William "Podge" Maunder (30 November 1902 – 25 June 1964) was an Australian

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 ...

player. Maunder is recognised as the player who scored

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

first international goal.

Early life

Maunder was born in Newcastle in 1902. His father, known as "Doey" Maunder was a prominent local soccer player. William Maunder's brother, Henry also took up the game and William and Henry appeared in an international match together against Canada in 1924.

Club career

In his club career, Maunder scored more than 500 goals in Northern NSW competition and was offered a professional contract by Scottish club

St Mirren F.C. St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the Scottish Premiership after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. Founded in 1877, the team has two nicknames, ''the ...

International career

Maunder made his international debut for

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 ...

on 17 June 1922 in Australia's first recognised international match, scoring on 45 minutes. Maunder played nine matches for Australia between 1922 and 1930, scoring six goals and captaining for one match on 28 June 1924 against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Australia goal.''

References

Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players 1902 births 1964 deaths Men's association football forwards Soccer players from New South Wales {{Australia-footy-forward-stub