Les Scheinflug: The Godfather of Australian youth football

Among the many perks of being a football writer for over 40 years, the one that has stood out for me is getting to meet and interview so many great players and coaches.

Pele, Kevin Keegan, Sir Alex Ferguson, Maradona, George Best, Sir Bobby Robson, Steve Gerrard - and a host more that have slipped my mind - stand out for me.

Of course, there are also a myriad local players and coaches who have made an impact with me - John Kosmina, the late Eddie Thomson, Graham Arnold, the late Ian Gray and on and on.

Socceroos legendary coach Rale Rasic obviously stands out, not only because of his achievements and status but because of our friendship that goes back 35 years.

It was an honour when he asked me to write his book.

But as much as Rale will always be close to my heart, there is one man who stands above all else and is, in my honest opinion, the true King of Australian football and the Godfather of Australian youth football - Les Scheinflug.

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In the days before the national competition and long before the glitz and glamour of European football became a thing in this country, my interest was piqued by my father, who regularly took me to games in the NSW league involving Prague FC.

It was during those magical days in the early 1960s that Les, an integral part of that wonderful Prague outfit, became my earliest  footballing hero.

Not in my wildest dreams did I expect that not only would I eventually get to interview Les, but we would become great mates. And remain so until this day.

I regard Les as a mentor and father-like figure who always had time for me and was always willing to share his vast knowledge.


Given we lived about 15 minutes away from each other in south western Sydney, many a time I would drive Les to and from various functions.

The hours spent in the car listening to his many stories and learning valuable lessons about football and life will stay with me forever.

Our friendship had many benefits, none the least being the fact I was allowed some incredible access during his time as a club, national team and national youth coach.

I remember on the eve of the World Cup qualifier against Iran at the MCG, I came up with the idea of getting a photo of Harry Kewell and Jimmy Mackay to run in The Australian.

Mackay had scored the goal that took the Socceroos to the 1974 World Cup finals and our hopes of a repeat were now pinned on the young shoulders of Kewell.

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I had hit a few road blocks in organising the photo, but, as the team walked down to the MCG before a training session, I sidled up along Les and told him what I wanted.

He winked, turned, went up to Kewell, had a word, then led him to me, Mackay, our photographer and the news journalist who I had suggested write the story. The story appeared in The Australian the next day.

During the 1999 under 17s World youth cup campaign in New Zealand, which the Joeys made the final only to lose to Brazil in a penalty shoot out, Les invited me to dinner on the eve of the final.

I sat next to him and at one stage he leaned over, grabbed my arm and said: “I can feel something special is going to happen tomorrow.”

Sadly it wasn’t to be, but what an incredible achievement from the Joeys - something that made big news back home even in defeat.

Les does not get the credit he deserves given his remarkable contribution to Australian soccer at just about every level.

How about these statistics for Les:

  • The first man to captain Australia in a World Cup (qualifier).
  • Scored our first World Cup (qualifier) goal.
  • Coached the Socceroos.
  • Was assistant coach to Rale Rasic at Australia’s first World Cup finals appearance.
  • Assistant to the likes of Rudi Gutendorf, Eddie Thomson and Terry Venables during various Socceroos World Cup qualifying campaigns.
  • NSL coach of the year after leading Marconi to the title.
  • Hall of fame inductee.
  • Twice took the Young Socceroos to under 19s World Youth Cup semi-finals.
  • Took the Joeys to the final of the World Youth under 17s Cup.

It’s a resume unmatched, and probably will never be matched, in Australian soccer history.

We continue to talk regularly as Les still takes a keen interest in the game though he is restricted in his movements because of a bad back. But, his mind and humour are still as sharp as ever.

Whenever the history of Australian soccer is discussed, you can be sure Les Scheinflug’s fingerprints will be all over it.

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This article was originally published on the Socceroos website.
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