Liberty A-League legends Kate Gill and Heather Garriock have today been inducted into the Football Australia Hall of Fame alongside Tasmanian football royalty Joseph Huxley Honeysett and Socceroos icon Mark Schwarzer.
The quartet were inducted into the Hall of Fame prior to the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against Vietnam in Melbourne on Thursday, January 27.
Gill, Garriock, Schwarzer and Huxley Honeysett all received their nominations for induction via a public process, with a panel of Australian football historians providing their recommendations to the FA board, from which point Football Australia’s directors approved those recommendations to elevate the two men and two women into the Hall of Fame.
Gill, a two-time W-League (now Liberty A-League) golden boot winner with Perth Glory, is a former Matildas captain who became the first Australian to be awarded the AFC Women’s Player of the Year in 2010 after helping Australia win the Women’s Asian Cup for the first time.
She sits third in the all-time list of Matildas scores with 41 international goals.
Garriock, meanwhile, collected 130 Matildas caps throughout her 12-year international career, helping Gill and Australia to Women’s Asian Cup glory in 2010. Garriock went to three Women’s World Cups (2003, 2007, 2011) and also represented her country at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Before coaching in the W-League Garriock won two league championships with Sydney FC. She coached Canberra United for three seasons between 2017 and 2020.
Football Australia Chief Executive Officer James Johnson says Gill, Garriock, Schwarzer and Huxley Honeysett will now rightly sit amongst the many legends of Australian football in the FA Hall of Fame.
“The Football Australia Hall of Fame features many icons of our sport – people that have represented Australia with aplomb domestically and internationally, have fought for the advancement of our sport, and have laid the foundations for future generations to grow the world game on Australian soil,” Johnson said in a statement from Football Australia.
“We warmly congratulate Joe, Mark, Heather, and Kate on their respective inductions – all are worthy of their position amongst the game’s greats, and I hope Mark, Heather, and Kate take great pride in their acknowledgement.
“Equally, I trust that Joe, who is being acknowledged posthumously, would have been thrilled to be inducted. The Huxley Honeysett name is now forever inscribed in Australian football’s history.”
These four inductions to the FA Hall of Fame are the first since 2019, and despite occurring in 2022 will be reflected as 2021 inductees, with the process off identifying further candidates beginning again this year.
2021 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Supplied by Football Australia:
MARK SCHWARZER
Mark Schwarzer is one of the most decorated players in Socceroos history, and one of the stars of Australia’s ‘Golden Generation’ that qualified for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006. It was Schwarzer’s two saves in the penalty shoot-out that helped Australia defeat Uruguay and reach the FIFA World Cup Finals after a 32-year drought.
The goalkeeper is the Socceroos’ most-capped player, making 109 appearances for his national team between his debut in 1993 to his international retirement 20 years later.
Schwarzer was born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales and made his professional debut with National Soccer League club Marconi Stallions in 1990. Across his playing career, Schwarzer donned the jerseys of Dynamo Dresden & FC Kaiserslautern in Germany, and Bradford City, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea & Leicester City in England.
He made over 500 appearances in England’s Premier League and was part of title-winning squads at Chelsea (2014/15) and Leicester City (2015/16).
After making his international debut in 1993 in a FIFA World Cup play-off against Canada, starring in a penalty shoot-out win, Schwarzer went on to become the Socceroos’ longest-serving player, playing at two FIFA World Cups (2006 & 2010) and winning the OFC Nations Cup in 2004, and still holds the record for most clean sheets (44) in Socceroos history.
Post his playing career, Schwarzer has forged a path in the football media industry, working for Optus Sport covering the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League and more.
KATE GILL
New Zealand-born and Newcastle-raised striker Kate Gill first represented Australia as a member of Australia’s U-20 Women’s National Team (Young Matildas) squad for the 2002 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Two years later Gill earned her first senior cap for the Matildas in 2004 debuting against New Zealand.
