Agreed. I mean, it's technically Europe but if you're gonna be in a less competitive league than NZ, why not come down here? Still good luck to him, he's a decent kid and not a bad footballer so hopefully he does well and gets scouted.
about 7 years ago· edited about 7 years ago· History
Honefoss is a pretty good/big team, was in the top tier maybe 5 years ago, just been relegated to the 4th tier. Shark level of football but maybe not such a bad team. Never really wanted Monty in the international fold so maybe this seals it
about 2 years ago· edited about 2 years ago· History
Interesting yarn. Good on him. I was on the Air NZ Auckland-Buenos Aires flight with AWs enroute to Lima in 2017. I remember a sheepish Monty have to return to the plane from BA Arrivals, after leaving his passport on the plane or something. He would have been 20-21.
All White Monty Patterson’s journey from FA Cup scorer to helping young Kiwi footballers
All White Monty Patterson has set up a football academy – and a scholarship for less well-off youngsters – in a bid to help them chase their dreams. He talks to Neil Reid about the power of giving back.
Monty Patterson is no stranger to football’s school of shuddering hard knocks, which have derailed many a career.
Now 27, the widely travelled player is running his own football academy in Auckland – Coach Monty – which aims to provide would-be Kiwi professionals with the tools to succeed both on and off the pitch.
His business is also funding a scholarship programme that provides a trio of talented teens with kit, boots, playing fees and funds for post-game recovery sessions as well as off-field life mentoring.
The spark for creating Coach Monty had been looking back at some of the struggles he faced, heading to the other side of the world as a teenager.
“I really would have benefited from someone doing what I am trying to do for these players now,” Patterson told the Herald.
“[The lack of support] made it a little bit more difficult than it needed to be. There wasn’t someone there to bounce ideas off, to help deal with what I was going through, good or bad ... just someone giving me perspective or guidance.” Monty Patterson, second from right, has travelled the globe as a professional footballer. Photo / Neil Reid
Patterson arrived in Ipswich shortly after his 17th birthday.
As well as leaving home, his parents were going through a divorce at the time, which made things “emotionally difficult”.
“I had younger siblings ... I didn’t want it to feel like I was abandoning them.”
His new home was an Ipswich Town “digs”, which provided rooms for some of the club’s youngsters.
As a boy, he had one dream: to become a professional. He quickly found that not only was it a difficult goal to reach, but also to retain once there.
“It can be quite lonely in the pursuit of being a professional athlete, not just a footballer,” he said.
“When I went into that professional space, it was hard mentally to comprehend that my friends were my teammates, but also my competition in a sense. Once you go over that white line, even at training, you are competing against each other, either to get a contract or even a starting spot.”
These were among the lessons he was teaching Coach Monty attendees, who made it clear that their life goal was to be a pro player.
He also taught them how to have a “healthy balance and perspective on life”. While it was good to dream big, it could be unhealthy if one thing consumed a person, Patterson said.
“There are actually other things in life that are important: friends, family and having other passions and interests outside of football,” he said.
“It took me quite a while to figure that out. It is really important to have other passions and interests and to be a good person.”
At Coach Monty, Patterson wasn’t just giving back to youngsters by providing advice picked up in his footballing journey – he was also doing so financially.
In 2022, the kind-hearted 15-cap All White international created a scholarship that, as well as providing gear and opportunities to those who otherwise couldn’t afford it, allowed him to offer “mentorship and guidance outside of football”.
All profits from items sold on the online Coach Monty shop – including training shirts, beanies and socks – help fund the scholarship.
Three young players aligned to Manurewa AFC are currently on the scholarship.
“I am trying to be a person that helps them move forward, lead by example and show what it is to be a good person or a good man,” Patterson said.
“There are some people who don’t have the financial means to go to all the coaching clinics or get the best gear and that sort of stuff.”
One of his teammates was Rory Fallon, who several years earlier had provided a spark of motivation for the then-teenaged Patterson while he was coached by the striker’s father, Kevin Fallon, at Mt Albert Grammar.
“Rory came in for a training session before the famous game against Bahrain where he scored the header,” Patterson said.
