Historic day for football with formation of new heritage and history group

It was a ‘red letter day’ yesterday for football fans interested in football history with the first meeting of the new FFA Heritage committee and History sub-committee.

Committee Chairman and FFA Board member Remo Nogarotto says he has long bemoaned the fact that the game in Australia has not nurtured its history.

“The game in Australia has so much in parallel with Australia’s society and culture and I am thrilled to be chairing this group to find ways to preserve, promote and celebrate Australian football’s heritage and history.”

Nogarotto said the committee is both “buoyed and daunted” by the task ahead.

“All of the volunteers on the committee are passionate about Australian football history and ensuring it is accessible and available for future generations.

“There is a lot to do, and we’re coming from a long way back, but we’re clear on our objectives and the key tasks ahead.”

Nogarotto says the committee has broken into a number of smaller groups to address issues of branding, financing, recognising historical milestones, mapping of clubs, a major event and acquiring and building collections.

“It’s baby steps in many directions with the overall objective of ensuring that football is celebrated as a valuable cultural, social, economic, historical and sporting asset that has contributed significantly to nation-building,” Nogarotto said.

The full committee will meet again in November.

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