Charles Perkins
Soccer and study
In 1952 Charles Perkins was apprenticed as a fitter and turner, and worked unhappily at the trade for five years, until his career as a soccer player took off. He played professional soccer in England for two years before rejecting an offer to play for Manchester United so he could return to Australia as captain-coach of the Adelaide Croatian soccer club.
Back on Australia he joined the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines, and was elected Vice President. Growing in confidence, he moved to Sydney in 1962 to join the Pan Hellenic soccer club. He was appointed captain-coach of Pan Hellenic the following year.
Encouraged by Rev. Ted Noffs, and supported financially by his wife Eileen, Perkins enrolled at Sydney University in 1963. Already active in Aboriginal affairs, Charles Perkins helped to form Student Action for Aborigines in 1964, and was elected President.
In February 1965, after a little over six months detailed organising, he led a busload of 29 students into the outback of New South Wales.
The bus reaches Walgett -------------------->
