Why cant any kiwis make a football career

Why cant any kiwis make a football career

Hey Everyone

I'm making a documentary about this topic and just wanted some views on the topic.

Is it cos of the lack of funding for soccer in new zealand?

Or is it something else?
Please comment.
Jakey

They can if they're A League standard - it may not pay as well as overseas but it's not bad money.

Have you ever been to a game in NZ and seen the crowd size?

Who you making it for Jakey.

This 'truth' has left me feeling quite depressed.

Cricket wouldn't be in the position it is if it weren't for the National Bank subsidising the sport. No one goes to physically watch the National Bank Cup or whatever its called yet cricket has money. NZFC sides attract more spectators to football. Once the game gets the injection of money then we'll be away and laughing. You've also got the fact that sometimes the best players aren't even playing in the NZFC. You get sides offering players good money (eg $10,000) to play a season in the Northern Premier League...and its probably a similar story in the Central and Southern leagues. Then these players expect the NZFC sides to match or pay better. I think a few seasons back Waikato FC took $36000 in gate takings for the season. that money would be gobbled up by a paying of a couple of key players.

Or it might be the BNZ sponsoring cricket. I just don't have any interest in the game or in rugby to really recall the finer details but either way money is what we need.

Spot on Kiwi Canary unless the All Whites are more competitive football will always struggle. Interesting that our most successful team sports rugby, cricket, league and netball are minority sports worldwide. Maybe this is why we are competitive in these sports? Much easier to be competitive in a sport where most countries have little or no interest. 

Right on Sanday! The general sporting public in NZ get that feel-good factor when we win at sporting events we are good at...and yes they are minority sports in the global sense of things.

I reckon the public of NZ are blinded to how average of sports rugby, cricket and netball actually are. The NZ team aren't competitive internationally, but if they had elliot, nelsen, killen etc then they wouldn't be half bad and it would create a much higher interest in football. Another problem football in NZ has is there are a lot of snobby football fans who like english of spanish football but completely ignore, and laugh at, football at home. Its no wonder football isn't growing hugely here, it's because a lot of fans who are like that don't support it.

The problem is that there are a couple of hundred thousand people playing the game from junior through to Sunday league level and incorpoarting the womens game. Now all these people must get some pleasure out of playing the recreational side of the game and they must have some interest in it otherwise why play the game? So how do you harness these numbers and get them going to watch a top level New Zealand game? If we were able to attract a high percentage of people to these games and charged a few bucks per head, that is when the game suddenly will burst into life. The money generated can be used to further enhance facilities etc. There aren't many grounds in NZ that are covered for a start, or that even have a stand that can hold 1000 fans. If clubs could develop their facilities instead of pay mercenaries to play for them and try and win a league that has no prizemoney, then the local game would be in a much healthier state.

spot on canary

Wow guys thats great stuff its always good to get some real footy heads into it. Everything posted was gold and im sure to look at in more depth.
ON THE PHOENIX
Jake

That's a catch 22 situation though isn't it?

Yes you are correct. What is the answer? Start at the bottom. We already have good participation at junior level. Maybe coaching at the lower levels needs to be better? We just need more players of better quality at the top end. A problem soccernz have been working on hopefully.

 I agree with a lot of what has been said. I wondered whether teams from the Championship in England or league one could be invited to NZ for a series of games against the All Whites or Phoenix during their close seasons? The NZ FA would I am sure have to susidise this (and would probably be unlikely to get Premiership sides visiting) but I wonder whether it might generate some extra interest in the sport. I think one issue is that domestic/homegrown football (apart from the A-Legaue) is just not popular in this region - so encouraging sides that some Kiwis watch on TV to travel here from Europe might be one way of promoting interest in home grown football. 

Dunfermline from the Scottish SPL came here a couple of years ago and perhaps because of who they were, they didn't attract large crowds. It was a loss making exercise.  From the people I work with and who aren't football fans, they would rather watch a Brazilian or Argentinian side play than and English PL side. I'm not sure why this is. I'd go and watch Norwich City play if they came here but I really wouldn't bother with any other English club unless it was say Blackburn who have kiwi content in their squad.

