Written by Jean-Michel Cazal, Thomas Esamie and Greg Stock. Thanks to Kevin Christopher (Studs Up editor) for the use of his personal material and John Punshon for the cross referencing of material. For more details see credits.
| This match was the first of a two-legged series with the old enemy New Zealand. Before this game both Australia and New Zealand agreed to start a tradition of playing each other on a home and away basis at the beginning of each year. This tradition lasted only a year but the legend of the Trans-Tasman trophy was born. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : February 22, 1983 | Venue : Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand | |||
| New Zealand Barry Pickering, Alan Boath, Adrian Elrick, Richard Herbert, Ron Armstrong, Ken Cresswell, Grant Turner, Duncan Cole, Alexander Metzger (Peter Henry 83'), Keith Nelson, Keith MacKay Goals : Cresswell 47, Ratcliffe 69og |
2 | - | 1 | Australia Martyn Crook, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve Blair, Alan Niven, Peter Katholos, Gary Byrne, George Christopoulos, Phil O'Connor (Marshall Soper 67), John Kosmina, David Mitchell Goal : Kosmina 36 |
| Referee : William Munro (New Zealand) Coaches : Les Scheinflug (Australia), Allan Jones (New Zealand) | ||||
| The return match of the two-legged series was played in Melbourne. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : February 27, 1983 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Martyn Crook, David Ratcliffe, Alan Davidson, Steve Blair, George Christopoulos, Alan Niven, Peter Katholos, Gary Byrne, David Mitchell, John Kosmina (Marshall Soper 75), Phil O'Connor |
0 | - | 2 | New Zealand Barry Pickering, Adrian Elrick, Richard Herbert, Alan Boath (inj - Glen Adam 15'), Ron Armstrong, Duncan Cole, Keith MacKay, Ken Cresswell, Grant Turner, Keith Nelson (William McClure 80), Steve Wooddin Goals : Cole 66, Adam 73 |
| Referee : Jack Johnston (Tasmania) Attendance : approx 14,000 Coaches : Les Scheinflug (Australia), Allan Jones (New Zealand) | ||||
| Australia played host to England in a three match series. Coach Les Scheinflug elected to go with the Young Socceroos to Mexico leaving the Socceroos to Frank Arok. This was to be the first match for Frank Arok as national coach with his rein continuing until 1990. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : June 12 1983 | Venue : Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Alan Davidson, Charlie Yankos, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson, Jim Cant, Peter Katholos, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor (David Mitchell 65) |
0 | - | 0 | England Peter Shilton, Thomas, Osman, Terry Butcher, Statham (John Barnes 69'), Barham, Williams, Gregory, Cowans, Blissett (Paul Walsh 59'), Trevor Francis |
| Referee : Tony Boskovic (Australia) Cautions : Gregory Attendance : about 28,000 Coach : Frank Arok (Australia), Bobby Robson (England) | ||||
| The second match was played in Brisbane. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : June 15 1983 | Venue : Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Alan Davidson, Charlie Yankos, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson, Peter Katholos (Ken Murphy 69'), Jim Cant, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor (David Mitchell 75) |
0 | - | 1 | England Peter Shilton, Neal, Osman, Terry Butcher, Stratham (Williams 21), Barham, Cowans, Gregory, Trevor Francis, Paul Walsh, John Barnes Goal : Walsh 57 |
| Referee : Peter Rampley Attendance : about 16,000 Coaches : Frank Arok (Australia), Bobby Robson (England) | ||||
| The third and final game of the series was played in Melbourne. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : June 19 1983 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson, Jim Cant, Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor Goal : Neal 27og |
1 | - | 1 | England Peter Shilton (Nigel Spink 46), Neal (Thomas 46'), Terry Butcher, Osman, Pickering, Lee, Gregory, Cowans, Trevor Francis, Peter Walsh (Blissett 69'), John Barnes Goal : Francis 25 |
| Referee : Jack Johnston (Tasmania) Cautions : aus - Ratcliffe; eng - Francis Attendance : about 20,000 Coaches : Frank Arok (Australia), Bobby Robson (England) | ||||
| In November and December of 1983 Australia was invited to Singapore to participate in the prestigous Merlion Cup. Competing against a lot of other Asian countries, Australia was looking forward to showing its wares on the Asian stage. Les Scheinflug resumed the coaching reins for this tour. Their first match was against China. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : December 4 1983 | Venue : Singapore | |||
| China (Lineup unavailable) |
2 | - | 1 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, David Ratcliffe (Mark Jankovics 2nd ½), Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Ken Murphy 1st ½), Tony Henderson, Peter Katholos, Peter Tredinnick, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor Goal : Kosmina |
| Coach : Les Scheinflug (Australia) | ||||
| Australias second Merlion Cup match was aginst the Singapore B side, but given the fact that opposition was a second string national side I have placed that game in the B archive. After beating the Singapore B side they needed a win against the Thai national side to secure a semi-final appearance. This was an friendly match. | ||||
| Played : December 10 1983 | Venue : Singapore | |||
| Thailand (Lineup unavailable) |
0 | - | 2 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Jim Campbell), Jim Cant, Tony Henderson, Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor (Peter Tredinnick) Goals : Murphy, Kosmina |
| Coach : Les Scheinflug (Australia) | ||||
| With the win over Thailand Australia qualified for the Merlion Cup semi-finals. Drawn against South Korea, Australia again showed the Koreans they were the better side. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : December 15 1983 | Venue : Singapore | |||
| South Korea (Lineup unavailable) |
1 | - | 3 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Steve O'Connor, David Ratcliffe, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson, Jim Cant, Tony Henderson, Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor Goals : Kosmina, Cant, P O'Connor |
| Coach : Les Scheinflug (Australia) | ||||
| Australia qualified for the final of the Merlion Cup and were drawn against the host nation Singapore. After a torrid game, it was Australia who finally emerged victorious winning the Merlion Cup once more. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : December 18 1983 | Venue : Singapore | |||
| Singapore (Lineup unavailable) |
2 | - | 4 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Steve O'Connor, David Ratcliffe, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Peter Tredinnick), Jim Cant, Peter Katholos (Jim Campbell), Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, Phil O'Connor Goals : Watson, Kosmina, Campbell, P O'Connor |
| Coach : Les Scheinflug (Australia) | ||||