Duncan Mackay’s new book about the birth of the Socceroos and their 1974 debut at the FIFA World Cup finals in West Germany is reviewed by Philip Barker…
This is a tale of an unlikely but trailblazing journey to the FIFA World Cup Finals 50 years ago.
It is also the story of a sports writer who made a pledge to his father to write about the sporting exploits of his uncle.
The reporter in question was Duncan Mackay. His uncle Jimmy scored the winning goal for Australia against South Korea to qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals. This book is the result of that promise.
Duncan would often drop his uncle into conversation during my time as a freelance contributor at insidethegames.biz, the website he founded after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics.
The book “They Came From a Land Down Under” is a classic example of being in the right place at the right time. The author was eight years old at the time of the tournament. He found himself living in West Germany because his father David had been posted there.
In pre-internet days, international football news was not readily available. Thus in November 1973, it required an intercontinental family phone call to confirm that “Uncle Jimmy” had indeed scored the all-important goal that sent Australia through.
It was shown on “The Big Match” with ITV’s star commentator Brian Moore full of admiration. Rothmans Football Yearbook also selected Uncle Jimmy’s scorcher as one of its goals of the season.
“I was telling everyone at school that my uncle was going to play in the World Cup,” writes Duncan Mackay.
“The idea sounded so ridiculous that my teacher called my mother in for a meeting to warn her about my fantasies. Imagine her shock when my mum told her it was the truth.”
Many recall 1974 for the brilliance of Johan Cruyff and the Dutch, the unexpected skills of Poland or the ultimate triumph of the West Germans, their imperious captain Franz Beckenbauer and deadly striker Gerd Muller.
Less is known of the team which had just been dubbed the “Socceroos” for the first time. Their previous nickname was the “Emus” – it has to be said it did not have quite the same ring.
In Australia, the game itself was known as “soccer”, but was seen as an immigrant game. Readers should be warned that some of the earthy, disparaging and downright discriminatory language of the era is reproduced in the book.
Association Football therefore had to fight its corner with cricket, rugby union, rugby league and Australian Rules football.
The book recalls a largely forgotten visit to Australia by a Scotland team who included a little-known striker, Alex Ferguson, who upset the locals with his robust playing style.
Pele’s club Santos also toured but insisted on their match fee in cash before deigning to step onto the field in Sydney.
As qualification began for the 1974 World Cup, Australia’s coach was Yugoslav emigre Rale Rasic who had endured many privations during the Second World War before finding his way to Australia.
Mackay proudly writes he was able to join a kickabout with the squad earning praise from Rasic. He also reveals the ultimate accolade for the squad, a Subbuteo set painted in Australian colours.
As it turned out, armed with appropriate permission slips for leave of absence from school, the author was able to witness all three of Australia’s group matches, against East and West Germany and then finally against Chile.
That last game finished in a draw which gave the Aussies their first World Cup point. It was played before 17,500 in Berlin but in photographs, the giant Olympic Stadium appears almost empty.
The stadium was where Hitler had watched the 1936 Olympics.
In 1974, there was a political demonstration against another malevolent dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, who had seized power in Chile the previous autumn after a violent coup.
At the time, most viewers in Britain were probably watching Scotland’s 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in their final group match, which meant the Scots were out without losing a match.
In Germany, the majority had their eyes fixed on Hamburg where East Germany were to meet and beat West Germany that evening.
Woven in is the story of how an innocent wager by a West German minister unwittingly attracted the attention of the Stasi, the dreaded East German secret police.
There are many such tales in a supremely well-researched volume.
The author has made excellent use of the Australian paper “Soccer World,” founded by the respected football writer Andrew Dettre, a Hungarian emigre.
The illustrations are fascinating and come from many sources including private collections.
Readers will also be delighted by the stylish cover designed by Elliot Willis which features programmes and the inevitable football stickers, not by Panini but FKS, another prominent sticker manufacturer of the time.
The bookshelves are scarcely straining with English language books about the 1974 World Cup so this is a welcome addition.
In his dedication, addressed to his late father, the author writes: “I finally wrote the book I promised I would, I hope that I have done you and Jimmy proud.” On that score, he may rest easy.
‘They Came from a Land Down Under’ by Duncan Mackay is published by The Choir Press.
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