Football Victoria historian Tony Persoglia looks back at the previous time Victoria played Queensland in Brisbane, and the players that would subsequently make their mark on Australian football.

A long time has passed since a Victorian Senior Men’s state team played Queensland in Brisbane – some 33 years to be precise. Perry Park, soon to be a National Soccer League (NSL) venue with the newly formed Brisbane United entering the competition in the 1991-92 season, would host Victoria as part of an extended Queensland representative campaign. Unusually, the fixture was scheduled on the same day as the NSL Preliminary Final between Adelaide City and South Melbourne, as well as a full round of matches in the newly branded Victorian Premier League.

Despite the scheduling conflicts, the Victorian squad featured a blend of experienced campaigners who had made their mark in the NSL with Preston Makedonia, Heidelberg Uited and Sunshine George Cross, their respective seasons ending on the final weekend in March as the NSL home-and-away campaign drew to a close. The Vics also included a few youngsters set to embark on decorated careers home and abroad.

Custodian Jeff Olver, having spent six years in the national squad across two World Cup qualifying campaigns, was the oldest player in the squad at 30 and was ably supported in defence by NSL players Shaun Parton, Ian Roodhouse and Gary Brattan, formerly of Cambridge United and Hull City. Queensland expat, Steve Jackson rounded out Victorian Head Coach Tim White’s back four. White, was in his ninth match at the helm of his adopted state.

Olver’s backup in goals was eighteen-year-old Frank Talia, an AIS graduate and part of the Australian World Youth Cup squad set to embark on qualification for the finals in Portugal later that year. Talia would ultimately move to Blackburn Rovers in 1993 and made over 250 appearances in the English football league, most notably with Swindon Town (where he was Player of the Year in 2000) and Wycombe Wanderers.

Also lining up in defense was youngster Damian Mori, then a converted full-back under Sunshine George Cross coach Tony Vrzina in his first and only season with them in the NSL. Mori would later make the move to Adelaide City and become the greatest striker in national league history, amassing an incredible 240 goals across 20 seasons of the NSL and A-League as well as setting the benchmark with 29 goals at international level (a record eventually chased down by Tim Cahill).

A soon-to-be trailblazer in the squad was midfielder Lorenz Kindtner, another George Cross young gun that would later play a key role in the Australian team’s magical semi-final run in the World Youth Cup. His performance on the international stage earned a contract with Club Brugge in Belgium. While Kindtner never made a senior appearance with the Belgian giants, he would spend a dozen years with several clubs in the First and Second Division, becoming a household name with both KV Oostende and KSV Roeselare.

Preston Makedonia’s Kris Trajanovski, who scored against Egypt to ensure the Young Socceroos qualified for the knockout stages of the World Youth Cup, would play over 300 matches in the NSL and graduated to senior level with Australia, scoring 10 times in 16 appearances for the Socceroos.

The match against Queensland proved to be an exciting encounter, with 17-year-old Taringa Rovers forward Sean Cranney opening the scoring in the 13th minute from close range, before left-winger Robert Stojcevski equalised ten minutes later. Deadlocked at the break, Andrew Zinni gave the Vics the lead three minutes into the second half before Robbie Markovac (based in Brisbane at the time) doubled their advantage in the 54th minute after finding himself open in the box. It was Cranney again that pulled one back with a close-range header ten minutes later, but Victoria would prove too classy and run out winners 3-2 in a hard-fought contest.

Queensland 2 (Cranney 13, 64)
Victoria 3 (Stojcevski 23, Zinni 48, Markovac 54)
Perry Park, Brisbane
Sunday, April 28, 1991.
Queensland Squad: Stuart Woodruffe, Frank Pimblett (c), Mark Geritz, Frank Mengotti, Stein Grodum, Ken Swan, Jim McDonagh, Kevin Meacock, Kieran Cooper, Chris Slater, Nick Meredith, Lee Howells, Andrew Stowell, Sean Cranney, Steve Glockner, Glenn Gwynne, Lee Scriggins, Ibro Cahut, Dave Mewburn. Coach: Juan Cutillas.
Victoria Squad: Jeff Olver, Damian Mori, Gary Brattan, Steve Jackson, Robert Stojcevski, Shaun Parton , Ian Roodhouse, Lorenz Kindtner, Phil Stubbins, Kris Trajanovski, Andrew Zinni, Robert Markovac, Gary Hasler, Andy Humble, George Slifkas, Frank Talia. Coach: Tim White.
Referee: Bill Monteverde. Assistants: Henry Marron, Gary Brownlie.