Monday, October 25, 2010

Up For The Cup - Part II

Carlos Roca books the Rebels a place in the FA Cup first round proper against Rochdale.

Up For The Cup - Part I

An example of the sort of atmosphere that can be generated at crap grounds like Fred Taylor Park in Kumeu, Centennial Park in Ngaruawahia etc

Bloc 5: Live at the BBC!

Never before seen on tv! BBC World Service Producer Jo Parsons came out to New Zealand in 2002 to do a piece on Bloc 5 and the Kingz for BBC Sport.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Samuel Baxter McIlroy

On 6 November 1971 a 17 year old Sammy McIlroy made his debut for United against City in front of 63,000 at Maine Road ...and scored!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Death of a Disco Dancer

Part One - What killed the Kingz
It can be quite amusing to read comments about the reasons for the demise of the Football Kingz. Usually they’re written by people who never went to a Kingz game and have only really been actively following football in NZ for the past 3 seasons and 9 games (and counting). So here for your enjoyment (and in bullet point format) are the indisputable reasons for the demise of the Football Kingz.

Too soon for professional football
Think about the problems professional sports leagues and professional sports teams, especially in this part of the world, are currently experiencing. Then imagine what it was like ten years ago when the Kingz kicked off – if you go back 10 years you could probably magnify those problems 100 fold. You only have to look at the current problems faced by the Hyundai A League – is there a club that hasn’t been propped up or isn’t currently being propped up by Football Federation Australia? And this is despite the A League being awash with cash. In the Kingz case there were financial problems only a few weeks into their inaugural season which led to players going unpaid and, in the case of Dino Menillo, walking out. Eventually the Kingz were forced to go semi-professional. There’s some great stories about the players having to get up at 2am in the morning, to check in at the airport at 3am, to catch 6am flights to Australia, to sit around in the airport for the entire day and wait for the bus to take them to the game which usually kicked off at 7pm in the evening – all in the name of cost saving (those were the cheapest flights). Dugdale wasn’t prepared to put up with it and quit as coach. For whatever reason Chris Turner always wanted to push ahead. I really think that football in Auckland and in New Zealand as a whole would be in a much stronger position if the Kingz had closed up shop after only the first year and we had pulled the plug on the Aussie experiment to instead focus on our own national league.

Poor product
Despite the fact that the NSL was arguably a more credible league than the current A League, it was under resourced and wasn’t really supported outside the ethnic communities. There was stuff all support from the commercial sector (big corporates, sponsors etc) too and most importantly there was no TV coverage. Channel 7 had the rights but wouldn’t show the games! Cue “Nobody Screws Soccer Like Seven” protests. No league can survive without television coverage not to mention television revenue. The A League survives on the millions that Fox Sports pumps in every year – without Fox Sports money there would be no A League.

Sky TV
Sky bought an 80% stake in the Kingz. In my opinion the Kingz board during the Sky years is largely responsible for killing professional football in Auckland. Who were the suits involved at that time? Maybe you can help me: John Fellet (Sky), Simon Massey (Sky), Paul Smart (Sky), John “Rugby” Hart ...I see a theme developing here. They brought in a string of gutless Melburnians who turned tail and fled after only a couple of games. The Kingz finished bottom of the league and Sky abruptly disposed of their stake. The Kingz never recovered from this ...and neither did professional football in Auckland.

No support from New Zealand Soccer (as they were then known)
It was a real “them and us” attitude. The situation was in direct contrast to the current position with the Phoenix where NZF not only held the A League licence but has also financially assisted the Phoenix.

Replicate those circumstances in any city, in any country, in any part of the world and the outcome would be the same, namely the death of a disco dancer.

Part Two - What killed the Knights

Money
More specifically the lack of it from Messieurs Katzen and Lee. It’s ironic that the final death knell was when the FFA pulled the plug on an instalment due to the Knights – which is the complete opposite to the situation with Newcastle Jets, Adelaide, North Queensland, Gold Coast etc etc where the FFA gave those clubs extra money to bail them out instead of taking it away.

