Soccer Diplomacy by Heather L. Dichter;

Author:Heather L. Dichter;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sheilas, Wogs, and Poofters in a War Zone

The “Socceroos” and the 1967 Friendly Nations Tournament in Vietnam

Erik Nielsen

Until January 31, 2015, the Australian men’s national soccer team had won only one major international trophy. That night’s extra-time victory against South Korea in the Asian Cup final supplemented another victory against that country under altogether different circumstances. The 1967 National Day Tournament was won in Saigon during a bloody war, amid great hardship for the team. The aftermath of the tour provoked a tension between the (admittedly partial) archival record and team captain Johnny Warren’s belief that the Australian Federal government had sent the team as part of a propaganda offensive. An examination of this tension tells much about the perceived role that sport has played in Australia’s diplomatic approach and about the extent to which this perception is supported by the historical record. The inconsistencies that such an examination reveals illuminate the cultural forces that mediate the popular understanding of these diplomatic efforts. This chapter will show that the most important cultural forces that mediated the popular understanding of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam in general are particularly relevant to how the diplomatic importance of the 1967 Australian soccer tour to Vietnam is perceived.

Engagement with East Asia was a key plank of Australia’s diplomatic approach in the years following the Second World War. While the White Australia policy continued to restrict Asian immigration in particular to Australia, the policy of “Forward Defence” saw Australia militarily and politically project into the Asian theater. Australian military personnel played a key role in the occupation of Japan and participated in the Malayan Emergency. Between 1955 and 1988, the Royal Australian Air Force maintained a base at Butterworth on the Malay Peninsula, complete with the Australian families of servicemen being housed in the nearby town of Penang. Australia also contributed to the Colombo Plan, which saw students from across Asia study at Australian universities. Like military action in Southeast Asia, which included participation in the Vietnam War, the Colombo Plan aimed to prevent the spread of communism in the region.1

While the Asian region was an increasingly important focus of Australian diplomacy, the role that sport played in the nation’s diplomatic efforts remains unclear. Public servants working on the Colombo Plan expressed sporadic interest in using sport to further the program’s goals, although it is unclear whether the idea gained purchase with decision makers. The 1967 Australian soccer tour to Vietnam highlights the difficulties in assessing the role of sport in Australia’s diplomatic efforts. The job of historians is made difficult by the National Archives of Australia’s opaque approach to allowing access to records. As a result, engagement with unusual sources and debates is necessary to understand and assess the impact of Australian sport diplomacy on Australian and international political culture. The way that the shifting American approaches to memorializing Vietnam have shaped Australian responses to the same conflict is key to understanding Warren’s belief that decisions made by the Australian government placed the team at significant and unjustified risk.

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