Vicky Krayem

Vicky has been a journalist for 35 years and has interviewed some of the greats of sport, including Greg Norman, Imran Khan, Nick Faldo, Jason Dunstall, Brad Bevan and Wally Lewis. She is a former Sports Editor of the Cairns Post, as well as a dedicated football volunteer. '100 Years of Football at Wynnum', published in 2021, is her first book.

Plus ....

Adrian Alston, Jim Fraser, George Harris, Ron Lord, Luke Wilkshire

Danny Townsend

Danny is CEO of the Australian Professional Leagues, a position he will occupy full-time in the first half of this year once his replacement at Sydney FC is appointed. In the period he has been CEO of Sydney FC, the club has won 11 trophies across the A-League competitions. Prior to returning to Australia in 2017 he was Global Managing Director for Nielsen Sport in New York, prior to which he worked for Repucom in Singapore, London and New York. He played two seasons in the former national soccer league for 48 appearances and 4 goals.

Rale Rasić

Icon. (Photo: Getty Images)

Adrian Arciuli

Adrian is a journalist and presenter with SBS where he has presented, produced and hosted programs on football, netball and basketball. He has won awards for 'Best Feature Piece' from Netball NSW in 2017 and 2019, and was joint winner of the 2022 Sport Australia Award for best feature reporting on a news issue for his work on Afghan women footballers leaving Afghanistan in 2021. Prior to working at SBS, Adrian worked with the Seven Network and Sky News. Adrian, who is a local of the Kiama/Jamberoo/Albion Park area, is the MC for the entire event and will also host the Happy Two Hours Q&A.

Stephanie Brantz

Stephanie is an experienced sports journalist, broadcaster and MC who has worked with SBS, the Nine Network, the ABC, ESPN and SEN Radio reporting on cricket, Australian Rules, rugby, the Paralympics and, of course, football. She is Chair of the Sports Diplomacy Advocacy Network of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and is an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and the Chappell Foundation. She is also a Board member of Football NSW and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.

Stuart Thomas

Stuart is a freelance football and sports journalist who contributes to an array of Australian publications. Since 2017 he has been a football expert at The Roar.com.au and also writes regularly for Zerodigital Media and Fair Play Publishing. A regular contributor on 91.3SportFM and 891 ABC Adelaide, Stuart passionately attempts to convey the goings on in the football world to a broader audience and has an exciting year ahead with a new book currently in the works.

Nick Stoll

Nick is a journalist who has worked on football for Fox Sports, SBS The World Game, Optus Sport and now Stan Sport. He is currently a Producer for Stan Sport's UEFA Champions League coverage, as well as their shows, Stan Sport FC and Two Up Top.

James Johnson

James Johnson is CEO of Football Australia, a position he has held since January 2020. He has previously worked with Professional Footballers' Australia, the Asian Football Confederation, FIFA, and City Football Group. Please note that James' attendance is confirmed, subject to commitments related to Saudi Arabia vs Australia on 29th March.

Heather Garriock

Heather is a Board member of Football Australia, CEO of Taekwondo Australia, a 130-game veteran of the Matildas, and a commentator and analyst with Optus Sport.

Kimon Taliadoros

Kimon is CEO of Football Victoria, having taken responsibility for the role in 2021 after a five year stint as President of FV. He played 244 games in the NSL with South Melbourne, Marconi and Collingwood and played nine times for the Socceroos

Simon Hill

Simon was Chief Football Commentator with Fox Sports for 15 years, and has been a journalist, broadcaster and commentator for more than 25 years in the UK and Australia, principally focussed on football. He co-hosts a number of podcasts and the football program on SEN Radio. He is author of the autobiography, 'Just A Gob on a Stick' (2017) and is a lifelong Manchester City fan. Please note that Simon's attendance is not confirmed as it is subject to A-League commitments.

Texi Smith

Texi is the veteran of several marathons, an enthusiastic amateur player, a volunteer coach, manager and referee, and runs a busy IT consultancy. He is also the rarest of authors - of football novels - with four published so far: 'Introducing Jarrod Black' and 'Jarrod Black Hospital Pass' (both 2019), 'Jarrod Black Guilty Party' (2020) and 'Anna Black - this girl can play' (2021).

Lucas Gillard

Lucas Gillard's first book, 'Be My Guest - Football Superstars in Australia' was co-authored with Jason Goldsmith and published in 2021.

Jason Goldsmith

Jason has co-authored 'Be My Guest - Football Superstars in Australia' with Lucas Gillard, published in 2021. It is his second book following the publication of 'The Lost Socceroos' in 2019.

Hunter Fujak

Hunter is a Lecturer in Sports Management at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. His book, 'Code Wars, published in 2021, looks at the competition between the four football codes and the battle for fans, dollars and survival.

Andy Bernal

Andy's autobiography 'Riding Shotgun - the Autobiography of the Original Wizard of Oz' was published in April 2021. It is a rollercoaster ride of a boy from Canberra with an incredible tale that is raw, heartfelt and, at its heart, searingly honest. Andy is a former Socceroo, who played professionally in Spain, Australia and England and was captain of Reading FC for four years.

Andrew Howe

Andrew is a statistician by day (with the ABS) and night (football's statto), and author of the 'Encyclopedia of Socceroos' (2018) and co-author of the 'Encyclopedia of Matildas' (2019/2020).

Michael Zappone

Michael is an experienced journalist, broadcaster and media and communications professional, who has been part of the on-air team for Australian football for almost two decades: firstly with Fox Sports, and now with Network Ten/Paramount Plus.

