Introduction
Ferenc "Frank" Arok AM (Hungarian: Árok Ferenc; 20 January 1932 – 12 January 2021) was a Yugoslavian-Australianassociation football player and coach.
Career
Arok played for FK Jedinstvo in Yugoslavia during the 1950s before moving into coaching. In the early 1960s Arok coached FK Novi Sad and FK Vojvodina before moving to Australia. In Australia Arok coached St George Saints, as well as South Melbourne FC, Port Melbourne, Gippsland Falcons, and Sydney Olympic but is perhaps best known for his role as coach of the Australian national team. Arok coached Australia in 48 A internationals between 1983 and 1989. In the 1990 Australia Day honours, Arok was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "service to soccer, particularly as the Australian national coach".
He oversaw the Australian team in its 1-0 loss to Fiji on 30 November 1988, a match which is still remembered fondly by Fiji soccer supporters today.
After working with Perth Glory's youth team between 2001 and 2003, Arok moved back to Serbia with his wife to retire.
He passed away on 12 January 2021, aged 88.