Dale Chipperfield describes her son Scott...
"His socks and shorts met at his knees until he was 11. He always played a year above himself till he was 10 and I think that helped. He was so small the bigger kids tried to bring him down. So he learnt how to get out of their way. So the big kids helped him along."
listen to an interview with
Dale Chipperfield »
Like many of our favourite Aussie football stars, Scott has a migrant background.
The Chipperfield family (pictured above) originally came from England.
Socceroo Scott Chipperfield was born on 30 December 1975. He played for NSW and
now plays for FC Basel in Switzerland, a top international side. He is one of the many
Wollongong players to also play for Australia. Both Wollongong and Newcastle have a
strong history of football players and supporters.
Football top: Scott's top, signed by Socceroos
after the 2005 match against Germany.
Meet Dale Chipperfield
Scott plays soccer with Basil in Switzerland. He started playing with the local soccer club Bellambi when he was four. At six he got his first trophy, he got the highest goals scorer, he got that every year. One year he scored 97 goals one season, he wasn't too bad up front.
Scott would be was kicking the ball around from the time he could from the time he was able to kick a ball. We used to have a lot of holes in the fibro, palings were knocked off the fence, he's been kicking the ball since he was really tiny.
He started up front in as centre forward when he was playing for Illawarra until he was eleven then they realised he had a good left foot. They put him out on the left side. He seems to enjoy it more he gets he's been playing out wide on the left and midfield since, he enjoyed it more, he had a bit more freedom.
He was probably seven or eight they realised he could do something then he started playing with the Illawarra (team) he always played a year above himself until he turned ten. I think that helped plus he was so small the bigger kids tried to bring him down, so he learnt how to get out of there way. So the big kids helped him along. His shorts and sock met in the middle until he was eleven. They were so big and he was so small. So they though this little kid we shall just tack him. They were so big they couldn't run. Scott worked as a diesel mechanic and then after he finished that during the day, he'd be a bus driver and pick school kids up, then when he finished doing that, he'd have to get home, have a shower and get to the games. And some times he'd be there just in time to get dressed to go onto the paddock. He did that for a few years until he decided to go professional here. In the last few years of the Wolves he was able to focus just on the game.
He won back to back National Soccer League (NSL) player of the year. And he was proud of that but this time by getting into the World Cup, will be the one he'll remember, if he plays that will be even better. It's always exciting but you do get nervous watching your son play, wherever the game. The atmosphere is really great it gets you going on all the games and you enjoy them watching them play, its great.