A   Review – by Roger Sleeman

 

Since the late 1950’s, Scottish footballers have exerted a major influence on the evolution of the Australian game.

Many of these were successful professional players in their homeland but saw the opportunity to make a better life in Australia.

Since 1958, when I first started to follow the Australian game, a long list has emerged who made a major contribution, including , Bill Westwater, Jock Aird, George McCulloch, Gerry Hood, Jim Christie, Doug Brown, John Gardiner, George Campbell,Willie Hamilton, Rob McGinn and probably the greatest of all, Willie Wallace.

Some obtained Australian citizenship and played for Australia, including Hammy McMeechan, Jimmy Pearson, Archie Blue, Pat Hughes, Tommy McColl, Willie Rutherford, Alan Marnoch, George Keith, David Keddie, George Blues, Bobby Hogg, Kenny Murphy, Joe Watson, Alex Robertson, Jack Reilly, Jimmy Rooney and Jim Mackay, the scorer of that magnificent goal which gained the Socceroos qualification to the 1974 World Cup finals.

Enter Lawrie Mckinna, the former Kilmarnock striker, who certainly had a hard act to follow when he immigrated to Australia in the winter of 1986 to play for Box Hill in the Victorian State League and subsequently carve a successful career in the NSL, and NSW State League with Blacktown City

Mckinna is a humble man and throughout the book he understates his playing ability but he was a bustling central striker with two great feet and powerful shooting technique who knew how to use his body to win and shield the ball to neutralise his opponents’effectiveness.

Unlike many of the players mentioned above whose involvement in the game ended after their playing careers ceased, mainly due to limited opportunities, Mckinna has etched his mark in Australia football culture by successfully outmanoeuvring all obstacles and capitalising on every opportunity.

In this context, the book is a rag to riches story of a professional footballer who emerged from a tough upbringing in Scotland to become a highly successful player, coach and politician.

When Dave Mitchell and McKinna were appointed the first coaches of Parramatta Power in 1999, a new dawn had begun with the club being backed by the affluent Parramatta Leagues Club.

However, even with a talent pool much stronger than most A-League clubs today, the club disappeared with the demise of the NSL in 2004.

Only a few weeks ago, Mckinna stated they were just three or four years too early at Parramatta Power to take football to the Western Suburbs before the Wanderers were born.

McKinna pulls no punches in the book, even his first year at the Mariners when he didn’t have a contract but still won the coach of the year award for the A- League.

Even the laughable opinion of Mariners CEO, Lyall Gorman, that Mile Jedinak wasn’t good enough to sign in 2007 was shrugged off by McKinna.

As the first writer in the country to conduct a major interview with Jedinak in 2007, I can vouch there was no doubt McKinna knew his man.

The politics of football were a great learning ground for Mckinna in his political career as the Lord Mayor of Gosford.

He served the Central Coast with great distinction and the challenges he encountered in the position make for fascinating reading.

What is more pleasing is his appointment as CEO of Newcastle Jets because it conveys a message that past players want to be employed in key positions within the game.

With Jacob Burns as General Manager of Football at Perth Glory and Paul Trimboli, Operations Manager of  Melbourne Victory, there is finally an expectation that former players will be critically involved in the management of the game.

Hopefully, with Mckinna at the helm of the Jets, the glory days when Energy Australia Stadium was full, will return.

This book represents a promise of things to come as Lawrie McKinna accepts a new challenge in his football life.

It should be read by all football lovers, people in the game who should understand what real passion for the game means, young players who aspire to reach professional ranks and all sports lovers who respect the long road to success.

Adrian Deans should be highly commended for bringing Mckinna’s story to life to add to his successful stable of football stories.