Australia laments passing of an icon
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Australia is mourning arguably the game’s greatest football pioneer Down Under after Joe Marston passed away on Sunday, aged 89.
Football has been played in Australia since 1880, but it was the achievements of Marston during the 1950s that indirectly helped paved the way for many compatriots to head to Europe decades later.
Marston turned away from a happy life as a footballer for Sydney’s Leichhardt-Annandale in winter, and surf lifesaver at Whale Beach in summer, for a unlikely shot at the big time in England in 1950.
He eventually returned home five years having helped Preston North End win the Second Division and reach the FA Cup final. In his final season, Marston (above centre) assumed the captain’s armband from the legendary Tom Finney. The Sydneysider made such an impression at Deepdale that he is ranked fourth in the club’s all-time list of greats.
Marston was the only Australian national team player to feature in a FA Cup final until Tim Cahill repeated the feat in 1950, exactly 50 years later.
Marston, a central defender, played 37 times for Australia in an era when national team matches were rare. He is also often considered Australia’s first locally born national team coach, leading the team in the 1958 series against New Zealand.
Marston was also renowned for his gentlemanly nature and modesty. "Joe was a much-loved and revered figure, but his humility ensured there was never any fuss,” said Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop. “Joe was and will always remain a true Aussie hero."
He had been Australia’s oldest living Socceroo until his passing on the weekend, five weeks shy of his 90th birthday.