NSL icon Francis Awaritefe on the night Wollongong hosted the Socceroos

Three-time Socceroo Francis Awaritefe reflects on playing at the once-home of Illawarra football, Brandon Park, the ground where he scored his only international goal 26 years ago.

This week marks 26 years since the first, and last time, the Socceroos came to Wollongong.

Australia, coached by Eddie Thomson, took on Japan in front of a crowd of 8396 people at the Brandon Park on February 10, 1996.

The Socceroos featured some all-time greats including Alex Tobin and skipper Paul Wade, but a red card for journeyman defender Milan Blagojevic helped the Blue Samurai run out 4-1 victors.

The goalscorer for Australia was 31-year-old Francis Awaritefe — one of the iconic strikers of the National Soccer League era.

An aerial shot of Brandon Park in the 1990s. Picture: Austadiums

It was Awaritefe’s first international cap in Australia with his first and second match for the Socceroos coming three years earlier in South Korea.

Awaritefe entered the game at halftime for John Markovski, himself another great NSL striker, with his goal coming with just a few minutes remaining.

“I remember the game quite well,” Awaritefe told The Illawarra Star.

“It was my first game [for the Socceroos] in Australia. I had been out of the squad for a few years, I’d just joined Marconi and came in as a replacement because Warren Spink had got injured.

“I was fortunate to score the goal for Australia, a consolation goal which was set up by Goran Lozanovski who was a really good player, a fantastic crosser of the ball. I remember being at the far post and I just had to make sure I accurately guided the ball into the bottom corner.

“It’s a great feeling to score for your country in international football, a really fantastic feeling.”

Australia extracted revenge in the second friendly at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium with Damian Mori, Matt Bingley and Joe Spiteri netting in a 3-0 win.

Awaritefe didn’t get on the park with the match in Wollongong being his third and final cap for London-born Socceroo who was up against a plethora of prolific forwards such as Paul Trimboli, Graham Arnold and Mark Viduka.

Awaritefe continued in the NSL with Marconi and Sydney United before retiring with Rockdale in 2008. He scored more than 150 goals in nearly 400 professional matches.

Francis Awaritefe playing for the Socceroos in a trial against West Adelaide at Hindmarsh Stadium in 1993.

Since calling time on his playing career, Awaritefe has worked with SBS as a football analyst and in 2015 he had a short spell as the footballing director with A-League giants Melbourne Victory.

Assisted by being a qualified lawyer, Awaritefe has used his skills to be a fierce human rights advocate while also holding a prominent position within Professional Footballers Australia.

The match against Japan wasn’t Awaritefe’s only trip to Brandon Park with the striker facing off against the Wollongong Wolves a number of times at the hallowed ground.

“I played a few games at Brandon Park against the Wolves,” he recalled.

“It was an openish field and when it was windy you would certainly feel it when the breeze came over the ocean, but it was always fun.

“Towards the end I played one or two games [against the Wolves] at Win Stadium, but Brandon Park holds a lot of memories for a lot of players who played in the NSL, especially for the Wolves.”

Awaritefe said more grounds like Win Stadium, which hosts the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Wolves, need to become prevalent in the A-league.

The Wollongong Wolves now play out of Win Stadium and Albert Butler Memorial Park. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

“For me one of the key structural longer-term issues for the game is the need to build more boutique football stadiums,” he said.

“The key is creating an atmosphere, there’s no use playing without an atmosphere because you’re taking away a key selling point.

“The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium and Netstrata Jubilee Stadium are great when the crowd is packed in and tight. It’s one of the unique selling points of football that those in other sports are attracted to.

“Win Stadium is a good stadium for football. I have been there to watch the A-League and it can generate a good atmosphere. When Wellington are playing there though, it’s not quite the same as if it was a local team that fans could get behind.”

Any future games wouldn’t be played at Brandon Park, with the stadium consigned to the annals of time following a controversial deal which left the Wolves as nomads in their own town.

The University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus now occupies the area, between Wollongong and Fairy Meadow, with the thousands of people passing through its doors each year none the wiser to it being on the land that once held the home of the two-time NSL champions.

In June it will be 10 years since a 17-year-old Caitlin Foord and the Matildas played a double header against New Zealand at Wollongong’s Win Stadium.

Shellharbour’s Caitlin Foord playing against New Zealand in 2012. Picture: AAP/Paul Miller

A year on the Tillys beat China 2-0 in a friendly on the leisure coast, but they haven’t been back since.

Football Australia sent the Olyroos to the Gong in 2019 for a clash with the OlyWhites, but one wonders if the city, which has produced some of Australia’s best ever footballers, will host the Socceroos or the Matildas again?