When former Socceroo striker, Adrian 'Noddy' Alston, arrived on the shores of Wollongong in the summer of 1967, his life changed forever when his football boots took him to all parts of the globe while performing for Australia in three consecutive World Cup campaigns.
Alston had departed the muddy and snow-filled grounds of Preston in the north of England at the behest of former Blackpool and England B midfield general, Jim Kelly, to play in the NSW State League with South Coast United.
Kelly, who was a team-mate at Blackpool of the legendary England international flanker, Sir Stanley Matthews, was convinced that Alston’s immaculate dribbling and direct running style were ideal for the hard and bumpy pitches in Australia.
Alston arrived in Wollongong via Bulli Pass, amidst the backdrop of the vast hinterland and breathtaking coastal panorama.
“This was God’s own country”, said Jim Kelly, and Alston understood why his mentor had returned to the South Coast after the memorable grand final win of September 22nd ,1963 when the Kelly Gang outplayed favourites Apia- Leichhardt 4-0 in front of a record Australian club crowd of 30,500 at the Sydney Sports Ground.
Alston’s first year at South Coast United in 1968 was highly productive as he scored twelve goals in the season to cement himself as one of the leading strikers in the NSW State League.
However, 1969 was a year he would never forget.
"I was selected to play for NSW against Victoria alongside future Socceroo team-mates Atti Abonyi, John Warren, Manfred Schaefer, John Watkiss and Ray Baartz and scored two goals in a 4-1 victory”.
I969 also heralded the arrival of the mercurial Peter Wilson, the man with the long hair and extravagant dress sense who was a critical part of the South Coast squad who won the minor premiership that year. He was also destined to become one of the great Socceroo captains.
When Wilson arrived at Sydney Airport, it was Noddy Alston who accompanied club president Trevis Birch to drive him to his new home.
“We were best friends from then on and I played in many internationals with him and under him when he was the Socceroo captain.
“People ask why such a high profile figure as Peter Wilson has no connection to our game but he was always different, and after football he did his own thing.
“From the clothes he wore and the motor bikes and cars he collected, life after football for him took a totally different course.
“My first cap for Australia was against Greece in a 1-0 victory played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and it was the proudest moment of my life as I was no longer a Pommie but green and gold through and through”.
Alston had travelled halfway round the world to play football in Australia but never thought he’d be discovering the other half when he was selected in the Socceroo squad for the first of his three World Cup campaigns in the 1970 World Cup qualifiers.
Australia was drawn to play Japan, South Korea, Rhodesia and Israel to qualify for Mexico City.
“After beating Japan and South Korea in Seoul, we travelled to Mozambique one month later to play Rhodesia where we needed three matches to settle the tie because there were no penalty shootouts in those days”.
The next challenge was the might of Israel in Tel Aviv where the Aussies lost 1-0 and in the return leg in Sydney, one week later, despite the inspiration of 'Skippy' John Warren , the Socceroos drew 1-1 to be eliminated on a 2-1 goal aggregate.
Alston’s thirst for World Cup glory in the 1970 campaign was limited to the bench, but on the appointment of Rale Rasic as national coach for the 1970 World Tour, he became ever-present in the starting lineup.
One of the major highlights of the tour was the 3-1 win against Greece in Athens on the never forgotten day of November 17th, 1970 which was the first victory by an Australian national team on European soil.
Who else but Noddy Alston would score the opening goal of the match when the play was switched from the right to Johnny Warren just outside the penalty area . Warren chested the ball down to Noddy Alston who smashed a right footed volley into the back of the net.
“I remember Rale Rasic had barely sat down before I scored the goal and the sense of pride we all felt that day was immeasurable”.
It was the day when the front page headlines in every Australian daily newspaper celebrated this momentous event in Australian football history.
On that memorable tour, Rale Rasic cemented the squad which would lead to Australia’s first qualification for a World Cup Final Series in West Germany in 1974.
People talk about the qualification for the 2006 World Cup when John Aloisi became an instant celebrity in Australian sport and and world football but those who followed the game in 1973, will say Jim Mackay’s goal on November 13th, 1973 against South Korea when Australia qualified for their first World Cup Finals was far more significant.
“The events of that famous night are always on my mind and Hong Kong has become part of my life, having visited there 28 times since”.
