Publications that help preserve the heritage of football in New Zealand
Having been delayed by 20 minutes by Raj From India’s motion sickness, Football Dad’s van screeched into the car park at Small Seaside Town FC with kick-off less than quarter of an hour away. The kids were piling out of … Read More
New Zealand Football has begun a series of quarterly updates, outlining progress made with its legacy plan for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The plan, called Aotearoa United: Legacy Starts Now, aims to maximise the potential benefits to the game … Read More
Football Dad shifted uncomfortably on his stool, at the back of the room. ‘Okay, awesome, great to see everybody dancing!’ shrieked Weird Lady’s Sister. ‘What an awesome party we’re having!’ A lengthy and painful crackle emanated from the battered speakers, … Read More
Football Mum was at the door, an expensive craft beer in one hand, and a tall glass of pink grapefruit juice in the other. ‘How did it go?’ she enquired, a little hesitantly. She could normally gauge the result within … Read More
Football Dad was determined not to get involved. He stood on the opposite side of the field to all the other parents, fiddling with his phone nervously, trying not to be conspicuous. Weird Lady kicked off her team’s first training … Read More
In early 1973, one of New Zealand’s leading sports commentators, Geoff Sinclair, provided a ‘state of the nation’ review of football, or ‘soccer’ as the sport was widely known at the time. Sinclair, the sports editor of Sunday News, and … Read More
Football Dad’s foot stank. Hunched in a kitchen chair, he slowly peeled off a mud-and-water-soaked Merino sock. ‘Yuck,’ he muttered, followed quickly by a word that rhymed … with multiple meanings. ‘We wonnnnnnnn!!!!!!’ screamed the Youngest One, tearing through the … Read More
While next year will celebrate the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, 2023 will also provide another milestone for women’s football. It will be the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Auckland Women’s Football Association, the body that … Read More
Half a century has passed since one of New Zealand’s most talented footballers scored a hat-trick in his international debut. On September 17, 1972, Blockhouse Bay winger Ian Ormond pulled on the New Zealand shirt for the first time, playing … Read More
Thirty years ago this month, Miramar Rangers won the 1992 Chatham Cup, beating Waikato United 3-1 in the final at Wellington’s Basin Reserve. Darren Fellows put Waikato ahead early before Billy Wright levelled for Rangers. Wright scored again with a … Read More
For 20-year-old Graham Dacombe, it was the greatest game of football he ever played — four goals in a Chatham Cup final, a match the newspaper headlines later billed as ‘Dacombe’s epic cup final’. It was the classic 1972 Chatham … Read More
We hope you’re enjoying the Friends of Football website and the stories we covering about New Zealand football. We aim to keep you in touch with our national teams, the Wellington Phoenix (men’s and women’s A-League), clubs in the northern … Read More
Of all the contributions New Zealand has made to the game of football, one has remained largely unrecognised until recently — and that’s how the use of numbers on shirts was pioneered in this country. Shirt numbers were used by … Read More
Thirty years ago this week, the All Whites played three games against top German side Werder Bremen who agreed to let their star striker, Wynton Rufer, play against them. Rufer and the All Whites lined up against Werder Bremen in … Read More
The years 1982 and 2010 loom large in any reminiscing about New Zealand football’s glory days — they’re the years our All Whites beat the odds to reach FIFA World Cup finals in Spain and South Africa. But what about … Read More
Wellington’s Miramar Rangers will aim to land their fifth Chatham Cup when they meet Christchurch’s Cashmere Technical in the much-disrupted finale to the cup’s 2021 competition. After COVID-19 cut short the 2021 season, Rangers had to wait till February 2022 … Read More
For thousands of New Zealand football fans – particularly those who follow the women’s game – the Ultimate New Zealand Soccer website has become a vital source of results, news and information. On December 7, 2021, the site chalked up … Read More
Auckland Anniversary Day holds a special link with an historic match played under floodlights more than half a century ago. On January 27, 1964, Swiss Cup champions FC Basel came to Auckland’s Blandford Park to play a New Zealand team … Read More
The recent death of former Manchester United and Scotland manager Tommy ‘The Doc’ Docherty has jogged memories of his connections with New Zealand. He died on New Year’s Eve, aged 92, after a long illness. ‘The Doc’ visits New Zealand … Read More