Australia B is a secondary

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team occasionally as support for the

Australia national soccer team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia ...

. The team has only ever played nine matches; winning one, drawing six, and losing two. It has been inactive since 1985.

Concept and history

The national B team was designed to give games to players who were being considered for call-up to the full national squad. Generally, the team played in friendly matches against other international B teams or club sides. Australia B were one of several teams which entered a "World Series" held in Australia in 1984, which included Rangers,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, Australia A,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and Iraklis. They were coached in the tournament by

Eddie Thomson Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish association football player and coach, who played as a defender. He played for Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen in Scotland, San Antonio Thunder in the United States and ...

In 1985, Australia B played two games against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the leadup to the 1987 Ampol Cup between China and Australia. They were coached by John Margaritis in both games. In 2007, then-

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

coach

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as an assistant coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Ar ...

, himself a former B international, flagged the idea of reviving the national B team.

Statistics

Results and fixtures

1984

1985

Historical statistics

* Highest attendance: 18,300 vs. Iraklis at Melbourne. * Biggest victory: 2–0 vs. , 23 September 1985 at

Seiffert Oval Seiffert Oval is an enclosed rectangular playing field in Queanbeyan, New South Wales. It has a grass playing surface and an official capacity of 15,000, 1,500 of which is seated capacity in the grandstand. The oval boasts lighting, toilets, k ...

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...

* Heaviest defeat: 2–4 vs. Rangers, 7 June 1984 at

Adamstown Oval Adamstown Oval is a suburban association football venue located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is used by Adamstown Rosebuds Adamstown Rosebud Football Club (founded July 12, 1889) is a semi-professional soccer club based in A ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Player records

Most appearances

Goalscorers

Managers

1984 * John Margaritis 1985

References

{{National sports teams of Australia B Asian national B association football teams