Coming to Optus Sport soon. Another Ben Coonan venture
The 13-part series and feature-length special, features over one-hundred interviews with prominent Australians and legends of the game, including with two of Australia's FIFA World Cup coaches, Ange Postecoglou and Rale Rasic, along with coaching great Frank Arok.
Legendary Socceroos John Aloisi, Adrian Alston, Mark Bresciano, Milan Ivanovic, Zeljko Kalac, Tony Popovic, Ray Richards, Mark Schwarzer, Josip Skoko and Sasa Ognenovski share their experiences of the unique culture of Australia’s European migrant communities.
Popular media personalities such as Santo Cilauro, George Donikian and Nick Giannopoulos also tell of how football shaped their own lives.
“Australian football has been woven with European thread, and ‘Football Belongs’ captures the culture and passion of the people for whom football was the foundation of their second home,” Optus’ Director of Sport Richard Bayliss said.
“The series and long-form special will highlight just how integral European culture is to our sporting landscape, and what it has contributed to our nation as a whole.”
For the first feature, which will premiere on Wednesday March 11, Optus Sport visited NPL club Preston Lions to profile the Macedonian football community.
Each Wednesday thereafter will be a new community profiled; including Albania, Croatia, England, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Turkey. The series will culminate with a feature length special on all communities.