A technical striker, Gill added an extra dimension to Australia’s attack with her adept aerial presence. Settling into the squad, she represented Australia at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007 and the 2008 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. In that timeframe she became a reliable goalscorer including a remarkable run of goals in the Beijing 2008 Olympics Qualifying games, where she scored five goals against both Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2010, Gill created history as the first Australian to be awarded the AFC Women’s Player of the Year off the back of her assisting the Matildas in claiming the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time. She would also go on to represent Australia at the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup helping the nation to silver and in that same tournament she surpassed Cheryl Salisbury to be the highest goalscorer at that time. Gill would go on to record 41 goals for the Matildas and currently sits third on the all-time goalscorers list for the women’s national team.
In club football, Gill is also a two-time W-League (A-League Women’s) Golden Boot with Perth Glory, and also represented the likes of Newcastle Jets and three different clubs in Sweden – Sunnana SK, LbD Malmo, and Linkopings – between 2009 and 2011.
Selected in the national team for 12 years, including as captain, Gill is as much of a leader off the pitch, serving as a long-serving member of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Matildas Committee. Always a committed advocate for women’s sport, Gill became the first woman to be appointed to the PFA Executive Committee and the first female CEO (jointly held). In her roles she has championed the push to collectively organise for better remuneration and conditions for female footballers as well as being a strong role model and mentor for those transitioning to life after football.
HEATHER GARRIOCK
Heather Garriock is one of the highest appearance holders for the Matildas, amassing 130 caps for Australia between 1999-2011. The former midfielder won an AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2010, as well as the 2003 OFC Women’s Championship. She also featured in three FIFA Women’s World Cups (2003,2007 and 2011), scoring in both 2003 and 2007, and represented Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Sydney born and raised, Garriock played top-tier club football in Australia, Europe, and America. She won six domestic trophies in Australia, Denmark, and Sweden, and received the highest individual honour for a women’s footballer in Australia by taking out the Julie Dolan Medal in 2003. Two of the Championships won were W-League (A-League Women’s) titles with Sydney FC, as well as a National Women’s Soccer League title with the NSW Sapphires.
Off the field, Garriock has been a major advocate for women’s football, including fighting for players to have maternity support.
Garriock has also served as a coach in the National Premier Leagues, winning multiple titles with Sydney University. She has also coached Canberra United in the W-League (A-League Women’s), and was an assistant coach for the Matildas. She has pushed for great recognition of coaching through her role as Vice President of Football Coaches Australia.
Her media work includes broadcasting with Optus for the Men’s European Championships, Men’s UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cups. She has commentated on the ABC and Fox Sports for the W-League and Matildas.
JOSEPH (JOE) HUXLEY HONEYSETT
The Honeysett family is synonymous the establishment of football in Tasmania, with J.J.B. Honeysett inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. But the member of the Honeysett family who arguably had the largest impact on football in Australia is his son, Joseph (Joe) Huxley Honeysett. Joe played a significant role in the establishment of two Member Federations of Football Australia, those in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.
Born in London before moving to Australia, Joe became a committee member of the Tasmania British Football Association (Now Football Tasmania) at only 20 years old in 1910.
Prior to World War One, Joe played as a centre forward in many significant games including the first matches for South Hobart FC, Southern Tasmania, and Tasmania (scoring a goal against NSW in this match). In the second ever Intrastate match in 1912, Joe scored seven (7) goals for Southern Tasmania against Northern Tasmania, a record that still stands today despite over 70 intrastate games since.
With the outbreak of WWI, Joe joined the Australian Army in 1916, earning numerous military honours including a Military Cross for his daring attempted escapes from German prisoner of war camps. Returning from military service, Joe continued to advance the cause of Tasmanian football both on and off the field, including captaining Tasmania to a famous victory over a touring Chinese side in 1923; Tasmania’s first ever victory over international opposition.
After moving to Canberra in 1925 to pursue work opportunities, Joe convened the inaugural meeting of the Federal Territory Soccer Football Association (now Capital Football) and acted in numerous roles throughout the 1920s including secretary, referee, player and manager.
