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1 y separately published work icon Turning the Tide Michelle Ford , Craig Lord , Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2024 27379513 2024 single work autobiography 'Against the backdrop of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, the 1980 Moscow Olympics was always going to be political. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser wanted Australia's Olympic athletes to boycott the Games, in line with the USA, but many of the athletes had a different view and competed under the Olympic flag. In Turning the Tide, 800 metres Swimming Gold Medal winner, Michelle Ford, charts the highs and lows from the beaches of Sydney as a young girl with a dream to the dizzy heights of Olympic swimming gold against the odds of Cold-War politics spilling into sport like poison. Olympic boycotts, death threats, wilful blindness and misogyny coincided with the first and most ferocious, systematic, state-sponsored doping the world has ever witnessed. Whatever flag they competed under at Moscow, athletes were the victims - and most of them female. According to Ford, who was Australia's first and founding member of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes Commission, that struggle is far from over. As Paris prepares to host the 2024 Olympics, 100 years after the Modern Olympics founding father Pierre de Coubertin declared that Women have one task, that of the role of crowning the winner with garlands, an indifference to female athletes lives on. In this roller-coaster account of courage and resilience in the Olympic realm, Turning the Tide is a manifesto for change.' (Publication summary) 
1 y separately published work icon Noddy : The Untold Story of Adrian Alston Philip Micallef , Balgowlah Heights : Fair Play Publishing , 2023 26687349 2023 single work biography

'Adrian Alston, commonly  known as ‘Noddy’, was a key member of the semi-professional team that defied all the odds to become the first Australian team to reach the 1974 World Cup finals.Noddy: the untold story of Adrian Alston is a tell-all account by Philip Micallef of the flamboyant striker who lit up the local football scene after moving from England to Australia in the late 1960s.

'Alston looks back on a career that took him from the little ground of Woonona on the NSW south coast to the imperial Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

'Noddy's was a colourful and extraordinary career but when it came to an abrupt end after he suffered a serious injury, he was able to draw on the altruistic side of his temperament when he devoted his life after football to the special needs of intellectually disabled people. It is a job that gives him as much satisfaction as when he used to bang in the goals for club and country.

'As a 1974 Socceroo, Adrian Alston is a true legend of the game and Philip Micallef's book will ensure that Noddy's exploits for Australia should not be be forgotten.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon When Mum and Dad See Me Kick Stuart Thomas , Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2023 26047856 2023 selected work biography

'A series of short stories profiling ten individuals, with the why, how, and when they came to love football and what it means to them personally.

'The stories demonstrate that 'the Beautiful Game' is home to the world's biggest community, and within that community are thousands of stories from people from all walks of life. Different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexualities, and more. All come together around the call of football.

'When Mum and Dad See Me Kick covers stories from vastly different members of that community and shows how football changed their lives forever.

'From a young woman who was once on the boy's team, to a displaced Palestinian immigrant who finds hope in the game and more, these stories make a chorus to the world's most beautiful song.' (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon Hell for Leather : The World of a Sporting Journalist Phil Wilkins , Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2023 26047656 2023 single work autobiography 'From the 1960s until the turn of the century, Phil Wilkins was chief cricket writer in turn for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, then The Australian and The Sun newspapers. In this autobiography, he remembers great players watched and interviewed, historic events, reviving memories of cricketers, rugby league, rugby union and soccer players, of boxers and tennis titleholders. Among his cavalcade of champions are Rod Laver, Ian and Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Bob Simpson, Bill Lawry and Shane Warne; England's Freddie Trueman, Ian Botham, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott, the West Indies' Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, the Pakistanis, Javed Miandad and Imran Khan, the Indians, Bishan Singh Bedi and Sunil Gavaskar, and earlier Australian immortals, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Norman O'Neill; in rugby league, Johnny Raper, Ron Coote, Reg Gasnier, Harry Wells and Bobby Fulton; in rugby union, Ray Price and Ken Catchpole, Ewen McKenzie and Phil Kearns, Tim Horan and Jason Little, David Campese and Nick Farr-Jones, all match-winners and game-breakers, the mightiest of performers. But the first of his greats was Melbourne's Australian Rules captain and later coach, the splendid Ron Barassi. Above all players, Wilkins praises his littlest hero, the fearless nine-year-old Guyanese boy, Dominic, who saved his life by throwing himself at a pipe-wielding thug at the height of a riot in the World Series Cricket match in Georgetown on the "Forgotten tour" of 1979, when the Australians drew the SuperTest series with Clive Lloyd's world champion West Indians. Among a thousand personalities, your name could well be included. If not, consider your immortality.' (Publication summary) 
1 y separately published work icon Hear Us Roar Bonita Mersiades (editor), Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2023 26047603 2023 anthology short story 'Hear Us Roar is a series of long-form articles or short stories submitted as part of the Emerging Women Writers initiative of the 2023 Football Writers' Festival. Emerging women writers from around the world were invited to submit an article by the end of January 2023, with up to 20 being published in the anthology, and up to three entrants being invited to attend the festival. The judging panel comprises women and men from Argentina, Australia, gypt, England, Nigeria, and Scotland. Further information on the initiative, including the articles to be published, will be announced by the Football Writers' Festival by the middle of May. For further information, check out the Football Writers' Festival site. Other than a payment to each of the individual contributors, the proceeds of this book will be given to the Literacy for Life Foundation and Future4Nepal.' (Publication summary) 
1 y separately published work icon Get Your Tits Out for the Lads Sally Freedman , Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2023 26047377 2023 single work autobiography

