Nationality Australian Home town Adelaide Role Soccer player | Name Gordon Briscoe Occupation Research Fellow | |
Born 1938 (age 76–77) Alice Springs, Northern Territory Ethnicity Indigenous Australian - Marduntjara and Pitjantjatjara nations Education Australian National University Employer Australian National University | ||
Dr Gordon Briscoe AO (born in 1938) is an Indigenous Australian academic and activist. He is also a former soccer player.
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Early life
Born in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Briscoe is descended from the Marduntjara and Pitjantjatjara nations of Central Australia. As a boy he was removed from his mother as a child and was educated at St Francis House in Adelaide.
Activism
He was involved in the establishment in New South Wales of the Aboriginal Progress Association in the 1950s, the Aboriginal Legal Service in the 1960s and the Aboriginal Medical Service in 1972.
Academia
In 1981, he began his academic career with the Australian National University. His focus is on Indigenous history and was involved in the production of the SBS documentary First Australians.
Soccer
After playing state league for Adelaide Croatia alongside Charles Perkins and John Moriarty, Briscoe moved to England in 1958 with the hope of playing professional football. He had stints at Barnet and Preston North End (although he did not make a first team appearance), before returning to Australia at the suggestion of his former schoolmate and teammate Perkins.
Gordon Briscoe, as well as Charlie Perkins and John Moriarty, later played recreational soccer with the Australian National University Soccer Club from 1968 to about 1972.