John Maynard is a historian and author who wrote a book called The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe way back in 2011. Now, he’s released a revised and updated version which includes some new chapters and a section on Pacific Islander footballers.

John spoke to 2ser about the history of Aboriginal people playing football in Australia, all the way from before colonisation to the present day . The book profiles several significant Aboriginal footballers – from Charles Perkins, to Harry Williams to the Aboriginal Matilda’s – celebrating their successes and the importance of their careers.

The wins and losses (both on and off the field) of Aboriginal footballers reveal a lot about Australian attitudes at the time, and show us how far we still need to go for fair representation in the league. The new edition of The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe is available now from all good bookstores and from Fair Play Publishing.