South Melbourne FC invited to be the host for the Melbourne launch of Andrew Howe’s Encyclopedia of Socceroos.
The Encyclopedia of Socceroos is the definitive history of the Socceroos and has been published, just weeks ahead of Australia taking part in its fourth successive World Cup tournament.
The book by Andrew Howe sheds light on the facts, figures and history of almost 600 men who have pulled on the green-and-gold for Australia as a ‘Socceroo’ will be launched at the South Melbourne Football Club on Tuesday 29 May.
Almost 400 pages, running to 200,000 words, with 300 photos and diagrams, and weighing a little under 2kg, the first ever Encyclopedia of Socceroos is a labour of love from Howe, who is a Australian statistician and passionate football fan.
A population expert by day with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Howe has been both the unofficial and official statistician for Australian football for the past 25 years.
The Encyclopedia lists each of the 592 men who had played for Australia in official matches up to the end of 2017, giving facts and figures on their games, goals, their opponents, and biographical information.
There are also detailed tables showing who Australia has played, where games have taken place, the clubs that have had the most players, the captains, the coaches and the record holders.
Over 200 players from Victoria have played for the Socceroos, including 2006 World Cup captain Mark Viduka.
Almost 60 South Melbourne players have played for the Socceroos. When all clubs are ranked in terms of most Socceroos with that club at the time of their national team appearances, South Melbourne is ranked second, only behind Marconi from Sydney.
South Melbourne FC was invited by the publisher, Fair Play Publishing, to be the host for the launch venue in Melbourne because of the club’s strong historical connections to the Socceroos.
As well as the details on each player, the Encyclopedia of Socceroos features stories from longstanding journalist with The Australian, Ray Gatt, on each of Australia’s four World Cup captains to date – Peter Wilson (1974), Mark Viduka (2006), Lucas Neill (2010) and Mile Jedinak (2014). The Foreword is written by FOX Sports’ Andy Harper.
The Encyclopedia of Socceroos is published by Fair Play Publishing, a niche publisher of football books that tell Australian stories, and is available from good bookstores, Amazon and direct from the publisher.
For those wanting something more specific to the forthcoming World Cup, Howe and Fair Play Publishing have also combined to produce a World Cup Edition in digital format only, which profiles the Socceroos taking part in this year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup.
LAUNCH EVENT (Free entry)
5:30pm to 7:00pm Tuesday 29 May
1959 Bar & Grill, South Melbourne Football Club, Lakeside Stadium
Media and the public are welcome to attend; please register here: https://www.fairplaypublishing.com.au/events-1
Video Overview
The following video by Fair Play Publishing highlights the work by author Andrew Howe in writing the Encyclopedia of Socceroos.