George Alan Westwater (26 March 1946 – 27 June 2024) was a Scottish-Australian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He was named in the

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...

's "Team of the Decade" for the period 1963–1970 as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Early life

Westwater was born in

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan (, ), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a former spa town in the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on th ...

in Scotland. His father

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

was a footballer for Morton F.C. in Scottish Division A. The Westwaters moved to Australia in 1957 when Willie transferred to Bankstown in Sydney.

Club career

In 1962, as a 16-year-old, Westwater made his debut for

Canterbury-Marrickville The Canterbury Bankstown Football Club is a soccer club based in Bankstown, New South Wales. It competes in the NSW League One after gaining promotion at the end of the 2022 season. The club was formed in 1886 and was an original member of the F ...

in the New South Wales State League as an active right-side midfielder. During his first season both he and his father played in the state league. In 1963 the Canterbury club raised £500 to enable the 17-year-old Westwater to try his luck in Scotland for the 1963–64 season. A condition imposed by the club was that Westwater had to play with them on his return to Sydney for two years. He tried out with the

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

but ended up signing with

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in as a member of the Scottish Profession ...

on 31 August 1963. After three seasons he returned to Sydney, Australia to play for Pan Hellenic.

International career

Westwater's composure in midfield and willingness to join in attack earned Westwater his international debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1967 against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He scored his first international goal against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in November 1967 and scored his second goal ten days later against Singapore again. He played the last of his 14 international matches in April 1968 against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in Adelaide.

Death

Westwater died in

Denny, Falkirk Denny () is a town in the Falkirk council area of Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the nor ...

on 27 June 2024, at the age of 78.

Honours

Canterbury Bankstown * NSW Federation Cup runner-up:

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Australia * South Vietnam Independence Cup: 1967 Individual
In December 2013 Westwater was named in the

"Team of the Decade" for the period 1963–1970.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westwater, Alan 1946 births 2024 deaths Scottish emigrants to Australia Sportspeople from Bridge of Allan Australian men's soccer players Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Stirling (council area) Soccer players from Sydney Men's association football midfielders Australia men's international soccer players Sydney United 58 FC players Stirling Albion F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers 20th-century Australian sportsmen