Socceroos captain and Football Hall of Fame inductee Gary Marocchi reflects on his 50+ years involvement in the game with Ashley Morrison.
Gary is also one of the true icons of West Australian football. He enjoyed twelve seasons in the local competition with Azzurri and Inglewood Kiev, and played six summers of national league football for Adelaide City, making 117 appearances.
Gary represented West Australia on 22 occasions and also played three times for South Australia. He made his international debut in 1975 and would wear the green and gold of Australia 14 times, 10 of those being ‘A’ fixtures. In 1978 he captained the national team in a friendly series against Greece.
After his playing days ended Gary turned to coaching, with Perth Italia, Perth Kangaroos and the State team. In 1996 he was appointed inaugural coach of Perth Glory, guiding the club through their first two seasons in the national league. He later coached with success at Swan I.C.
Gary was inducted into the Hall of Champions in 1996 and elevated to the Hall of Legends in 2005; he was also inducted into the West Australian Institute of Sport’s Hall of Champions in 1996.