Burning Ambition: The Centenary of Australia-New Zealand Football Ashes

by Nick Guoth, Trevor Thompson

Overview

June 2022 is the centenary of the first international football series played between Australia and New Zealand.

For the men involved, the Dunedin first 'Test' on June 17, 1922, was the first day of the future. The coming-of-age of the game would see not only international football but also domestic discussions about professionalism, relationships with Asia, FIFA membership, reorganising Empire contact and Olympic Games ambitions.

The 1922 series, followed a year later by return matches in Australia, were met with big crowds, kicking off a decade of cosmopolitan action for both teams.

The burning ambition of Australia and New Zealand was to establish a strong domestic base, and through regular contact with each other, to stretch out as serious international competitors in the British Empire, and the wider world.

Burning Ambition traces the genesis of the first Australia and New Zealand national teams, recounts the inaugural three 'Tests' in New Zealand in June 1922, examines the obstacles to making the series happen, and the efforts of dreamers and toilers in both countries to make international football a reality.

The book includes line-ups of every match played between Australian state sides and New Zealand, and Australia and New Zealand from 1904 to 1923, as well as photos and news clippings from the tours.

The burning ambition of these people never died.

Burning Ambition recognises, commemorates, respects and celebrates the pioneering efforts of those from both nations which inspire us still.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781925914139
Publisher:	Fair Play Publishing
Publication date:	07/29/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	148
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Born in Wellington, New Zealand to Hungarian refugees, his family migrated to Sydney when he was young.His heritage led Nick down the path of football at an early age. Yet it was his mother, taking up the position of coach of his earliest team at Seaforth in the Manly Warringah competitions, that made sure he was to continue. As a player, Nick never reached any heights, more just enjoying the lowest leagues or the slow pace of Masters football until he retired. In between, Nick refereed, coached and managed various teams including the 2006 Australian Schoolboy tour of New Zealand.Nick moved to Canberra following the completion of his studies to take up a position in IT at the Australian National University. It would be much later that he returned to studying, completing a Masters in History on the topic of the 1923 Chinese football tour of Australia and then a PhD in History on Australian-Chinese trade in the mid-19th century, both at ANU. When the Canberra Cosmos began, Nick commenced compiling statistics of the team as well as match reports. That led him to writing for various Australian football journals including Australian & British Soccer Weekly, Inside Soccer among others together with numerous fanzines that sprung up in the late 1990s. From there, Nick became Media Officer of the Belconnen Blue Devils at the commencement of their time in the New South Wales Premier League. During this period, Nick was also involved with various radio programmes in Canberra.At the same time, Nick commenced bringing together a historical account of football within the ACT. Since that time, Nick has written extensively on early Australian and New Zealand football and has co-edited a number of books.Putting the journalist pen away, Nick took up photography in 2010 and covered numerous sports for various organisations. His football exploits saw him photograph from the local leagues of Canberra to the Asian Cup.Nick now lives in London with his partner Jenny and enjoys following his team, Queens Park Rangers, both at their century old home and at numerous away venues. He also enjoys heading out to various non-league games as a ground-hopper.
Trevor Thompson has reported on football in Australia since the 1980s when he wrote and presented a documentary for Radio National on Australia's national football competitions. He covered the National Soccer League for ABC Radio's Grandstand program for over ten years and wrote a weekly review of A-League matches for ABC Online.​Trevor covered the World Youth Cup for Triple Jay in 1993 and went on to report on Australian World Cup qualifiers for tournaments between 1994 and 2006. He reported from the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010. His history of football in Australia, One Fantastic Goal, was published in 2006. He produced and presented Match Night Asia, a weekly program on Australian and Asian football, for Radio Australia in 2007, and wrote about Asian football history for the Asian Cup 2015 website.​Trevor has also been a freelance contributor on football for BBC'S Radio Five Live, CBS Radio, and Radio New Zealand.​Trevor Thompson was born in England and spent the Saturdays of his childhood watching Newcastle United at St James' Park. His last game as a suburban player was for Arncliffe Scots in a grand final win in the St George Association's over-35s league.​Throughout his long career in journalism, in addition to sport, he has also been a specialist reporter on communications and industrial relations. Trevor served for more than ten years as Chief of Staff in the ABC's Sydney newsroom and has been heavily involved in the training of young journalists.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Early Football in Australasia

Australasia - Two Nations, One Cause

Pioneers of the New Zealand Game

British Roots - Australia, New Zealand and the Early Game

The Internationalists - Big Ideas for a Global Game

Corinthians and Friends - The Unofficial Push for International Football

The Match Begins - New Zealand and New South Wales on Tour 1904-05

Wartime Football - Keep Playing No Matter What

The English Invitation

Picking the Teams - Why Australia Never Picked Its Best Side

The Big Time At Last - New Zealand and Australia's First International Steps

1922 Tour Matches - Taking it to the People

Women's Football - Playing in the Shadows

Two Ways to Pick a Team - The 1923 Selection Processes

The 1923 Test Matches - The Battle for Supremacy is Decided

New Zealand Tour Matches - On the Road in Australia

Alex Gibb - Australia's Leader

George Campbell - Kiwi Captain and First Trans-Tasman Star

The Ashes

Australian Players and Management

New Zealand Players - The Players Who Brought Home the Ashes

Enjoying the view: Non-Game Activities

Cross-Code Support or Obstruction

Football by Numbers - the Pacific Invention of Numbered Shirts

Storey's Tour Report - A Bird's Eye View of Touring

Angst Between Nations - The 'Storey Story' Replied

A Fork in the Road - Arrival, Divergence and the Way Ahead

Appendix - The Test Match Record

Acknowledgements

About the Authors