For those of you on this forum who don't know of Johnny Warren, please read the following obituary: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Soccer/Johnny-Warren-dead/2004/11/06/1099547430987.html
Another fuller obit & bio from the premier AUS football TV network (SBS) for which he did a lot of work: http://www3.sbs.com.au/home/index.php3?id=51511
I'm ashamed I'd never heard of this guy. Shame on me. R.I.P. to a man who obviously loved the game very much. Thanks for the link, I'm glad I can now (belatedly) appreciate this guy.
I think Craig Foster put it best today when he said (paraphrasing) 'Johhny represented everything we loive about Australian soccer.' A Socceroo captain, a world cup hero, a sincerely devoted fan and above the greatest preacher Australian football will ever have-this is a truly sad day for the game in Australia. 'Wog' Warren-with Love from everyone who wished they knew you (i.e. Me), rest in peace.
R.I.P Sad to see such a great man go who was so passionate about football in Australia. "I want Australia to embrace this fabulous game," "It's not 'wog-ball'. This is the game of the world" Johnny Warren Amen to that
Very much true. As an immigrant to Australia, I never got to see Johnny Warren play (a bit before my time, too)-- but as a commentator, I thought he was top-notch and world class. After the USA lost to Germany in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, he said on SBS (much to Les Murray's amazement) that he felt the better team had lost. That quote was in my signature here on BigSoccer up until The Great Crash of '02. Also, in one of my own many media endeavors, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Mr. Warren in the media box at Bob Jane Stadium in South Melbourne, for a South Melbourne v Perth Glory NSL match roughly two years ago, when he was providing special comments on the match back to a mainly Western Australian audience. That was a sincere pleasure, just to listen to him work in person, and definitely one of my professional highlights (while I've been in Australia, anyway)... the man was a true artist. Johhny Warren obituary -- Soccernet Last man to captain Australia in a World Cup finals, too... maybe Frank Farina's men will play an inspired WCQ campaign in his memory.
10 years have passed, and he's still in our thoughts. It was one year and one day after he passed that we qualified for our 2nd World Cup, and have now made 3 in a row. We have reached the final of the Asian Cup, the A-League has grown into a league that we can be proud of, and an Australian club has won the Asian Champions League. He was right. He told us so.