John Adshead
Used what little money he had to buy a string of dud players (third rate/fourth rate journey men) then, when he realised he had made a mistake, fled to Tauranga to play golf with Allan Jones. It always amuses me when Adshead pops up in the paper to offer advice on football matters. Surely if he had any credibility, when the reporter rings up he’d simply say “I was a dismal failure at the Knights and am partly responsible for destroying professional football in Auckland so I really don’t feel I have anything credible to say about the current state of football”. Same goes for Fallon popping up in the media (vis a vis his part in the demise of the Kingz), although at least with Fallon he inherited a team that wasn’t really his - but that’s still no excuse for signing your oldest son!

No support from New Zealand Soccer
See “Part One – What killed the Kingz” above. It’s particularly pertinent here because the Knights were waiting on an instalment of money due to them from the FFA but which never arrived – I think it’s common knowledge that in the case of the Phoenix, NZ Football is advancing the Phoenix money due to them from the FFA.

"...Oh, but maybe in the next world

Maybe in the next world..."

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Reminisce Part One: Come On You Kingz (The Auld Lang Syne chant)

Inspiration? There’s really only one noteworthy team that does this chant. I’ll give you a clue, they’re (not so) affectionately known as the Fulham of the Midlands for their average support and this chant is one of only three in their repertoire - the other two being Villa/Villa/Villa Villa/Villa/Villa/Villa and Holte Enders in the sky.

The Kiwi Kingz

Here's some names for you:

Season One (1999-2000)
Jason Batty; Che Bunce; Jeffrey Campbell; Fred DeJong; Mark Elrick; Noah Hickey; Chris Jackson; Lee Jones; Leigh Kenyon; Aaran Lines; Harry Ngata; Jonathan Perry; Stu Riddle; Wynton Rufer; Mike Utting; Riki van Steeden; Ivan Vicelich.

Season Two (2000-2001)
Che Bunce; Mark Burton; Jeffrey Campbell; Gerard Davis; Sean Douglas; Simon Eaddy; Noah Hickey; Chris Jackson; Lee Jones; Aaran Lines; Chris Marsh; Heremai Ngata; Jonathon Perry; Wynton Rufer; Tim Stevens; Paul Urlovic; Riki van Steeden; Ivan Vicelich.

Season Three (2001-2002)
Mark Atkinson; Campbell Banks; James Bannatyne; Scott Bishop; Mark Burton; Jeffrey Campbell; Gerard Davis; Sean Douglas; Lance Eason; Sean Fallon; Chris Jackson; Leigh Kenyon; Heremaia Ngata; Jonathon Perry; Wynton Rufer; Tim Stevens; Paul Urlovic; Riki van Steeden; Craig Wylie.

Season Four (2002-2003)
Mark Atkinson; James Bannatyne; Mark Beldham; Mark Burton; Jeffrey Campbell; Jeremy Christie; Raffaele de Gregorio; Johnny Foundoulakis; Chris Jackson; Heremaia Ngata; Jonathon Perry; James Pritchett; Ben Sigmund; Jonathon Taylor; Steven Turner; Paul Urlovic; Michael Utting; Riki van Steeden; Darren Young.

Season Five (2003-2004)
Campbell Banks; Mark Beldham; Mark Burton; Jeffrey Campbell; Jeremy Christie; Glen Collins; Chad Coombes; Danny Hay; Noah Hickey; Chris Jackson; Heremaia Ngata; Ross Nicholson; David Rayner; Jason Rowley; Brad Scott; Michael Utting; Michael Williams; Tamati Williams; Craig Wylie; Darren Young.

The Football Federation Australia Welfare League

It’s enlightening to read Australian football fans on Australian football forums refer to their own Hyundai A League as a sham and/or “The FFA Welfare League”. Let’s examine this proposition in greater detail. Here’s a list of clubs that the FFA has propped up, has offered to prop up or is currently propping up:

Perth Glory: FFA owned Perth Glory for a year;

Sydney FC: FFA chairman Lowy’s money bailed out Sydney FC when the club was about to go “belly up” after only a season or two;

Adelaide United: Currently 100% owned by the FFA;

North Queensland Fury: Currently 100% owned by the FFA;

Brisbane Roar: FFA offered to prop up cash strapped “Queensland Roar” at the start of the 2008-2009 season and was about to take control of the club at the end of that season;

Gold Coast United: FFA propped up Gold Coast United last season;

Newcastle Jets: FFA recently bailed out the Newcastle Jets.