Football United vs Soccer City

Episode 68 Steve Sowry
Welcome to episode 68 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast, proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football community of the Illawarra, Australia, Barcelona, Richardson and elsewhere around the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Steve Sowry is our interviewee in episode 68. Born in Seacroft Leeds in the United Kingdom in 1951, Steve enjoyed listening to football on the radio, watching his Father play the game and playing goalkeeper for his primary and high schools. In 1962 his Family emigrated to Australia and it is here where his football journey in Oz began.
We explore his time at Balgownie Hostel Junior Soccer Club, going from goalkeeper to striker and playing for the Hostel’s senior team. Additionally we examine his time at the German influenced North Wollongong Soccer Club, Figtree SC, Fairy Meadow United SC and finally the remainder of his football career with Figtree SC as a player and as a coach.
It was absolutely brilliant listening to Steve recalling his footballing journey, especially when we delve into his thoughts on former team mates, games played, coaches and opponents. I sincerely thank and appreciate the time Steve took in recording this episode. Please enjoy episode 68!

Episode 67 Eric Thompson (Part 3)
Welcome to episode 67 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast, proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football community of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Episode 67 will be split into multiple parts and will delve into a wonderful servant of Illawarra football, Eric Thompson.
From the late 1960s through to his passing in 2015 Eric Thompson has played alongside, coached, mentored, supported and encouraged hundreds of people in the Illawarra football community.
The width and depth of Eric’s football career is immense. I have tried to place the interviews I have collected in date order but there are times where people interact with Eric multiple times so it is not always possible. However it is clear that we have only touched the surface with people’s memories of Eric but I truly believe what is presented gives an honest reflection of the man and his football personality. And please note this podcast is dynamic and can be added to in the future so please contact me if you want to record your memories of Eric.
It was a privilege to organise and record people’s memories of Eric. I am truly indebted to the many people who have given up their time, memories and emotions by being part of this podcast.
Please note as this episode was recorded over mobile phones there are some slight issues at times with audio quality and for that I apologise. Please enjoy part 3 of episode 67!
Episode 67 - Part 3 - IntervieweesGeorge PrentoskiJohn KrajnovicIcko AtanasoskiJohnny SimonovskiJason HiggsJeff AllportPablo NeiraJohn FrewGeorge AntoniouJason LimaKrste KojoskiSebastian DallasStefan Dimoski

Episode 67 Eric Thompson (Part 2)
Welcome to episode 67 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast, proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football community of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Episode 67 will be split into multiple parts and will delve into a wonderful servant of Illawarra football, Eric Thompson.
From the late 1960s through to his passing in 2015 Eric Thompson has played alongside, coached, mentored, supported and encouraged hundreds of people in the Illawarra football community.
The width and depth of Eric’s football career is immense. I have tried to place the interviews I have collected in date order but there are times where people interact with Eric multiple times so it is not always possible. However it is clear that we have only touched the surface with people’s memories of Eric but I truly believe what is presented gives an honest reflection of the man and his football personality. And please note this podcast is dynamic and can be added to in the future so please contact me if you want to record your memories of Eric.
It was a privilege to organise and record people’s memories of Eric. I am truly indebted to the many people who have given up their time, memories and emotions by being part of this podcast.
Please note as this episode was recorded over mobile phones there are some slight issues at times with audio quality and for that I apologise. Please enjoy part 2 of episode 67!
Episode 67 - Part 2 - IntervieweesPaul DallasBrendon FloodGarth MortonDean MerolaRichard PeilAndrew NaylorGlenn KeartonMatt HorsleyGraham Lovett

Episode 67 Eric Thompson (Part 1)
Welcome to episode 67 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast, proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football community of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Episode 67 will be split into multiple parts and will delve into a wonderful servant of Illawarra football, Eric Thompson.
From the late 1960s through to his passing in 2015 Eric Thompson has played alongside, coached, mentored, supported and encouraged hundreds of people in the Illawarra football community.
The width and depth of Eric’s football career is immense. I have tried to place the interviews I have collected in date order but there are times where people interact with Eric multiple times so it is not always possible. However it is clear that we have only touched the surface with people’s memories of Eric but I truly believe what is presented gives an honest reflection of the man and his football personality. And please note this podcast is dynamic and can be added to in the future so please contact me if you want to record your memories of Eric.
It was a privilege to organise and record people’s memories of Eric. I am truly indebted to the many people who have given up their time, memories and emotions by being part of this podcast.
Please note as this episode was recorded over mobile phones there are some slight issues at times with audio quality and for that I apologise. Please enjoy part 1 of episode 67!
Episode 67 - Part 1 - IntervieweesGary MastersNeil McKinleyPaul CavallariAndy MullanPhil ScottDavid CurleyGreg WatersMark SweeneyRoss EmertonAndrew Christie

Welcome to episode 66 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast, proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football community of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thanks to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Daniel Hastings is our interviewee in episode 66. Daniel started his football journey at Abbotsford JSC in Sydney before a family move to the Illawarra meant that he joined Figtree JSC. From here Daniel experienced Figtree JSC, Illawarra junior representative football teams before entering the senior ranks with the Wollongong Wolves NSL youth team.
During his stint with the Wolves youth team, Daniel joined Lysaghts in the IPL and during the next three decades also had stints in the IPL, Conference league and amateur leagues with West Figtree, Northern United, Western Suburbs, Bulli, Berkeley and a few amateur football teams such as Harp Olympic, Mates United and the Coledale Waves.
Daniel has experienced quite a bit as a first grade footballer and has interacted with many quality Illawarra football people during his football journey. Add in a brief stint with the Wollongong Wolves as a board member and his family’s involvement in the game and you can understand why Daniel is a passionate footballer and footballing person in the region.
It was absolutely fantastic listening to Daniel talk about his footballing journey. I sincerely thank and appreciate the time Daniel took in recording this episode. Please note as this episode was recorded over mobile phones there are some slight issues at times with audio quality and for that I apologise. Please enjoy episode 66!

