Peter Sharne showed many top defenders a clean pair of heels as a wing wizard for Marconi and Australia but his career nearly ended before it even started after he suffered a serious injury while he was coming through the ranks.
At the peak of his powers, Sharne was one of Australia's most popular players from the late 1970s to early 1980s.
He was a key member of the Marconi club that was a mainstay of the local game and won two National Soccer League championships.
At one stage, however, while he was languishing in third grade at Marconi - four years before the start of the NSL in 1977 - he did not know if would ever play again.
"I'm happy with my career but it almost did not happen for me," Sharne, now 63, said.
"Playing in third grade for Marconi when I was 17, I had this strong pain in the back. I was very fast even at school and on the field of play I got hit many times with or without the ball.
"I had some X-rays that showed I had a fractured vertebra. So I had to wear a corset for three months to make sure it healed properly. The bottom line was that if it did not heal, I would not have been allowed to play any more.
"The doctors did not tell me this at the time, so as not to scare me, but when everything was okay I learned that it would've been too risky to play again if my back did not improve. Another heavy hit and I could have become paralysed.
"When the National Soccer League started in 1977, I was by then fully recovered and I became a Marconi regular but my great journey nearly did not take place."
Sharne went on to forge a brilliant career with his local club Marconi and for Australia, making 23 full international appearances.
Sharne, who spent 11 seasons with the famous club in Sydney's west, was happy to share some of his experiences with The World Game.
What are you doing now?
"I live in Bossley Park and I work for Australia Post. I'm happily married to my lovely wife Anna and we have two boys. Unfortunately they are not into soccer."
Marconi lost the first NSL championship in 1977 on goal difference and won their first league title in 1979. What made that team so strong?
"It came down to the balance of the team. All the players performed to their potential and everything went the right way for us. Marconi looked after us, even though it was a small club at that time. We had many top players such as Tony Henderson, Eddy Krncevic and Mark Jankovics, who came later."
Les Scheinflug was one of your coaches at club and national team level. He must have played a major part in your development.
"He always tried to lift you as far as I was concerned. He always got me to arrive early at training to practise running, ball skills and crosses. He would do that with those who needed a bit more and that helped me immensely.
"He was a marvellous and outstanding coach who filled you with confidence, quite different to German Rudi Gutendorf, who coached me with the national team later. With Gutendorf, you were always afraid of making a mistake became he would pull you out. I actually felt it was safer to be on the bench."
You were a direct, orthodox winger with pace who made many goals for others. Striker Mark Jankovics must owe you a lot!
"Mark always loved me. He did not always score but he knew that if I got past the fullback, the cross would be coming his way and he would always be there.
"Unfortunately in today's game, we do not have that width any more because teams generally go through the middle. In fairness, wingers today have to do everything while in my days I did not do much defending.
"However, I do get disappointed sometimes when I see quick players turn back and take six touches before they go forward again, instead of going for it by using the speed. Football had changed a lot, I suppose."
Did you derive as much pleasure from making an assist as from scoring a goal?
"Of course. My job was to provide and if I scored a goal that was a bonus. You score for the team, so it is satisfying to assist in the making of a goal."
Who was the toughest fullback you faced in Australia?
"Kevin Mullen of Sydney City was the hardest. I still have bruises at the back of my legs to show for it."
In your debut season in first grade, at the age of 21, you ended up playing for the Socceroos. You obviously made an immediate impact on the domestic game.
"The service that Marconi's midfielders supplied enabled me to adapt to playing in the NSL and develop faster than normal. I always thought that I was a good player in a great team so that helped me a lot."
You came on as a second-half substitute in Australia's centenary match against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1980, in front of 45,000 fans. That must have been a big event.
"Just being at the SCG with so many people around was just magic. I suspect most of the crowd came to watch England but that did not matter. It was a marvellous occasion. Just to be on the park with players like Glenn Hoddle and Bryan Robson, that you read about in the papers and watched on television, was very special."
You took part in two World Cup campaigns. Do you guys still kick yourselves for losing to New Zealand in Sydney in 1981?
"I remember very little of the campaign for 1978, except for the fact that I made my full Socceroos debut against Iran when we lost 1-0.
"Yet the 2-0 debacle against the Kiwis still haunts me.
"I think about that game whenever a World Cup comes around. We were better than the All Whites and we should have won both games easily, particularly the one in Auckland when we led on three occasions but we were pegged back each time.
"In Sydney, everything went wrong and we just could not get into the groove. I probably played one of my worst games for Australia and we lost 2-0. Watching the Kiwis play in the finals in Spain was hard because we all realised it could have been us. But good luck to New Zealand. They did their homework on us and that's why they beat us."
What was the highlight of your career?
"Making my full Socceroos debut against Iran in 1977 was special. We lost 1-0 but it did not really matter to me because I was a young player and just happy to be there.
"I remember the crowd going bananas whenever I got the ball and ran with it down the line and crossed it. I also fondly remember a three-match series against Northern Ireland in Sydney (1-2), Melbourne (1-1) and Adelaide (1-2) in which I scored in every game."
Any regrets?
"I wish I were playing today because the money would have been better. But I have no regrets, really. I would not change anything. Through football, particularly at Marconi, I met great people, great supporters and great players we could mingle with after every game which was very special."
Where were you when the Socceroos fell to Iran in 1997 and beat Uruguay in 2005 to reach the finals for the first time in 32 years?
"I watched both matches on television. After falling to Iran I just resigned myself to the fact that we were always going to fall at the last hurdle as if we had a curse on us.
"Then it all came together against Uruguay eight years later. You could see that the players and the team were getting better. It was the match that perhaps showed the world that our football deserved respect. In our days, you did not get too many people talking about the Australian team."
Do you follow the A-League?
"Yes, I watch it on TV. It started out alright but I think they need more foreign stars to help raise the standard of the local players around them."
Football in Australia has become professional, yet it has not really hit it off yet, has it?
"I'm not too sure why it has not reached its full potential. Maybe we do not have enough talent to fill all the positions in each team. I've seen some great games mostly involving Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Adelaide United. In other words, they involve the top teams that have the money to go out and buy players."
Would the Marconi side that won the 1988 championship cut it in the A-League?
"It's hard to say. To me, the players we had as individuals probably would have cut it but teams today have a different structure and are a bit too cautious and that would not have suited them. But the 1979 team would have given it a good shake."
Who were the best players you have played with and against?
"Ivo Prskalo, Ray Richards, Roberto Vieri, Henderson, Jankovics and Krncevic were my favourites.
"Winger Phil O'Connor was the best I've played against in Australia. He had great ball skills. I also faced some top players like David O'Leary and Liam Brady when we played Arsenal in 1977 and beat them 3-1."
PETER SHARNE FACTFILE
Club career
1977-1982: Marconi
1983: APIA Leichhardt
1984-1988: Marconi
International career
1977-1981: Australia (23 matches)
Honours
NSL championship: Marconi 1979, 1988; NSL Cup: 1980.
