Frank Farina

The Director of Football of the Charles Perkins Soccer Academy is Frank Farina, OAM.

Born in Darwin to a Torres Strait Islander mother and Italian father, Frank grew up in New Guinea and Cairns.

He was amongst only the second intake of players at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, and is a decorated former Socceroo who played 86 games for Australia between 1982 and 1995 across all age groups (68 games for the Socceroos).

Frank’s club career included Canberra Arrows, Sydney City, Marconi and Brisbane Strikers in Australia, and Club Brugge (Belgium), Bari (Italy), Lille and Strasbourg (France).

His domestic league career saw him twice named players' player of the year (now the Johnny Warren Medal) and leading goalscorer in the former national soccer league in Australia, as well as best foreign player and leading goalscorer in Belgium.

He led the Brisbane Strikers to the NSL championship as player-coach in 1997, and also coached Marconi in the NSL, and Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC in the A-League. He was head coach of the Socceroos from 1999 to 2005, and also worked as head coach/technical advisor in New Guinea and Fiji.

As well as receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia and a Centenary Medal, Frank was also awarded the Alex Tobin Medal by Professional Footballers’ Australia in recognition of his service to the game.