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Growing up in Sydney's south, many felt Harry Williams was destined to play rugby league like many of his family and friends.

But after being first introduced to soccer by a neighbour as a youngster, the Wiradjuri man was hooked instantly. 

Williams ignored calls from close friend - the legendary former St George Dragons halfback Billy Smith - to 'stop playing that sissy game' - and it proved to be an astute decision.

In 1974, he became the first Indigenous man to represent Australia at a World Cup aged just 23 in West Germany. 

John Maynard, the author of the The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe, said Williams taking the field against Chile at the Olympiastadion Berlin was a watershed moment.