Gary Marocchi
Class of 1972
Class of 1972
Soccer Player & Coach
Gary Marocchi was born in the same year as Mount Lawley SHS – 1955 - and graduated in 1972 by which time he was already catching the eyes of local soccer coaches.
His first season in the First Division was in 1971 (while he was still at school), and he played with Perth Azzurri until his last season in 1980, when he joined Adelaide City in the National Competition.
Gary was selected on twenty-two occasions for Western Australia and played three times for South Australia.
Between 1975 and 1978, on fourteen occasions he played as a midfielder for the Australian Socceroos Football Team.
Earning a place in Australia's soccer team as a West Australian based player was no easy task in the 1970s, with the State not having a team in the national competition.
So Gary's effort to go on and captain the Australian team on the international stage for a friendly international series against Greece was an outstanding achievement.
After his playing days were over, Gary turned to coaching. He coached Perth Italia to three League championships (1991, 1992 and 1993), the Perth Kangaroos to the Singapore League championship (1994) and the State side to victory against Werder Bremen (Germany) and Iraklis (Greece).
Gary was appointed as the inaugural coach of Perth Glory in 1996, and narrowly missed the finals series in both of his seasons at the helm of the new club.
Returning to coaching in 2003, he led Swan I.C. to a maiden Boral Cup victory.
He is considered to be WA's most successful coach, and one of the true icons of the game in WA.
In 1996 he became the first football player inducted into the West Australian Institute of Sport's 'Hall of Champions', and in 2005, he was elevated to the Hall of Legends.