s history.

 “The reason why the community page is important is because my dad has given so much to football itself, here and abroad,” Warren said.

“When he played, Australia was a nobody. They were part-time players. It’s not whether you played football really well, it was about how that whole team gelled together in such crucial times and the mateship that they had.

“Dad was also about educating the children and teaching. He loved teaching the kids with his own football camps down in Canberra, with 2000 kids a week in the school holidays on his property.”

Since 2014 the JWC has grown to over 15,000 active members and the website sells replica jerseys that Johnny Warren wore during his club and national team career.

Shannon with her dad

The funds raised are donated to grassroots football and Shannon hopes that the work of the JWC preserves her father’s memory.

“A lot of kids that I have spoken to through my normal day to day work, think that the only team that made it to the World Cup was in 2006 and that there was nothing before that,” Warren said.

“So, when people buy the jerseys, the shirts or the jackets or the hoodies or even the beanies and hats, it’s humbling to me. Because they are wanting to keep dad’s legacy alive.

 “Getting the history of my father’s legacy out there and creating an awareness is to allow people to respect and learn about it. To respect my dad not just as a footballer but as a human being as well.”

Photos thanks to Shannon Warren