James Edward "Joe" Marston (7 January 1926 – 29 November 2015) was an Australian

association footballer 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 ...

who played as a defender. He became the first Australian to appear in a

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

when he turned out for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in their 1954 defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Biography

Marston was 28 when he played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

alongside

Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of England' ...

and

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times bet ...

. After the War, Marston had played for Leichhardt-Annandale in Division 1 of the New South Wales State League, supplementing his income by working as a painter and life-guard. In December 1949, Marston received correspondence from a scout in England who had watched him play, informing him that Preston wished to offer him a trial. Their interest was such that they paid for Marston's wife, Edith, to join him on the journey to England. Marston spent time in the reserves, until an injury to Harry Mattinson enabled him to get a run in the first team during the Second Division title season in 1951 and losing out to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for the 1952–53 season on goal average; remaining at centre-half at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

as an ever-present until 1954, making 154 appearances and being selected for the Football League side against the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

. Marston eventually returned to Australia in 1956 because of homesickness, despite pleas from Preston to stay. Marston was also the target of a purported 80,000 pound transfer offer made by Arsenal.

International career

Marston was an Australian football international appearing for the Socceroos during Blackpool's 1958 tour of Australia in which

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

appeared; and appearing and coaching the national side during Hearts tour of the country in 1959.

Retirement

Joe Marston and his wife Edith retired on the New South Wales Central Coast and maintained their passionate interest in association football.

Recognition

Marston was awarded an MBE (1980) and an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

(2000) for services to his sport. He was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

in 1988. Marston is an inductee into the NSW Hall of Champions. In September 2008, he was a recipient of one of the two inaugural Alex Tobin Medals awarded by the Australian Professional Footballers Association. The

Joe Marston Medal The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League Men award given to the player of the match in the A-League Men Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The ...

, awarded to the man of the match in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

and

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

grand finals, was named in his honour. In January 2012, Marston was featured on a postage stamp issued by

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

in a series commemorating notable Australian footballers from several codes.

Death

On 29 November 2015, it was announced that Marston had died of natural causes after having been in frail health for a while.Socceroos legend Joe Marston dead, aged 89
Sydney Morning Herald 29 November 2015

Honours

Preston North End *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1953–54

References

External links

Oz Football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marston, Joe 1926 births 2015 deaths Australia men's international soccer players Australia men's national soccer team managers Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Australian soccer managers Australian men's soccer players Preston North End F.C. players Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sydney Olympic FC managers English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football defenders Soccer players from Sydney 20th-century Australian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England