'"Get Your Tits Out for the Lads" is the story of one woman's journey into the masculine and rather enigmatic world of football.

'Since an early age, Sally Freedman dreamt of working in football and finally landed her dream role as protocol manager for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. After the conclusion of the tournament, Sally joined Melbourne City Football Club as head of fan engagement.

'With a degree in Psychology and a Masters in business specialising in sport management, coupled with an impressive sport focused vocational history, Sally thought she was reasonably well-prepared to launch a career in football.

'If you want to laugh out loud, cry and say 'wow' more than once, this story will give you that and more!

'It's the perfect book for those who would like a real insight into what it's like to be an intelligent, young woman working in a male dominated world.' (Publication summary) 

1 y separately published work icon Dedicated Lives : Stories of Pioneers of Women's Football in Australia Greg Downes , Sydney : Fair Play Publishing , 2021 26829302 2021 multi chapter work biography

'The Matildas are now one of the most beloved national teams in Australia. But who were the women and men who helped build and develop the women's game locally?

'Greg Downes profiles 18 people - some well-known in the football fraternity, others not so well-known - who have made contributions, big and small, to help make the women's game what it is today. 'Dedicated Lives' is a living history to be treasured.

'Based on his PhD dissertation, Greg has talked with, and interviewed, the individuals at length about what brought them into football and, importantly, what has kept them in it.

'At a time when women's football is riding as high as it has ever been, and with Australia sharing co-hosting responsibilities for the 2023 Women's World Cup, 'Dedicated Lives' is a must-read for anyone interested in football history, women's football, or women's sport fighting and winning against the odds generally.' (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon Riding Shotgun : The Autobiography of the Original Wizard of Oz Andy Bernal , Balgowlah Heights : Fair Play Publishing , 2021 26687496 2021 single work autobiography

'The son of Spanish immigrants born in Canberra, Andy Bernal's incredible life journey has spanned three continents - Australia, Europe, and South America - and some of the world's biggest names in football. A graduate of the AIS, he was the first Australian to play in La Liga. He went on to play with Ipswich Town, six seasons with Reading, five seasons with Sydney Olympic in the NSL, and 21 games with the Socceroos from 1989 to 1996. 

'On retirement, he became an agent with global giants SFX which included time spent with David Beckham in Madrid. The low points of his life included being arrested because of a link to a sting operation as part of a global media scandal, followed by further high points via World Cup scouting, and meeting the love of his life.

'Ultimately, 'Riding Shotgun' is also a tale of life, hope, and redemption that is raw, honest, and heartfelt.

'Just as Andy Bernal, defender, left nothing out on the pitch, 'Riding Shotgun' leaves no aspect of Andy's life unexamined or unturned. It is a compelling read.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 3 y separately published work icon The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe : A History of Aboriginal Involvement with the World Game John Maynard , Broome : Magabala Books , 2011 Z1806519 2011 selected work prose

The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe is the untold story of Aboriginal involvement with the 'world game' in our nation's sporting history. The acceptance that Aboriginal players found within the post-World War II migrant communities had a profound impact on their lives... Interweaving personal stories and extensive research with links to the broader Indigenous world community, the book is a celebration of the extraordinary journey taken by Aboriginal sportsmen and women to forge the way ahead for the present talented players.

Source: Magabala Books.

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