Harry Williams (soccer, born 1951)

Last updated

Harry Williams
Personal information
Full name Harry Williams
Date of birth (1951-05-07) 7 May 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth Sydney, Australia
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1970–1977 St. George-Budapest
1978 Canberra City SC
1985–1986 Inter Monaro 19 (0)
1990 Inter Monaro 2 (0)
International career
1970–1977 Australia 13 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 August 2007
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 August 2007

Harry Williams (born 7 May 1951) is a former soccer player. He was the first recognised Indigenous Australian to play for the senior Australian national football team, the Socceroos. He was part of Australia's 1974 FIFA World Cup squad.

Contents

Early life

Williams was born in 1951 [1] in Sydney. From the age of nine, Williams played junior soccer for St George Police Boys side in Sydney.[ citation needed ]

Career

Williams played in the New South Wales competition for St George. [1]

He was recruited to the national side at the age of 19, and went on an overseas tour with the team in 1970. In 1974, having only played six matches for Australia as a senior, Williams was part of Australia's first foray into the World Cup Finals in West Germany. [1]

Including qualifiers, Williams played six World Cup matches for Australia during his career. In total, he represented Australia 17 times between 1970 and 1978.[ citation needed ]

Recognition

A 2005 photo of Williams by photographer Sahlan Hayes was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia. [1]

Family

He is the first cousin of basketball player Claude Williams, who was the first and only Aboriginal basketball coach. Claude is the son of musician Claude "Candy" Williams. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Warren</span> Australian soccer player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster

John Norman Warren, MBE, OAM was an Australian soccer player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster. He was known as Captain Socceroo for his passionate work to promote the game in Australia. The award for the best player in the A-League is named the Johnny Warren Medal in his honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football in Australia</span> Overview of football in Australia

Football in Australia refers to numerous codes which each have major shares of the mainstream sports market, media, broadcasting, professional athletes, financial performance and grassroots participation: Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and association football. There are four pre-eminent professional football competitions played in Australia: the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, Super Rugby and the A-League (soccer). By most measures, including attendance, television audience and media presence across the most states, Australian football is the most popular nationally. However, in the states of New South Wales and Queensland, rugby football is overall the most watched and receives the most media coverage, especially the Rugby League State of Origin contested between the two states referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”. In recent times there has been an increase in popularity in Australian football and corresponding decrease in popularity of Rugby union in New South Wales and Queensland. Soccer, while extending its lead in participation rate particularly in the large cities and improving its performance at the FIFA World Cup, continues to attract the overall lowest attendance as well as media and public interest of the four codes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Zdrilic</span> Australian soccer player and coach

David Allen Zdrilic is an Australian soccer coach and former player, who is currently the assistant coach of Serie B club Genoa. Zdrilic is also a football presenter on the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Most recently he was a key figure in SBS's coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Arnold</span> Australian soccer player and manager (born 1963)

Graham James Arnold is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as a head coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Arnold worked with Guus Hiddink for the 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign, in which they made the second round of the finals. After Hiddink left, he became interim coach of the Socceroos. Arnold went on to qualify Australia's U23 men's national soccer team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Arnold then went on to assist Pim Verbeek for qualification of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Arnold went on to take the manager role at A-League club the Central Coast Mariners between 2010 and 2013, where he guided the club to a Premiership and a Championship. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame. Arnold went on to win two Premierships, one Championship and an FFA Cup with Sydney FC. In August 2018, Arnold was appointed head coach of the Socceroos - Australia's senior men's national soccer team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soccer in Australia</span> Association football in Australia

Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor club sport in Australia, and ranked in the top ten for television audience as of 2015. The national governing body of the sport is Football Australia (FA), which until 2019, organised the A-League Men, A-League Women, and still organises the Australia Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams. The FA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport within their respective region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia men's national soccer team</span> Mens national association football team representing Australia

The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St George FC</span> Football club

St George FC, commonly called Saints or Budapest, is a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in the St George district in the south of Sydney. The club was founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1957 as Budapest Club and by 1965 was renamed to St. George-Budapest Club.

Zvonimir "Rale" Rašić OAM was a Serbian-Australian association football player, coach and media personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Wilson (soccer, born 1947)</span> Australian former soccer player (born 1947)

Peter Frederick Wilson is an Australian former soccer player. He was the captain of the Australian squad at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. His nickname is Big Willie and his position was sweeper.

James Rooney is a former professional footballer who played as a left winger. Born in Scotland, he represented the Australia national team at international level and was member of the squad at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Attila Abonyi was a soccer manager and player. Born in Hungary, he played for the Australia national team.

Adrian Alston is a former professional soccer player. Born in England, he began his career as a youth player with Preston North End and briefly at non-league Fleetwood before moving to Australia. In Australia, he played for South Coast United, St George and Safeway United and was called up to the Australia national soccer team after two years in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Davidson (Australian soccer)</span> Australian soccer player

Alan Edward Davidson is an Australian former association football player. His father is Australian and his mother is Japanese.

Steven Horvat is an Australian former professional soccer player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve O'Connor</span> Australian soccer player

Steve O'Connor played 290 games in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL) and represented Australia in the national team with 44 Socceroo appearances.

Manfred Schaefer was a German soccer player who played as a defender. At club level he won titles with St. George Budapest. Born in Germany, he represented the Australian national team internationally, participating in the 1974 World Cup in Germany. As coach he was several times runner-up in the Australian National Soccer League with various clubs.

St George-Souths was an Australian football (soccer) club formed in 1950 as the Hellenic Soccer Club by Brisbane's Greek community. It was a powerhouse of Brisbane soccer in the 1960s and 1970s. The club merged in 1982 with Olympic FC and were initially known as Olympic United.

Terry Greedy is an Australian retired soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the Australian national team between 1983 and 1985, making 16 international appearances. At club level, he played in the National Soccer League for St George Saints and APIA Leichhardt.

Claude "Candy" Williams (1929–1983) was an Aboriginal Australian musician, known for his country and western singing, often termed the Aboriginal country music. He was an active advocate for the advancement of his people, and also appeared in several television films and series.

Claude Williams is an Aboriginal Australian athlete who has played both rugby league and basketball for his home state of New South Wales, going on to become the first Aboriginal basketball coach in Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Harry Williams, b. 1951". National Portrait Gallery people. 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. Gorman, Joe (4 March 2015). "The Forgotten Story of … Claude Williams, former Souths player". The Guardian . Retrieved 3 November 2022.