“We approached the match in Hong Kong with great confidence having the luxury of playing on neutral soil.”
“In the previous round, we had beaten Iran 3-0 in Sydney and faced them in Tehran in front of 120,000 hostile supporters in the return leg”.
We somehow survived to the next stage against South Korea by holding the Iranians to a 2-0 scoreline, mainly through the contribution of my ex South Coast United team-mate, Max Tolson, who that day played out of his skin and goalkeeper ,Jim Fraser, who put his body in front of everything the Iranians threw at him”.
For Alston, the qualifying campaign was a personal milestone as he was the top scorer with 4 goals.
On a sentimental note, Alston relates the following event.
“It was massive qualifying for Germany and unbeknown to me, my wife bought tickets for my parents but didn’t book a hotel for them.”
“I was in Hamburg with the squad and my Dad rang me from the airport so I asked where they were staying to which he replied, he didn’t know”.
“The interpreter picked them up at the airport and I convinced Rale Rasic to let me see them”.
“At the same time I spoke to David Jack , the famous football writer and reporter, who offered my parents his room while he moved in with another media colleague”.
“It was one of the most touching moments in my football life”.
Despite the difficult group of East Germany, West Germany and Chile in the first round, Alston received rave reviews from the legendary, West German coach, Helmut Schoen, for his excellent performance against the eventual winners of the tournament.
Pat Jennings, the former Arsenal, Spurs and Northern Ireland goalkeeper was also praiseworthy of Alston’s talent in West Germany.
However, the man who made the most impression on Alston was Franz Beckenbauer, the West German captain , who Alston rated a better player than even Pele.
It was Beckenbauer who played for New York Cosmos in the NASL when Alston was at Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1977-1978 and they clashed several times.
Significantly, on a visit to Sydney in 2006 to promote the German World Cup, Beckenbauer told Alston he should’ve gone to West Germany after the 1974 Cup rather than Luton Town because people in the UK didn’t know him.
Both Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburg had pursued Alston before he made the choice to sign with Luton Town in the English 1st Division.
Despite this decision, Alston had reasonable success in England during his first season, 1974/75 , when he scored 8 goals in twenty matches and in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Highbury, he scored a goal and was made an offer by the Gunners.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing at Kenilworth Road as Alston recalls.
“Manager, Harry Haslam, left me out of the team one day and explained the game was different in England and I had to get used to it”.
Noddy replied as only he could,” I’ve just played against Beckenbauer and he’s still holding the World Cup”.
Unfortunately, Luton was relegated from the first Division that season and shortly after Alston transferred to Cardiff City in the 2nd Division where he managed to score 16 goals in that 1975/76 season
His success for Cardiff was not unnoticed and in the winter of 1976, Alston received a call from Eddie Firmani, the coach of Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL.
In early 1977, Alston signed at Tampa for a weekly wage of US $1,600 , double his wage with Cardiff and a signing on fee of $20,000 while the club paid $250,000 for his transfer.
“I remember my first match was a preseason indoor tournament and each player was dropped by helicopter onto a sixty foot yacht to the applause of 12,000 fans”.
It was American hype but Alston wasn’t dreaming and when he played the New York Cosmos whose team included Pele, Beckenbauer and Chinaglia at Yankee Stadium in front of 78,000 people, his star had surely shone.
“What stood out in the NASL was that all these superstars were in the U.S.A. , not in the UK”.
After his playing career finished in 1978 due to a cruciate ligament injury he sustained at Tampa Bay, Alston returned to Wollongong in 1982...
He coached Wollongong City for a brief stint in the N.S.L before he embarked on his long coaching journey in the Illawarra Premier League, including a thirteen year spell at Port Kembla where he won 26 trophies, and in 2006 guided Bulli to the grandfinal , after they finished eleventh in the previous season.
At the time, Alston was asked whether he would like to be involved at a higher level in football to which he responded.
“I’ve played with the best against the best in 43 countries and when Beckenbauer came to Sydney in March 2006 on the Welcome Tour, I was the first person he approached at a function in the Rocks”.
“What more can football give me “?
Perhaps, the final word about Noddy Alston was expressed only last week by former Socceroo goalkeeper and FA Board member, Jack Reilly, who played in the three matches at the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany.
“Noddy Alston always lifted the spirits of his Socceroo team-mates to raise their performance to a higher level”.