SOCCEROO BILLY RICE PASSES AWAY

Ex-Socceroo Billy Rice has passed away.

This extract is from Laurie Schwab's, The Socceroos and their Opponents, p. 32.

"Billy Rice was one of the few Australians whose reputation withstood the 6-1 and 3-1 batterings by North Korea in the 1965 World cup qualifying series. Rice collapsed in the dressing room with stomach pains at half-time of the 3-1 game but because substitutes were not allowed then, he staggered back onto the field and played the second half in a daze.

Yet he and Slavia’s Nigel Shepherd emerged as Australia’s best players over the two-match series. Rice played only one more match on the tour, against Hong Kong, before being forced on to the bench by a leg injury.

He played his last international match against Scotland at Olympic Park on June 4, 1967. He came on as substitute after 68 minutes for Stan Ackerley against Greece at Olympic Park on 27 July 1969. Greece was 2-0 up at the time and did not score again.

Born on September 12, 1938 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Rice came to Australia as a 17-year-old with his parents in 1955 after playing as a junior with Distillery in Belfast. He signed with Footscray Capri and stayed on after Capri amalgamated with JUST three years later. He thus had a total of 14 years with the ‘one’ club.

During this time he played about 500 club games and represented Victoria 24 times.

A deeply religious person, Rice opposed Sunday soccer as he considered Sunday the traditional day of rest.

He made seven Socceroo appearances in total and retired from football in 1972. 

Socceroo appearances

1965 Chelsea, North Korea (twice, in World Cup qualifier), Hong Kong
1966 A S Roma
1967 Scotland
1969 Greece

MUSEUM RECEIVES JOHNNY WARREN COLLECTION

The National Museum of Australia has received a major donation of the Johnny Warren collection, almost 500 objects related to the life of the footballer, administrator, journalist and television personality.

The objects range from a 1953 under 12’s trophy, through to the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit medal which was presented by FIFA President Sepp Blatter in 2004. It was the only medal awarded to an Australian, one of only 100 worldwide.

Other highlights include Johnny Warren’s Soccerroo shirt worn in the match against East Germany in the 1974 World Cup and his Medal of the Order of Australia awarded in 2002.

Johnny Warren played 42 times for the Socceroos including the 1974 World Cup. For more than 30 years he became the face of football in Australia through his tireless commitment to the development of the game.

The Johnny Warren collection was donated to the National Museum by his brothers Geoff and Ross Warren, his nephew Jamie Warren, and his partner Sibere Rodrigues.

“Without the support of donors, the National Museum could not hope to fulfil its role at the pre-eminent institution devoted to Australia’s history,” said the Director of the National Museum of Australia, Craddock Morton.

“We intend to exhibit elements of the Johnny Warren collection in our permanent galleries in the neat future and we are looking at opportunities to tour the collection around the country in coming years,” said Mr Morton.