Growing up in the 1960s on Sydneys upper North Shore, playing with Kissing Point & Wahroonga soccer clubs, Gregs connection with the national team was cemented early on hearing sideline stories of the talented Murray Barnes, who also played with Kissing Point and would go on to captain his country. That fascination grew over the decades working as an announcer, writer, and producer in rural and Sydney radio where, amongst other things, he wrote the history of sporting events covered by 2GB at the time. Sadly, football was not amongst them. Fast forward to more recent times and the connection to the Matildas began with the accidental discovery that the young Servet Uzunlar (Matilda #162) grew up playing for a club not far from Gregs new home in Sydneys Sutherland Shire. This spiked an interest in uncovering the local origins of ALL Australian representatives, stories unknown to Wiki, and the broader footballing community. In 2014 he began the odyssey that has become the GrassRoots Football Project (GFP), tracking down and talking to any player he could find, Socceroo or Matilda, whether they played 1 game or 100. Over the ensuing years, the connection with the Matildas has deepened as each player has unveiled her story, and in 2017 he was invited to the first official Matildas reunion at the Brasil match in Newcastle. Gregs work on the GFP was recognized by Andrew Howe in the Encyclopedia of Socceroos and the two have formed a friendship through football, despite residing in different parts of the country. Greg was delighted to be asked to contribute to this marvelous book. Gregs connection to the game has been first and foremost as a player, then girls coach, and now referee and administrator, but it has always been and will always be, as a fan, at all levels of the game be it grassroots or Australia. Andrew Howe grew up in Sydney where his first sporting passion was for the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team and his academic ability was for statistics and history. Andrew attended his first national soccer league game between APIA Leichhardt and Marconi as a 19 year old in 1988 and fell in love with the round ball code there and then. An inquisitive mind led to Andrew searching for more information about the history of soccer in Australia and, not satisfied with what he found, he set about developing his own record of the sport. A Bachelor of Economics graduate from Macquarie University, Andrews sporting statistics career then developed alongside his professional career as a demographer with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. By the mid-1990s, Andrews soccer stats and history were being used by media throughout Australia, and in 1999 he began his role with the games governing body—now Football Federation Australia —as honorary statistician, a position he has held since then. Andrews statistical record for Australian national teams, national leagues and the countrys players has been treated as the official record throughout this time. Andrew wrote his first guide for the national soccer league in 2000, and has compiled every mens and womens national league official guide since then. His work is also used by Fox Sports, the Professional Footballers Association, and most other major media outlets throughout the country. Not just a collector of statistics and history, Andrew presents his work in innovative ways and uses dynamic visualisations and maps as well. Andrew has maintained a media presence by producing a long-running radio show in his home town of Adelaide—writing columns in multiple outlets and throughout social media channels.