Welcome to episode 65 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast proudly brought to you by H. Parsons Funeral Directors, an Australian family owned and operated funeral director, serving the Illawarra since 1893.
Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football public of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the brilliant people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Norm Boardman is our interviewee in episode 65. A humble and passionate football man, Norm started his journey at East Bankstown Soccer Club and it is here where he learnt about the game and made some great friendships amongst fantastic people.
It is apparent when listening to Norm that he has acquired a wide array of experience and diversity in his appointments. He seems to challenge himself all the time as a coach and as a person. For Norm, self reflection is an important asset to use and he utilises this for the benefit of himself and others.
He is passionate about the game and coaching, he believes no matter what level a player is at they deserve to get coached properly and reach their maximum potential. He has coached in various positions across the different tiers in Australian football but ultimately he loves being on the ground because when he has his boots on working with kids, players and parents that is where he is the happiest as a coach.
It was truly fascinating and an honour to hear about his footballing journey. I sincerely thank and appreciate the time Norm took in recording this episode. He has no plans to retire and nor should he, based on the passion I hear in his voice. Please note as this episode was recorded over mobile phones there are some slight issues at times with audio quality and for that I apologise. Please enjoy episode 65!

Episode 64 David Graovac
Welcome everybody to episode 64 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast. Firstly I would like to sincerely thank all of the interviewees, listeners and the football public of the Illawarra, Australia and the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the great people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
David Graovac is our interviewee in episode 64. This very talented midfielder who is synonymous with the White Eagles (initially Wollongong White Eagles and then the Albion Park White Eagles) discusses his football journey, which spans over three decades in the Illawarra.
David details his time watching Wollongong White Eagles as a boy at Herb Clunas Oval with his Grandfather, his junior football journey with Wollongong Olympic, Figtree and the Illawarra Lions junior representative teams. He delves into his senior career with the White Eagles, a club where he spent 17 seasons.
It was fantastic to hear David’s recollections about parts of his footballing journey. My appreciation and respect go out to him and his Family for giving up their time, so I could record this interview in their home. Note that at the end of David’s interview there is an additional few minutes of a chat I recorded with Harvey Rodriguez a former teammate and friend. Thanks to Harvey for giving us further insight into David the player. Please enjoy episode 64!

Episode 63 June 1981
Welcome everybody to episode 63 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast. There are some exciting interviews to come, which will cover people from different decades and clubs. I apologise for the lack of content in recent times, however synchronising my timetable with potential interviewees' timetables has been hard but please be patient. And remember I sincerely appreciate the people who support this podcast.
While researching the upcoming interviews I am reading about different and interesting periods in the Illawarra game. It occurred to me it may potentially be beneficial to record some podcasts regarding this material, which is derived mainly from newspapers.
So in each of these review episodes, I will pick a month from yesteryear and read through the information from newspapers, programmes and other items that I have been obtained.
Now the majority of this material is viewed through the prism of the journalist or person writing the article and or the people they are interviewing. So there will be counter views regarding the games, people and clubs that are presented in this podcast. Plus there will be some errors with the spelling of names and mispronunciations by me, for that I apologise in advance.
Please be aware this podcast will not examine everything that occurred in the month being reviewed and will have information missing and of course there may be errors. The idea of the podcast is to relive a small parcel of what was happening at the time. So from this perspective I hope you enjoy what is presented.
In this episode we examine June 1981.

Welcome everybody to episode 62 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast. There are some exciting interviews to come, which will cover people from different decades and clubs. I apologise for the lack of content in recent times, however synchronising my timetable with potential interviewees’ timetables in the past few months has been hard but please be patient. And remember I sincerely appreciate the people who support this podcast.
Peter Glass is our interviewee in episode 62. Born in 1941, Peter grew up in the northern suburbs of the Illawarra and started playing soccer with Woonona Primary School. After Woonona Primary he then played for Bulli Junior Soccer Club, Illawarra junior representative teams, Corrimal High School, Bulli Senior Soccer Club as a 15 year old in the IDSA league, Woonona-Bulli in the Association state league, Woonona in the IDSA league, South Coast United in the Federation and Corrimal Rangers.
Peter played and watched football in the Illawarra during the 1950s and 1960s, an important time for the game in this region. He talks about great players from the era such as Charlie Stewart, Billy Williams, Keith Learmonth along with discussing games he went to watch such as the 1951 English touring team and the 1955 Rapid Vienna tour.
Peter talks about the NSW football association/federation split of the late 1950s, the early years of South Coast United, Jimmy Kelly and other football snippets.
It was fantastic to hear Peter’s recollections about parts of his footballing journey. My appreciation and respect go out to him for giving up a couple of hours to record this podcast. Please note there are some audio issues due to recording on my mobile phone and I sincerely apologise for these issues. Please enjoy episode 62!

Episode 61 Matt Callahan
Welcome everybody to episode 61 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast. Sincere thanks to all the interviewees, listeners and the football public of the Illawarra, Australia and around the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the great people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.
Matt Callahan is our interviewee in episode 61. A boy from Helensburgh, a town steeped in football history, Matt is a player and coach who has definitely made an imprint into our football history with his stints with Helensburgh, Illawarra junior reps, Bulli, Wollongong Wolves and Port Kembla. A midfielder with a nice left peg, Matt takes the listener through his footballing journey over the last four decades.
It was fantastic to hear his recollections about parts of his career with some of the biggest clubs in the region. My appreciation and respect go out to him for giving up a couple of hours to record this podcast. Please enjoy episode 61!