Frank Farina

329

Years	Team	Apps	Goals	Cards	Stckrs	Progm	Other	TmCSP
1983-84	Canberra City	41	15	0	0	0	0	0
1985-86	Sydney City	43	21	0	0	0	0	0
1987-88	Marconi Stallions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1989-91	Club Brugge	75	43	1	3	0	0	5
1991-92	AS Bari	8	0	2	2	0	0	1
1992	Notts County	3	0	0	0	0	1	1
1992-94	Strasbourg	47	14	2	1	0	1	1
1994-95	Lille	27	6	1	1	0	0	0
1995-98	Brisbane Strikers	63	33	0	0	1	0	0
1998-99	Marconi Stallions	2	0	0	0	2	2	0

1982-83	Australia U-20	8	3	0	0	0	0	0
1984	Australia U-23	5	1	0	0	0	0	0
1984-95	Australia	67	14	3	0	1	0	19

VIEW GALLERY

After being in the first group of intakes in the AIS for football Frank Farina began his professional career in the Australian National Soccer League with Canberra City in 1983. The following season he moved to Sydney City followed by Marconi Stallions. The collection does not include any cards, sticker or programmes from his 1st stint in the National Soccer League.

Prior to the new millennium the Socceroos were more likely to play international matches against club teams from other countries rather than national teams. The Farnia collection commences with the World Soccer Series 1984 tournament programme where Frank made his International B Debut against Nottingham Forest and later played against Glasgow Rangers, Juventas and Iraklis. In November 1984 Farina was part of a one month tour of China and Europe. He made his full international against the Chinese national team but the collection does not include a programme or ticket from this match. From the English part of the tour there are programmes, including squad pen pics and teamsheets from B international matches against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Glasgow Rangers and Aston Villa. The collection also includes the programme from the final 1996 World Cup Qualifying match against Scotland in Melbourne where Australia played out a gallant draw and Farina came on in the 75th minute.

For the next World Cup & Olympics qualifying campaign Frank Farina became a permanent member of the Socceroos team and starting line-up. Included in the collection is the tournament programme from the South Korean Invitational Presidents Cup. Frank Farina played in the final against the host nation South Korea which unfortunately they lost on penalties. In 1988 Australia hosted a Bicentennial Gold Cup Tournament against Argentina, Brazil & South Arabia where they defeated the World Champions Argentina 4-1 but lost the final to Brazil. Also included in the collection is two postcards from the 1988 Seoul Olympics where Frank Farina played in a historical win over Yugoslavia although there some conjecture as to whether it was a full international.

Individual items featuring Frank Farina do not appear in the collection until 1990 after he had transferred to Club Brugge in the Belgium 1st Division. His time at Club Brugge was probably his most successful in Europe. The collection includes three portrait stickers, a squad sticker and an official club postcard from the 1990-91 season. It also includes a Club Brugge teamsheet from their Champions League Match against AC Milan. For the 1991-92 season Frank Farina transferred to the new promoted AS Bari in Italian Serie A. He became the first Socceroo to play in Serie A and the collection includes two cards (one which is featured right) and two stickers from that season.

In 1992 Frank Farina was loaned to English 1st Division club Notts County. He was only there for three months and the collection contains a signed card and picture of him playing for Notts County. He was then transferred to French club RSC Strasbourg. This was another first for a Socceroo to play in the French Ligue One. The September 1992 edition of French football magazine “Onze Mondial” produced a postcard size paper card of Frank Farina the back of the card provides details of his career emphasising his Italian heritage, controversial transfer to and successful time at FC Brugge as well as his smart play and impressive physique. There are also two other cards and one sticker from his two years at RSC Strasbourg.

During this period Frank also played for the Socceroos in another World Cup qualifying campaign. The USA, for the first time has been won the rights to host the Men’s World Cup in 1994. In 1993 the American card company, Upper Deck, produced a World Cup USA Contenders set. There are various editions and the collection includes the German edition (featured left) with Frank in the famous or infamous “Spew Kit”. It was so popular the FFA released it again as a Retro Shirt. The other Australians in the set were Robbie Slater & Mark Bosnich. The collection also includes programmes from both legs of the World Cup Qualifier matches against Canada. In the match on Australian soil, Frank scored his last goal for Australia with a bicycle kick that help Australia draw the tie and win in a penalty shoot out. There is also a used ticket from the unsuccessful final world cup qualifying match against Argentina after which Frank Farina effectively retired from international football. In 1993-94 Futera produced a 110 base case card set of the Australian National Soccer League, Olympic Team and five hundred numbered limited edition cards including Frank Farina. The collection includes the Congratulations, Certification and Redemption cards for both the limited edition and sample sets for this edition.

For the 1995 -96 season Frank Farina transferred to fellow French Ligue One team Lille. The collection includes both a card and sticker from his final year in France. Frank then returned to Australia and played his “Farewell” Socceroo match in Sydney, captaining the team and leaving to a standing ovation from the crowd. The programme’s cover features a cartoon illustration of Frank and other international based Socceroos. Frank then spent three years as captain and coach of the Brisbane Strikers and won title in his first year. The last card in the collection is an official standard size Brisbane strikers card. The final item is Frank’s Autobiography “My World is Round” copies of are currently available from Fair Play Publishing.

Frank Farina

Share