Derek whistles up a piece of WA history


FORMER WA State youth team player and referee, Derek Minett, has made a valuable contribution to the Football Hall of Fame WA's request for memorabilia that, it is hoped, will one day be displayed at a Football Museum.
Derek has donated the State team blazer he wore (as a 16-year-old) during the WA under-18 team's tour of South-East Asia in 1970.
"It certainly doesn't fit me anymore," joked Derek, who added: "But I think it would be an appropriate addition to memorabilia that reflects the history of the game in this State and also tracks WA's involvement in tournaments in Asia.
"We played in Singapore, Malaysia and also Indonesia, where I believe our visit was the first time an Australian team had played there following some unrest in Jakarta and around Indonesia."
WA played seven games in 17 days, but team manager Jud Sterner was, at the time, critical of the set-up of the tour. "We were under the impression we were going to play boys who were the same age," he said. "But a number of times we faced 23-year-old players and, in Inodnesia, we played their national team which had lost only 1-0 to the Russian team Moscow Dynamo only a few weeks before."
Sterner, however, praised the commitment of Inodnesian authorities to ensure that the WA boys enjoyed first-class accommodation and good food following some disappointing treatment in other parts of Asia. "They couldn't do enough for us in Jakarta," he said.
The meeting with the senior Inodnesian side was WA's final game of a tiring tour. "We were 5-0 down at halftime and our boys were exhausted, but they fought back well in the second half to concede only two more goals and score one," said Sterner.
The WA U-18 squad was: Sav Madaschi, Peter Gray (capt), Chris Moody, Peter Cole, Rinaldo Russi, Keith Evans, Alex Genovese, Kevin Peterson, George Holzman, Paul Patriw, Terry Barter, Tony Palermo, Bruno Madaschi, Con Economo, Trevor Roper, Derek Minett, Tony Goudas, Wally Migas. Coach - Val MacKenzie. Team manager - Jud Sterner.
Derek, a left back, went on to play at semi-pro level with Cottesloe - making his debut at the same time as rising star Johnny Davidson - before work commitments (he was a printer with WA Newspapers) forced him to be reinstated as a amateur when he joined Melville Alemannia.
"I played 98 games for Melville, which I believe was the second highest by any amateur player," he said. "I then had to stop playing altogether following a serious knee injury. I turned to coaching amateur teams and also became involved in the administrative side of things."
He returned to Asia in 1986, this time as team manager of the State Amateur team that won the Australasia Cup in Singapore in 1986.
Derek also became a referee in 1986 and was a well-respected whistleblower until retirment at the age of 50 in 2004. "But I am still involved with refereeing, as I coach them now as part of my duties with the Referees Technical Committee with Football West," he said.
FOOTNOTE: A Football Museum is the Hall of Fame Committee's number one objective. Many items of historical significance have already been donated and it is hoped to display them in the not-too-distant future.
***IF YOU have any memorabilia that you feel could add to the history of the game, then see the attached Memorabilia Advert for details on how to donate.
  
 




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