Mate is my brain inside your head or what!:-) Yep, I consider myself a hardcore football fan like yourself...a Kiwi hardcore fan. And when the Kiwi player content whittled away I lost interest. There was too much wordplay...stepping stones for young Kiwi footballers for example, and those in charge played us for fools. The list of miserable, poor, UK cast-offs was a soap drama in itself. The fans got taken for a ride in the end. We know a good player as much as guys like Fallon do. We read the game, we know what is what but to get told that Frank Van Eijs was a quality import was an insult to my intelligence. I have friends in Holland who emailed me asking why were the Kingz signing a player who was known to have mental problems? He came from FC Vietnam for chrissake. A competition well below the status of the A League. The overseas signings were all the go. The local signings far and few between. Cole Tinkler got a season and then got discarded. What sort of development is that? The Phoenix are heading in the right direction. I'm not sure why they haven't gone for Ben Sigmund. Very short on local talent and here's a player voted Player of the Year and Players Player of The Year at Auckland City - the NZFC champions. Not good enough? He may yet end up at Melbourne Victory...

Bunce really stuck it to Herbert. I am still not convinced that Herbert managing both teams is in the best interests of New Zealand football. Time will tell. 

There are some good points in these posts! It is difficult question to answer. How to improve the game in NZ? LondonChris2007-05-20 23:58:06

Yes once again my man, you speak with wisdom. I myself got stung sponsoring Waikato FC players and purchasing Michael Utting a car so that he would sign for the franchise. In the end the players take what they can get and it's us poor suckers that are left to pick up the pieces. And we get no thanks for it either. The players aren't interested and then they wonder why I went off my rocker everytime they accrued a yellow or red card. As an administrator you are left to raise the dollars to pay for fines because 9 times out of 10th players won't pay it or the coach will say that the club can take care of it. And that is it for me. You have volunteers in most cases raising the funds and the players just milking the system. I would really love to build up a website and list all the players that have ripped off clubs by demanding money to play or playing clubs off against each other for their services. Whilst LondonChris has a good suggestion there, sadly you and I know it will never work.

The post about Soccer Talk investing back into the game made me smile. No, financially it doesnt invest back into the local game but what it does invest in, is giving players a profile, the game a profile and fans their only regular football publication in this country. It nearly folded last year due to lack of support by the football community. There are a bunch of people who contribute to it, I supply photos for free but then that is me. I like to give something back to the game. Others take payment but then if it is their livelihood it would only be fair to charge for services supplied.

The Jam and Kiwi Canary. Thanks for your advice and comments.

Hey not a problem. Check out www.soccertalk.co.nz and I think you can subscribe direct from the website now. They even do credit cards. Email the Editor Glen Price from the website and ask re overseas subs. I'm sure he already has some so he can quote you direct.

LondonChris2007-05-23 01:35:01

i did hear a rather amazing story of a glenfield rovers player turning down the kingz because the salary on offer was comparable to what he was getting at glenfield.  the point of difference being that he could also hold his day job by playing for glenfield, and couldn't do so at the kingz

You wouldn't be talking the MICKEY would you, Jam? I heard Dodds was raking in a nice $10k for a season with Glenfield but it may even be more than that.

LondonChris, some of the money bandied about can be ridiculous. I recall when i was on the board of Waikato UNITED (prior to their amalgamation with Melville AFC) being TOLD by the coach that we were paying this player (who I won't name cos he knows me and I need a punch in the head like the next man) $365.00 a game. That was for home and away games and when we were relying on gates to cover some of these player payments it was a real worry. I was one of the people responsible for winding up Waikato United. We had to do it because legal advice suggested that board members would be liable for any debts...and the club was losing money from all areas including the bar!

Wow. I think NZ football is just all over the place. So there are people willing to throw money at the game. But we still don't have those paying fans turning upto games at any level. Lets hope Wellington get right behind the Phoenix. A successful few seasons for Phoenix, performance and gate receipt wise and there may be argument for a second NZ based team getting into the A-League.

Perhaps some of the clubs have new committees and consequently they don't really have a clue about the people they appoint as coaches. I really don't know the answer, but you'd think the person in question would just about have done his dash coaching. I saw him in action a few weeks ago. I'm not a fan of the ranting and raving coach and I do think that overall coaching standards are quite poor here. You're quite right too, this dude hasn't acheived anything of note.

PLAIN AND SIMPLE! THE REASON WHY KIWIS CANT MAKE IT IN FOOTBALL: