I have been living offshore for a few years and came back for the match. There is a few things I have noticed since I've been back about football in NZ
1, Its much more mainstream. You would never have Checkpoint discussing football governance a few years ago. With 100,000 people(mainly youth) playing the game football is now a big part of many many NZ households. The support is widespread and strong....a good example was the 35,000 fans at the ROF creating as good an atmosphere as any you would experiance OE....and we were getting dicked.
3, What with the NZ sports media? You guys are probably used to it but viewed as a new arrival I found some of the football coverage incredible. There seems to be down right hostility towards football by many sports journalists. Many stories seemed to be deliberately negative. 24 hours out from the Wellington match...a game with 35,000 fans and beamed to 130 countries TV1 buried the match preview behind a host of rugby stories including a 3 minute clip about the Wallabies. Football is NOT a fringe sport anymore in this country.....about time some of the media realised this.
This one bothers me too, and merits a separate thread, methinks. I am sick and tired of hearing on the sports news on the eve of the Nix game that some oval ball player or other is getting ready to play a week later in another country, but nothing on the Nix. I am sick and tired of Monday radio bulletin breathless reporting on a EPL game on the weekend with full interview with the coach, but not saying anything about the Nix game played the same weekend.
It is called provincial mindset (I have nothing against EPL, but it is of secondary importance to me as I do not identify with a UK team far away), combined with lazyness (EPL reports are prepackaged, local team would have to be interviewed by local media) and commercial product placement (NZ rugby is a big business with obvious commercial nous, while NZ football is run by people whose business credentials are not obvious to me).