Waitakere United

Season tickets a cool $100 as per their twitter 

Season Passes available, $100 Adult $50 Seniors. SP paid for by 13 November in to win a #WUFC top. Email [email protected]

— Waitakere United FC (@WaitakereUTD) October 10, 2017

Ouch

Heard through the grapevine they are fudgeed cause they had to pay Brian Shelley $60k for firing him. Some employment relations authority ruling and stopped paying their players what they were owed because they could not afford to anymore. Makes a bit of a mockery because you have to go through the process of firing a coach much like you would an employee.

Guess this is their way of getting their cash back.

amazing how the grapevine works - go back in this thread 2 pages and you find this

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cf...

they had to pay him $10k - although there could have been extra costs for lawyers etc which might explain the $60k figure you heard

it's terrible that the club employed a coach and then were expected to treat him like an employee!

this sort of thing can influence future gaming grants too, seeing as prior grants may have been linked to shelley's contract

this was the case at another franchise when a coach was fired and had to be paid out with what was in effect gaming money and the trusts were not happy

What bugs me is that you basically gone are the days of firing a coach if he has a poor start to the season. You have to sit him down, issue a verbal warning, written warning, involve lawyers, allow him to to have his say and then only then can you fire him. By the time you jump through all the PC bullshark, the season may well be over.

All true, but it's the modern world. I think the issue is exacerbated by the incongruence between the 'good employment process' expected of pokie-funded amateur clubs and pro clubs who make the call and make the payout in order to move on quickly.

The scoreline won't reflect that Waitak were the better team until the red card. Auckland look a shadow of their former self, an injury to Tade would spell some sort of disaster.

I'm a bit two-minded on both second yellows that lead to red.

The first Tade had well and truly lost the ball (counter attack over) and it wasn't reckless, so not sure if it was a yellow. The second looked like he was dispossessed then a body check was called on the defender. Seemed odd.

I think for both incidents, 95% of the time a referee in this league would've simply waved play on. Except today they were met with yellows.

Mind you I was a good distance away from the pitch, as is the nature of the lifeless Trusts Arena.

That will be the Waitakere coach gone then :) Thats how they do it is it not ..................

There is a number of teams looking weaker this year. Auckland in third gear today but got the job done. No question without Tade and De Vries they would be no where near as creative. However you can only beat whats in front of you and they done that today. Waitakere looked very ordinary ..............

Jeff was Shelly not an employee ??? Why would they not have to treat him as one .............

Auckland badly miss Bilen in midfield. Waitakere miss Dan Morgan, who's playing a left-wing back role for City this year.

My first thoughts were that Auckland looked a shadow of themselves, however as mentioned above you can only beat what is put in front of you.  Waitak will bounce back and were a little unlucky to get two red cards but it wasn't unbelievable.  Could be a four or five horse race come playoff time this year?  

It is some story what happened the last coach at Waitakere .............. Although I know there is two sides to every story but Waitakere seemed to dig a big deep finacial hole trying to deal with the situation very very unprofessionally 

Ok guys your probably bored of this subject : ) I was having dinner on the shore with my family when the last Waitakere Coach sat down next to us with his wife. Did not know it was him till we got talking and of course soccer came up. It was Brian Shelley with a strong Irish accent I might add. Anyway this could be a one sided story so if anyone knows different let me know but was pretty shocked with how he was treated and what has happened since. In a nut shell he came across very honest and said he completely understood his responsibility was to win more games than he did and if you dont you will pay the price. However what he was spun by the chairman Williamson I think he said his name is was very different. Williamson had said there would be transitional period at the club as they were looking to move away from Fred Taylor to Naghue which did not happen and that is a whole other story !. Anyway 3 games in to the season he was sacked, he was summonsed to a meeting in a busy hotel in the city with no idea why he was going as it was the day before they had an away game. Once there anyway he was sacked in the main lobby of the hotel with heaps of people around. He understands coaches get sacked all the time but most you never hear much about after as they are compensated for being sacked. Anyway Shelley said the misleading unprofessional manner in how this was done he could not accept. Also they appointed the current coach the night before while Shelley took training. He seeked some legal advice and was told it was completely unacceptable how they went about terminating his contract as it was his main stream of income for him and his family. Shelley said he had built up relationships with people at the club so he wanted to let them know he was very unhappy and was going to take this further. A guy called Peter and Bill said they would meet Shelly to try work out something. Anyway by the end of that meeting Shelley had agreed on  payment of only 5k and an apology so the mater could be closed. However a few hours later he was called to say Williamson said no to what was agreed and he was willing to go to court and would bring a top barrister. Williamson said Shelley would end up paying the legal fees etc in a bid to intimidate him. Shelley said he would not accept that so contacted the employment tribunal and was told he could represent himself at the hearing. Shelley said the last thing he wanted to do was go down that legal road but would not be intimated by someone with money. So here is where Williamson gets nasty ! There was a pre hearing in where both parties try to resolve the issue . There is a mediator apparently that goes between the rooms with each party to try resolve the issue. Williamson's first offer was that he would let immigration know that they would not be supporting Shelley and his family anymore with his visa if he did not drop this immediately and they would be deported ! Now when Shelley told me this i thought wow that is a bully ! Williamson was so un-informed Shelley said that him and his family now had their own visa so did not need support from Waitakere in any way for this but can you imagine how annoyed that would make you ! Anyway he went onto represent him self in a hearing that went from 8am to 5pm and he said he was scared sharkless as he was sitting across from Williamson and a very expensive legal team. However the truth came out and the court gave a verdict in Shelleys favor. Shelley said it was 10k which was to be paid 2k a month for 5 months. He only ever received the first month and pennies here and there since so now has to try get him back to court to pay the rest. Said he just exhausted with it all ............Apparently 90% of the players from last season are owed money also  

Ok here is my question to the above guys and as I said that is Shelley's story.

