Gary Marocchi

Personal Details Date of Birth: 24 April 1955 Place of Birth: Western Australia Height: Position: Midfield Club Summary Club Games Goals Perth Azzurri (1971-1976) ? ? Adelaide City (1977-1982) ? ? Perth Azzurri (1983-1985) ? ? Inglewood Kiev (1985) ? ? Perth Azzurri (1986-1987) ? ? Total International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (1976-1978) 10 0 Australia 'B' (1975-1977) 4 0 Australia Under-23 (1975) ? ?

Career Brief

Marocchi is one of the true icons of West Australian football. The youngest of four sons to Doris and Saverio Marocchi, he collected numerous awards and honours during a remarkable seventeen-season playing career. Having made his Azzurri first team debut in 1971 as a 16-year old, he quickly established himself as a key member of the midfield and by year's end had a Cup winners medal to his credit.

Marocchi played his part in Azzurri defeating Bayswater United to win the 1973 Night Series final. Another Cup winners medal arrived that same year courtesy of a classy three-goal win over Cracovia, and twelve months later he added a Top Four winners medal following a dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat of Ascot. Marocchi stepped onto the international arena in early 1975 during a tour of Indonesia with the Australian under-23 side, and that June he made his Australia 'B' debut against South Korea.

It was inevitable that Marocchi would wear State team colours, the State with the first of his twenty-two appearance arriving in March 1975 at the Marah Halim Cup, in which West Australia defeating South Korea 2-0 to claim the trophy. And he was part of the State team which defended their title twelve months later by against beating South Korea in the final. Along the way Marocchi collected First Division championship (1975, 1976) and Top Four winners (1976) medals with Azzurri.

In October 1976 Marocchi toured Asia and Europe with the national team. It was during that trip that he made his Australia 'A' debut by coming off the bench against Indonesia, which was quickly followed by starting appearances against Singapore, China and Israel. Within a few months he'd joined Adelaide City for the inaugural national league season, debuting against Brisbane Lions in April 1977.

Marocchi donned the green and gold again in late 1977 against South Korea, Hong Kong and Iran as Australia attempted to qualify for the World Cup in Argentina. The pinnacle of his playing days came in June 1978 when the midfielder captained Australia in a friendly series against Greece. Later that year he featured in an exhibition match against the touring American Cosmos side that featured the likes of Franz Beckenbaur, Carlos Alberto, Georgio Chinaglia and Dennis Tueart.

Adelaide's first trophy success came in 1979 when they defeated St George to claim the League Cup with Marocchi part of that side. After six seasons and 117 games in the national league, he return home where he once again pulled on his boots for Perth. In 1984 he captained the State team at the DCM Tournament in India where the highlight was a 1-0 defeat of the Chinese national team. After a season with Inglewood Kiev he went back to Perth for two more years before bringing the curtain down on a highly successful playing career at the end of 1987.

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This page was last updated on the 1st June 2010.