John Moriarty

John Moriarty (born 1938 in Borroloola, Northern Territory) made his first grade debut in 1956 as a teenager and played football for South Australian First Division teams Port Thistle, Port Adelaide and Adelaide Juventus, as well as playing for Adelaide Croatia alongside St Francis House schoolmates the late Charles Perkins and Gordon Briscoe.

In 1960, Moriarty was the first recognised Indigenous Australian to be selected for a national soccer team.

He was selected to play in an Australian national team tour to Hong Kong, but the tour was cancelled after Australia’s expulsion from FIFA. Moriarty’s career ended after a collision with a goalkeeper.

Moriarty represented the state of South Australia 17 times. After retiring in 1965 due to injury, Moriarty served on the board of Adelaide Juventus (later Adelaide City).

He co-founded John Moriarty Football (JMF), an initiative for primary school aged Indigenous boys and girls.

JMF’s goals are twofold: to provide the support, training, development and pathways for Indigenous players to succeed in football and to use the sport as a powerful tool to change educational and life outcomes for Indigenous footballers and their families.