Raskopoulos inducted into the FFA Hall of Fame
Former Sydney Olympic, Earlwood Wanderers and Socceroo Peter Raskopoulos was officially inducted into the Football Federation Australia (FFA) Hall of Fame.
Raskopoulos was joined by Matilda Sacha Wainwright, and former International Referee Tammy Ogston.
The FFA Hall of Fame honours players and participants who have made a sustained and meritorious contribution to Australian football.
FFA CEO David Gallop said each inductee had earned a place in the Hall of Fame for different but equally valuable reasons.
“Peter was a legendary figure throughout his playing days and is still highly respected in the football community today. His contributions to the former NSL and the Socceroos are awe inspiring and serve as a source of inspiration for all sports fans.
“Sacha was an integral part of the Matildas playing group representing Australia with distinction throughout the nineties, appearing at numerous World Cups and Olympic Games.
“Tammy was a true pioneer for refereeing in Australia and more importantly female referees around the country."
In addition to the FFA Hall of Fame inductions, Gallop also honoured members of the 1981 Young Socceroos who represented Australia at the first ever FIFA tournament hosted in Australia, the 1981 FIFA Youth World Championship.
Sixteen members of the original 18-player squad gathered in Sydney today for their first official reunion since the tournament, including the captain Peter Raskopoulos and fellow players Glen Ahearn, Robert Wheatley, Howard Tredinnick, Steven Blair, Oscar Crino, Paul Kay, Ian Hunter, David Mitchell, Grant Lee, Fabio Incantalupo, David Skeen, Brett Woods, Mark Koussas, Jim Patikas and Dennis Colusso as well as the head coach Les Scheinflug
“This team helped put football into the mainstream by showing that we could compete against the World’s best on our home soil when Football was still very much a minority sport,” said Gallop.
“They laid the foundations for our current National Representative teams and showed that we can be competitive on the world stage.”
FFA Hall of Fame 2016 inductee bio
Peter Raskopoulos was born on 22 February 1962 and started as a junior at Earlwood Wanderers.
He joined Sydney Olympic’s youth team in 1977 and made his senior debut against Western Suburbs in the first season of the National Soccer League on 8 August while still only 15.
He represented the Australian schoolboys in 1978 and in 1980 he had a year at Marconi, but then returned to Olympic for the rest of his career.
In 1980 he played for the Socceroos for the first time in two Non-A International matches in the Oceania Cup competing against New Caledonia and Tahiti.
The following year after the resignation of Rudi Gutendorf as national coach, Les Scheinflug took a very young team to Indonesia and Taiwan for the final two matches of the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. This was the nucleus of the squad for the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship. Raskopoulos made his A-International debut as the Captain of the Socceroos against Indonesia on the 30th August 1981 in Jakarta.
At the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, which was held in Australia, Raskopoulos captained the Young Socceroos in the first of these games where he drove the Australian team from midfield as it shocked Argentina by two goals to one in its opening match of the FIFA World Youth Championship in Sydney. He played in two drawn games against Cameroon and England which saw Australia reach the quarter-finals undefeated. Australia went down to Germany, the eventual winner, by a single goal.
In 1982 Raskopoulos played for the Socceroos as they won the Merlion Cup in Singapore. In 1984 he took part in the ‘World Series’ tournament which pitted Australia A and B teams against clubs including Manchester United, Rangers, Nottingham Forest, Juventus and Iraklis.
He missed the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign but returned for matches against Czechoslovakia and New Zealand in 1986 and Everton, Chile B, South Korea and others in 1987. His final cap was against Malmo in 1989.
As his playing career wound down he became the football manager at Sydney Olympic from 1989 when Olympic won the NSL Championship and later became senior coach in 1992/93.
In 2001 he became CEO of the club as it won the NSL Grand Final in 2002 and the Premiership in 2003.
1981 Young Socceroos FIFA Youth World Championship team
The Young Socceroos (Australian U-20 Men’s) team which played at the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship.
This was the first FIFA tournament that Australia had ever hosted.
The Young Socceroos finished second in group D after defeating Argentina 2-1 and drawing with Cameroon (3-3) and England (1-1).
The Young Socceroos were knocked out in the Quarter Finals, 0-1, by the eventual champions West Germany. Mark Koussas collected the Golden Boot award as the top goal scorer of the tournament with six goals and the Australian team also received the Fair Play Award.
1981 Young Socceroos Squad
1. Glen AHEARN
2. Robert WHEATLEY
3. Howard TREDINNICK
4. Steven BLAIR
5. Oscar CRINO
6. Paul KAY
7. Ian HUNTER
8. Peter RASKOPOULOS
9. David MITCHELL
10. Grant LEE
11. Fabio INCANTALUPO
12. David SKEEN
13. Brett WOODS
14. Mark KOUSSAS
15. Jim PATIKAS
16. Dennis COLUSSO
17. John LITTLE
18. Dennis IVANAC
Head Coach: Les Scheinflug
