There is a festival of Australian football is on its way this March, literally, when the Football Writers’ Festival returns for its third annual outing.
The Roar has teamed up with the folks behind the festivities to come up with an exclusive competition to give one lucky reader, and their +1, the chance to rub shoulders with the biggest brains in football for the full weekend.
Former Socceroos, coaches, administrators, journalists, broadcasters and authors will all flock to Jamberoo, NSW – the home of the Johnny Warren Football Museum – for the third instalment of what has fast become the most forensic forum of football fandom in Australia.
A Mecca for anyone with a passion for football literature – from budding journalists to wannabe authors, and rabid readers – the two-day programme kicking off on Saturday March 26 will leave no soccer-shaped stone unturned.
From TV-land, analysts, hosts and pundits, including the likes of Craig Foster, Michael Zappone and Bridget Tilley, will tackle everything from gender, racism and human rights in football, through to football’s war of attrition against Australia’s dominant sports.
Former Socceroos and Matildas, including John Kosmina, Luke Wilkshire, Elissia Carnavas, Adrian ‘Noddy’ Alston, Frank Farina, Gary Cole and Andy Bernal will cover everything from the true state of women’s football in Australia, through to the pros can cons of our historic obsession with fleeting foreign superstars.
Chiefs, head honchos and bigwigs from Football Australia, Football Victoria, North Coast (NSW) Academy of Sport, and the World Players Association, will join academics and journalists from Deakin University, Stan Sport, SBS, The Guardian and Fox Sports.
And the Football Writers’ Festival wouldn’t be complete without authors of a number of recently released, and soon to be launched, books discussing their work and their perspectives on the game, including: former News Corp and SBS journo, Philip Micallef, author of ‘Quote, Unquote’; Andy Bernal, author of the autobiographical ‘Riding Shotgun’; and Vicky Krayem, author of ‘100 Years of Football at Wynnum’, to name a few.
As well as two tickets to the Football Writers Festival, the prize also includes:
- Two tickets to the ‘Football in Portraits Exhibition’: the first public showcase of a photographic collection previously owned by Fairfax, and now part of the Fair Play Collection.
- Two night’s accommodation in Jamberoo on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th March.
- The Football Writers’ Festival is also throwing in two Super Fan tickets to watch the Socceroos take on Japan in the next round of World Cup qualifiers, at Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday March 24th.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer the following question:
Who has scored the most goals for the Socceroos?
All correct answers will go into the prize draw to be made after the competition closes on March 13 at 11:59pm AEDT, with the draw conducted on March 14 at 3pm AEDT. The winner will be notified in the following 24-hours.
To find out more about the Football Writers’ Festival, or to buy tickets, visit www.footballwritersfestival.com.au