Roy Hay’s induction into the Football Australia Hall of Fame

 

 

 

Roy Hay was inducted into Football Australia’s Hall of Fame, along with Sharon Black and Tim Cahill, before the Matildas-New Zealand friendly at Cooper’s Stadium in Adelaide last Tuesday night. The esteem in which he is held comes from his commitment to the researching, writing and broadcasting of football in Australia for almost half a century and this award recognises the impact he has had.

Roy’s histories of Australian football tell the story of the game on the pitch (and in the boardroom), while offering insights into the place of soccer in the life of the nation. As much as they record the action on the field at the top level, they also present an understanding of the game in its social context, the story of its people and the story of the migrant experience. Roy has brought to our attention over many years, the enormous influence soccer has had on Australian life and its importance in the fabric of Australian society. Soccer clubs have played a significant role in communities, often as the first social institution with which migrants engaged when they arrived here at the end of the earth. They still do.

Roy and his wife Frances have a deep understanding of that migrant experience, arriving in Australia in 1977, for Roy to take up a position as an academic historian at Deakin University in Geelong. They landed with a couple of young kids, a framed Oxford Blitt. degree, and serious Scottish accents. They brought with them a wonderful optimism, born of a faith in life, a belief in people’s capacity for good, and in their desire to build genuine communities. They were also carrying a disorder, happily suffered around the world, but especially in the west of Scotland: football madness.

Roy’s own playing career is worthy of exploration at another time, but it’s safe to say his performances haven’t had the publicity they deserve. His grandfather James ‘Dun’ Hay  who played with Ayr United, Celtic, Newcastle United and the Scottish national team, captaining all four, is better known.

Roy’s book about him is just one one of many, many books Roy has written or contributed to. The story of James ‘Dun’ Hay and some of the other books penned across his prolific career are discussed in an article he wrote for this site. [The photo of the pile is rather impressive!]

I will mention one: The History of Football in Australia written with his friend and colleague, Bill Murray, another Scotsman who, of course, was at the function to celebrate with the Hays.

 

 

 

It is his commitment to bringing the story of soccer to the Australian people that has won Roy such respect. His view of academic life has always had, at its core, the responsibility of the historian to bring their work to a wide audience – accessible to all.

Roy was invited to say a few words. He opened with typical Hay playfulness. “I thought you had to be dead to get one of these.”

He continued…

We pay homage to those who have gone before us in telling the story of our great game.

Sid Grant, Laurie Schwab, Les Shorrock, Johnny Warren, Phil Mosely, Mike Cockerill, Ted Simmons, John Maynard, Les Murray, Andy Harper and including Joe Gorman, Jason Goldsmith and our statistician and producer of fantastic biographies of the stars, Andrew Howe, and now the bloggers and masters of the electronic media, including Ian Syson and Athas Zafiris.

At last, the women’s game is getting the recognition it has deserved thanks to Marion Stell, Fiona Crawford, Lee McGowan and Heather Reid. Several of the current Matildas we will be seeing tonight are telling their own stories.

So Bill Murray and I stand on the shoulders of or alongside a host of masters of the history of the game, and we are deeply appreciative of this honour bestowed on us. We see it as recognition of the importance of historians continuing to tell the people of Australia the ongoing story of the world game in this country.

We are a tiny part of the greatest participation sport in the country and of the world and we appreciate very much the honour that has been bestowed on us. Thank you very much indeed.

 

 

I first met Roy at an academic conference in 1995. We remained in touch and have become great friends over the years. We especially enjoyed time together in 2010 in Canberra when Roy and Frances stayed at Manning Clark House, while they were fossicking for gems, historical ones, at the National Library of Australia. Frances has played a big part in their writing and publishing projects.

Roy has been a mainstay of The Footy Almanac over the years as a writer, reviewer, speaker and so on. He has always had an unshakable belief in what the Almanac Project is, and his support and encouragement have often charged batteries in moments when they were getting a little low.

Evie Harms (centre back, Barossa United FC Under 14s)  and I (right wing, Goombungee FC Under 15s) and I were thrilled to be invited to this special occasion. It was a brilliant celebration of the inductees, especially Roy, and the Matildas did enough to beat New Zealand 2-0.

 

 

 

Hearty congratulations to you Roy, and Frances, from the Harms Family and from the Footy Almanac community.

 

Read articles from Roy Hay HERE.

 

Read more from John Harms HERE.

 

 

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