HOW do Waitakere get a licence for this season while breaking a court order and still owing players money from last season ! That leaves me scratching my head. I have some connection to Forrest Hill but im sure their is heaps of other examples that would be a better option to take that license  ???

Fred mate I'm sure that's a great read but you need to employ use of the enter key:

Makes it easier to delete when the lawyers get in touch though.

Ha. Obviously this is not his finest hour, but Stephen Williamson, a chartered accountant by profession (Williamson & Co), has left quite a footprint elsewhere.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, Williamson was manager of the All Whites from 2002-2006, and also had posts with U16, U17 and U20 teams and Olympic team preparations.

He became an AFF board member in 2012, (and then chairman of Auckland Football for a couple of years from 2013).

He even sat on the Fifa Football Committee in 2012.

Williamson became a director at Waitakere in about about 2007, and was head of delegation for their champions league gigs from 2007-14. 

And funnily enough for those who like to follow club sponsor trails, he was also chairman of Cuesports Foundation (pokie trust) from 2000-2014

But this is one episode we're unlikely to see on his CV. 

Resigned from the AFF board due to the Ngahue issue compounded with a few other issues.

How do people like this consistently get appointed to positions of influence? So many people out there doing great work only to be let down by clowns like this

I can probably shed some more light on the Waitakere situation. 

I was involved with the club last season in a coaching capacity. I am no longer attached as I have not been paid from last season and am also out of pocket after paying for food for players on away trips and airport parking etc, all expenses that were agreed to at the time of agreeing to the coaching position I took up. I am aware that players in their current squad (who are owed payments from last season) took no part in preseason training and only agreed to play when Williamson came to them with a repayment plan. The players, these are senior players, will walk away if these terms are not met. I am also aware that current coaching staff have not been paid as yet for their work this season and have threatened to walk away too. I believe this will all come to a head towards the end of this month.

There is more to their monetary woes than just the pay out to Brian Shelly, I understand that they owe considerable amounts to clothing suppliers, playing facility providers and more, I also hear that their grant applications are repeatedly declined just to add to their woes. 

Now some may say this is sour grapes on my behalf but I have given up any hope of being paid anything, what I can’t abide is the prices that they are charging to watch and making their youth league players pay to play for the club which hasn’t been the case in the past. These kids incur no expense to the club at all....they wear last years first team kit and aftermatch gear, NZF covers all travel expenses and their coaches are not being paid so where is their money going? Players and supporters are being let down by this organisation NZF need to step in and put some sort of statutory management in place. 

sounds like NZF have an obligation to get amongst this

I have watched them play pre season and then on TV and something did not look right with them. Maybe this explains it as it must be a huge burden for all of them to carry and train as hard as these teams do. I agree, NZF need to be in here dealing with this.

You sound genuine to me Shorething, I think its a real pity for the integrity of the league if this is whats happening. thought it was odd to be charged $15 to watch the youth game v ACFC last week (+$5 for my student age kids) also wondered about the logic of charging people then employing security (who paid for these guys?) to try and prevent people walking in from multiple other entry points (didnt work) most of the 30-40 odd crowd were parents of the kids playing. perhaps wouldnt have minded so much but the football was horrible. watching the senior game on tv it didnt look like there were many more at that one. 

Okay, OT but I've only heard rumours about this and I can't google any details. What is the Ngahue issue?

I thought the Handy clubs had to meet financial criteria. Who is in line to replace Waitakere next year?

It's still technically being reviewed by the OFC ethics committee so I think best for everyone if we let that process work it's way through first.

Think Southern completed a bit of a smash and grab ...........

Does anyone know if Andrew Abba is on the books with waitakere? I did see his name pop up in pre season but hasnt been seen since

Huge loss for Auckland City with De Vries moving on. For me was the most creative player in the league. 

Southern making great strides this year. Anyone see the game ? Waitakere in a bit of trouble now to make the play offs but a lot of football to be played 

I was there and thought Waitakere played more of the football but not by as much as Millich suggests. They had enough ball to win the game but didn't do nearly enough with it. Hit the bar once but very few genuine chances. 

Yes seen the highlights last night and would agree did not create many clear cut chances (Waitakere) His interview would say very different. The Southern coach has done a very good job from the outside looking in. Organised and hard to break down this year and the imports are adding value in terms of goals ............

I wonder who will be the coach at Waitakere next season ..............

I wonder who it will be on Monday...

Looks like the wheels have come off at Waitakere. That is 2 out of 3 seasons the coach has finished outside of the top 4 also. 

Well in his first season back he only took over part way through the season after they sacked the previous coach and it was about rebuilding

got to the Semi final last season

but haven't won since December 10th

although its probably fairer to say the wheels fell of Waitakere when Rex Dawkins stepped back his involvement

He took over 3 games into the season and  changed half the squad in the transfer period but yes maybe you can forgive that season but had he enough time to get them into 4th even .......

most of the imports left in december. were they any good?