Michael Fiddian

Michael's debut novel, 'The End of the Game' (2022) is set within a different football context (Australian Rules), but with a all-too familiar theme of racism experienced by young Indigenous people. He has written internationally produced short and full length plays, with his YA play 'The Kids Are Alright' being nominated for best new play at the 2014 CONDA Awards in Newcastle. An English and History teacher, Michael is passionate about the education of young Australians about discrimination and injustices.

Elissia Carnavas

Elissia is passionate about all things football and is an avid reader about the game. As a defender, she was a QAS scholarship holder, a member of the WNSL champion team the Queensland Sting, a former Young Matilda and Matilda (2001-2004), and with Perth Glory in 2009-10. She is now the Female Football Director of Olympic FC in Brisbane, and last year was the co-coach of the U-23 championship winning side along with Isaka Cernak. Elissa also has her own Pilates practice.

Antony Sutton

Antony is the author of 'Support Your Local League - A South-East Asian Football Odyssey' (2018) and 'The Itinerant Coach - the Life and Footballing Times of Steve Darby (2021). From supporting his passion—Arsenal, and his home side—Aldershot, from a young age, the next logical step for Antony was to watch some football overseas, a past-time that began in 1984 in continental Europe, one that continued for more than 30 years starting with Australia , where he adopted St George as his team—to Asia where he lived for a while in Thailand and a long stint in Jakarta, where he started the popular blog, Jakarta Casual in 2006. He has now returned to live in the UK with his family.

Philip Micallef

Philip Micallef is a retired sports journalist who has worked full time for Fairfax (Illawarra Mercury) and News Ltd (Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph). He also was a long-time contributor to SBS (The World Game). He has covered major football events such as the World Cup, the European Championships, the Copa America, the UEFA and AFC Champions League tournaments plus dozens of Socceroos, the National League, and the A-League matches. He is the author of 'The World Cup Story, An Australian View' that was published in 1994 and 'Quote, Unquote' published in 2022.

Michelle Morris

Michelle is the Videographer/Editor of The Ladies League. After completing her Bachelor of Creative Arts (Film and TV Production) at JMC Academy, she joined The Ladies League creating fun and interesting content to promote the game in Australia. Michelle’s career highlight with The Ladies League was the creation of the hit 2019 documentary, 'She Kicks Like A Girl' for their YouTube channel. While The Ladies League enjoys their fun and quirky content, Michelle is excited to produce more documentaries and inspirational content within Australian football.

Rose Valente

Rose Valente is the founder of The Ladies League. Rose creates content for their social channels amongst other things and is constantly on the lookout for a fresh approach to hyping our game here in Australia. The Ladies League are working hard to provide fans of the game with a new outlook and different perspective around their favourite teams and players.

Gary Cole

Gary Cole is a former Socceroo and Heidelberg United FC great, and a football leader with a diverse background and extensive leadership experience in football at Melbourne Victory FC, Sydney FC and Football Victoria. He is currently on the ExCo of Football Coaches Australia, where he hosts ‘The Football Coaching Life’ podcast, and he has previously coached at the AIS with Dr Ron Smith, as assistant to the late Frank Arok with the Socceroos, in the NSL and the Victorian Premier League.

John Kosmina

John Kosmina, or ‘Kossie’, is a Socceroo great, having captained the side for 25 ‘A’ internationals in a career that spanned 100 games for the national team (60 ‘A’ internationals) for 42 goals. He was a prolific goalscorer in the NSL with 133 goals in 289 appearances, most notably with Sydney City with whom he won two championships in 1981 and 1982, and he had a brief spell with Arsenal in 1978/79. He has coached in the NSL, the A-League and NSW, SA and Queensland state leagues/NPL and is also a regular analyst on Fox Sports football coverage. He most recently coached Brisbane Strikers in the Queensland NPL.

Greg Downes

Greg is Chairman of the North Coast (NSW) Academy of Sport and a Lecturer at Southern Cross University. His PhD on 'An oral history of the women's game in Australia' forms the basis of his book 'Dedicated Lives: Untold Stories of the Pioneers of Women's Football in Australia', to be published in 2021.

John Maynard

John is a Worimi Aboriginal man from the Port Stephens region of NSW. He is currently a Director at the Wollotuka Institute of Aboriginal Studies at the University of Newcastle and Chair of Indigenous History. He has held several major positions and served on numerous prominent organisations and committees related to education, history and Indigenous issues. As well as his academic work, John's books include 'Aboriginal Stars of the Turf', 'Fight for Liberty and Freedom', 'Aborigines and the Sport of Kings' and 'The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe', the second and updated edition of which was published in 2019.

Craig Foster

'Fozz' is a former professional football player in Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and England, Socceroo and one of Australia’s leading football advocates, as well as human rights campaigner. He is also a Pro-License coach, and lawyer. He is a member of the Australian Multicultural Council, a Human Rights Ambassador with Amnesty International and an Adjunct Professor of Sport and Social Responsibility with Torrens University. He is author of the books 'Fozz on Football' (2010) and 'Saving Hakeem' (2019).

Brendan Schwab

Brendan has over 25 years leadership experience in the player relations, human rights, legal, governance and business aspects of elite sport at the global, regional and national levels. Appointed Executive Director of the World Players Association (World Players) in July 2015, he has united the world’s leading player associations which collectively represent 85,000 athletes to champion the dignity of the player and the humanity of sport. World Players’ vision for sport and human rights has required the organisation to provide thought leadership backed by athlete activism and collective action. In recent years, Brendan has authored key articles for academic journals and policies on the intersection of human rights law and sport. Brendan co-founded Professional Footballers' Australia in 1993 and the Australian Athletes' Association, and was a Board member/Vice-President of FIFPRO from 2007-2015, and Chairman of FIFPRO Asia.