The Johnny Warren Community has an Australian fan-base of approximately 6,000 members and growing every week. We aim to achieve two goals: to keep the legacy of Australian football’s greatest visionary alive and relevant, and share the history of Australian football with its fans.
The JWC is supported by Johnny’s family and friends. Johnny’s daughter, Shannon Warren, has provided numerous never-before-seen family photos and videos of Johnny for the fans to have an insight into the man, not just the football icon.
As a way of promoting Johnny’s legacy and contribution to the beautiful game, the JWC has six exclusive t-shirts on sale, and available online now, for fans to wear with pride. All proceeds go to grassroots football.
Head to the website for all the details: johnnywarren.net.au – you can find all of our social media links there. Like, follow – get on board.
You can leave your tribute to Johnny there.
Can you believe it’s been 10 years?
Biography
John (Johnny) Norman Warren was born in Sydney in 1943 and began playing club football at age 10. By 1960, he was playing first grade football in the New South Wales State League, initially with Canterbury and then St George, where he won three Grand Finals.
He debuted for his country against Cambodia in 1965 and was made captain in 1967, before a career-threatening knee injury sustained in 1970 sidelined him for 15 months. He came back to play a part in Australia’s successful qualifying campaign for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, suffering a foot injury during the 2-0 loss to East Germany in the tournament proper, which ruled him out of Australia’s remaining games.
He hung up his boots after the tournament, having played 62 internationals, 42 classed as A-internationals. The rest of his life was filled with coaching, preaching and commentating on the game he loved.
He was made a Member of the British Empire in 1974, and signed on as coach of Canberra City following the formation of the National Soccer League in 1977.
In 1988, he was one of 200 sports stars to be inducted into Australia’s Hall of Fame, and two years later the NSL announced the Warren Medal as its “Player of the Year” award.
He was one of the inaugural inductees into the Australian Football (then Soccer) Hall of Fame in 1999, and was included on the Queen’s Birthday honours list in 2002, receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia.
In the same year, he released the best-selling book, Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters, which detailed his experiences and visions for the game in Australia. Warren was an integral part of the establishment of the A-League, having contributed to Soccer Australia’s official inquiry into the state of the game in this country.
In 2004, Warren joined distinguished stars such as Pelé, John Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Eusébio in being honoured with FIFA’s Centennial Order of Merit.
Former Socceroo and media colleague Andy Harper, who helped Warren pen his book, said he would be remembered as a visionary.
Warren died on 6 November, 2004 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was 61.
Awards
• Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE): 1974
• Sport Australia Hall of Fame Inductee: 1988
• FFA Hall of Champions Inductee: 1999
• Australian Sports Medal: 2000
• Centenary Medal: 2001
• ACT Sport Hall of Fame Inductee: 2002
• Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM): 2002
• FIFA Centennial Order of Merit: 2004
• Australian Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award: 2004
