When Australia took on New Zealand in the first ever international in 1922, the team’s captain Alex Gibb earned the prestigious honour of being the first ever Socceroo.

Almost 100 years later, Howe, Australia’s premier football statistician, has chronicled the story of the 596  'A' internationals and 314 additional non ‘A’ internationals who featured for the Socceroos.

Howe first fell in love with Australian football almost 30 years ago when he went to his first National Soccer League game between APIA and Marconi at Lambert Park.

Since then Howe combined his new love of soccer with his skills as a demographer to create the Encyclopedia of Socceroos which tells the story of every Australian national team player for the first time.

“They have an amazing history," he said speaking to FourFourTwo.

“The team has been around for almost 100 years and this is the first book that was focused on the players and there have been a lot of players whose stories I wanted to tell.

“When I fell in love with the game I was looking for information about the teams and about the history and I couldn’t find much.

“So I collected my own information and my own history and the encyclopedia is a result of a 30 year journey that I’ve taken, to not just follow the game as a fan, but to collect information to tell stories to others about the game.”

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Each of the 596 Socceroos who've played 'A' internationals and are featured in Howe’s encyclopedia have a mini biography, which delves into the background of the players' lives and reveals more than just their stats.

“I’ve tried to summarise their life before they played for Australia,” he said.

“In terms of where they came from and any particular feats they achieved at club level and any achievement they made along the way.

“Because a lot of the players came from overseas. Around one in three Socceroos were born overseas, especially players from the 60s and 70s who achieved a lot before coming to Australia and playing for the national team.”

The book also tells the Socceroos history pre-world war two and Howe revealed that the first ever Socceroo Alex Gibb had a son that also represented Australia.

“So Alex Gibb the first Socceroo was born in Ireland to Scottish parents and moved out to Australia in 1911 and lived and grew up in Ipswich," he said.

"He ended up having a son Lex Gibb who also ended up playing for Australia in the 1940’s.”

“The first teams in the 1920’s were mostly Australian born but a significant number were overseas born mainly from England and Scotland.

“Through the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s migration to Australia really slowed and you see that in the make-up of the national team as well.

“In the 1940’s less than one in ten Australians was born overseas and less than one in 20 of the national team were born overseas."

While the history of the Socceroo reflects the history of Australia in terms migration and settlement patterns Howe discovered some anamolies.

"I’ve found out about Bill Shovelburger from the 1930s, he was Swiss," he said. 

"Then there was George Vlahos (Sheppard) a Greek born player who played a non -'A' international game verses an England Amateurs team in 1937.

"It was very rare, right up until the 50s for a player not born in Australia or in the United Kingdom to play for Australia. So very rare. So I enjoyed discovering that.

“Then the post-world war two migration boom saw lots of people came to Australia from southern and eastern Europe and you see that in the national team and a lot of our best players came out to Australia in that period.

“They played for Australia and they were also migrants that created these clubs that launched the careers of a lot more national team players in the 80’s and 90’s and through to today.”

To learn more about the Encyclopedia of Socceroos and who and what are some of the features, join Andrew Howe and launch events in Sydney (THIS FRIDAY), Newcastle (Monday 28th), Melbourne (Tuesday 29th), Ipswich (Thursday 31st), Adelaide (Wednesday 6th) and Canberra (Saturday 9th).  Order the book HERE.

 

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