In 1879 the first recorded game of soccer in Australia took place. It took place in Hobart, Tasmania when the Cricketers Football Club played a scratch match(friendly). The first ever club was thought to be Wanderers F.C but later Balgownie Rangers claimed to be founded in The first ever National soccer league game was played in 1977 between Canberra City and West Adelaide. The crowd was Johnny Warren was the captain of Canberra City he is now one of Australia’s most iconic footballer ever.

The NSL was founded in 1977 it was a big deal for Australian football because in 1974 Australia had made its first ever world cup and everyone was excited. In the first ever season, 1977, there were 14 teams. Sydney City were the first champions of the NSL. They went on to win 4 titles. Famous names in the A-league now used to play in the NSL: Archie Thompson Marconi Stallions as well as lots of others. Marconi Stallions, South Melbourne and Sydney City won 4 titles each. In 2004 the NSL folded(finished) because the league was going broke and players wee going overseas for more money. The Average crowd for a NSL match was 2300 not much when you compare it to now. During the lifetime of the NSL 42 teams played in the competition.

The A-League was founded in 2004 due to the fall of the NSL. It started with 8 teams. In the first season Sydney FC won the Grand Final they went on to win 1 more Premiership. Melbourne Victory are the Richest A-league club with an average of 16,000 members each year. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory FC each have won 2 premierships. In 2009 they introduced 2 new clubs North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United. In 2011 NQF became broke and folded. In the 2010/2011 season Brisbane Roar FC broke a record for A- league losing only one match the whole season. They then broke the Australian record for the most matches unbeaten to 36 games in the 2011/2012 season. Archie Thompson is the A-league all-time leading goal scorer with 57 goals.

Australia has made 3 World cups 1974,2006 and Australia’s best finish in a World cup was a ‘Round of 16’ finish at the 2006 World Cup. At First Australia used to be part of the OFC(Oceania Football Confederation). In Qualifiers we used to smash every team by at least 10 goals the record 31-0 to America Samoa. But when we finished at the top of that group we would have to play a South American team to qualify. The teams included: Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. Then in 2006 we got put into the AFC which included tougher teams like Japan and Thailand but if we finished in the top two of our group we would qualify straight away not have to play other teams.

The FFA was founded in The FFA is the body of soccer in Australia. The current boss is Ben Buckley and the Chairman is Frank Lowy. The FFA is the boss of the A-league and all international teams they manage the player payment and the stadiums and all things like that. The FFA helped Australia move from the OFC to the AFC. After Australia failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup there was thought to be fraud within Soccer Australia. Finally they got rid of Soccer Australia and it became FFA, FFA helped Australia qualify for 2 world cups in charge.

Archie Thompson- Leading A-league all-time goal scorer, record 13 goals in one match against America Samoa, He has played 121 games for Victory. Harry Kewell- Has played for Liverpool and Leeds United, 55 games for the Socceroos, 12 goals for Liverpool. Johnny Warren- 42 games for Socceroos, A-League award named after him, promoted Australia to the world of soccer. Mark Schwarzer-94 games for the Socceroos, 367 games for Middlesbrough, played in 2 world cups as Australia's Number 1 keeper. Ernie Merrick- 2 times won the A-League coach of the year award, Won Melbourne Victory 2 Grand finals, Born in Scotland. Kevin Muscat- Played 51 games for the Socceroos, 1 of Melbourne Victory’s foundation players, played 181 games for Wolves.

Tim Cahill- Played 55 games for the Socceroos, His mother was Samoan, He was named Oceania Footballer of the year in 2004, Cahill has scored 3 goals in world cups. John Kosmina- He played 60 games for the Socceroos, He held Kevin Muscat by the neck in a match in 2007, He played 1 match for Arsenal in John Aloisi- Played 55 matches for the Socceroos, He scored the winning goal in 2006 world cup qualifier against Uruguay, He played 20 matches for Melbourne Heart in there 1 st season.

MCG Capacity-100,018 AAMI Park Olympic Park Sydney Football Stadium Hindmarsh StadiumBluetongue Stadium Capacity-31,000 Capacity-18,500 Capacity-45,550 Capacity-17,500 Capacity-21,000

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