Football takes centre stage at Awards night

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The Socceroos and former FFA Chief Executive Mr John O’Neill have come away from the Australian Sports Awards as winners at a gala ceremony at the Crown Casino in Melbourne last night.

The Socceroos and former FFA Chief Executive Mr John O-Neill have come away from the Australian Sports Awards as winners at a gala ceremony at the Crown Casino in Melbourne last night.

While the Socceroos narrowly missed out on the International Team of the Year Award, to the World Championship-winning Australian Women-s Opals Basketball team, they did take out the award for the Australian Sporting Moment of the Year.

The Australian Sporting Moment of the Year award is the only award that is voted for by the public and it was their match against Croatia, which they drew 2-2 and sent them through to the second round of the World Cup finals in Germany that captured the hearts of the public the most.

Mr O-Neill won the Australian Sports Commission Executive of the Year Award, for his work in taking football to new heights in Australia during 2006.

Sydney FC was one of five teams in the running for the National Team of the Year, which eventually was jointly won by AFL Champions West Coast Eagles and the undefeated Netball champions Sydney TAB Swifts.

Premier Media Group (Fox Sports) was also in the running for the Sports Media Award for its coverage of the Hyundai A-League, but missed out to SBS for its coverage of the World Cup in Germany.

Other nominees included: Qantas Matildas captain Cheryl Salisbury for Female Athlete of the Year, Socceroos World Cup coach Guus Hiddink for Coach of the Year and Mark Shield for Official of the Year.