“Later that day, he gave Kevin a shirt, and Kevin gave that shirt to me the next day and it said: ‘To Monty, God Bless, Rory.’ I would have been about 13.
“Fast forward six years later ... we were in the same squad. It was like full circle and a special moment.”
One was joining an elite club of New Zealanders to score a goal in the FA Cup – the 152-year-old British knockout football competition.
That goal came while playing for Braintree United – while on loan from Ipswich Town – securing the side a 1-0 first-round win in the 2016-17 competition.
The magnitude of scoring in the world-famous tournament took some time to sink in.
“It was a good moment, but at the time I don’t think I realised just how big.”
Patterson’s footballing journey has taken him around the Pacific, and as far away as England, Russia, America and Norway.
In early 2020 he was contracted to Norwegian third league team Honefoss BK. But given the global uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic, Patterson decided to return to New Zealand.
He initially linked with Auckland United and took on some youth coaching, which gave him the idea for the Coach Monty academy.
The New Zealand league took some getting used to after playing in front of huge crowds overseas – including being part of the All Whites’ squad that competed in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Manurewa AFC – performing their victory song after a 1-0 win over Napier City Rovers – made it back into the National League in 2023 for the first time in 35 years. Photo / Neil Reid
“There probably was a little bit of an adjustment period [after] playing in front of big crowds in the FA Cup. There was a bit more of a buzz to it than coming back and maybe playing in front of 10 or 15 people,” Patterson said.
“It took a mentality change.”
Throughout 2023 he was a standout for Manurewa AFC, including in their return to the National League for the first time in 35 years.
The money Patterson earned playing in New Zealand was nothing compared to what he could earn overseas.
But he loved being back home, and said it would take something special to chase his own football dream elsewhere. Junior All Whites forward Noah Billingsley, left, and Monty Patterson attempting to beat Myanmar midfielder Myo Ko Tun to the ball during their Fifa U-20 World Cup. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“It is rewarding working with young people and seeing them develop as players and as people,” he said. “It means a great deal to me.”
"He has such tremendous quality in many areas.”@atletiOttawa lost a couple of key goalscorers this off-season, but believe they have filled that gap with New Zealand international Monty Patterson 👀
Niche Cache. Basically replacing Ollie Bassett at Ottawa Fresh from winning the Most Valuable Player award in the last New Zealand National League, Monty Patterson’s taking the show on the road having signed a two-year deal with Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Premier League. We’ll breeze past the cringiness of a Canadian team having a Spanish name (there is a reason: the club is owned by Atlético Madrid) because this is an exciting move to get him back amongst the overseas brigade.
Patterson joined the Ipswich Town Academy as a teenager (playing once for the senior team) before stints in Norway, America, and the Wellington Phoenix. He also earned 15 caps for the All Whites during that part of his career – including scoring the goal in a 1-1 draw against USA.
More recently he’s settled back into the domestic scene and put an equal focus on his coaching... but an outstanding campaign with Birkenhead United was apparently reopened a few doors.
Atlético Ottawa were third in the league last season then lost to Forge in the playoff semi-final. The CPL has always had eyes open on the New Zealand scene with the likes of Myer Bevan, Moses Dyer, and now Jay Herdman having great success there. Stephen Hoyle also spent a season in the CPL and don’t forget English attacker Ollie Bassett who was once a Waitakere United and Team Wellington import before later sharing the CPL Golden Boot with another familiar NZ National League bloke in Myer Bevan during the 2023 season. Bassett spent three years with Atlético Ottawa but recently left to join Tampa Bay Rowdies in the American USL... so Patterson is effectively replacing him.
Monty Patterson: “A few of my good friends have played in this league before. Moses Dyer, Myer Bevan, and I know Ollie a little bit as well, who obviously did a really great job here. I spoke to Moses a bit before coming. I kinda followed them while they were over here playing so I’ve loosely followed the league over the last few years already.”
JD Ulanowski, Atlético Ottawa General Manager: “Monty is a versatile, dynamic number nine that fits our style of play and model. We expect him to bring lots of attacking output in the final third for us.”
What’s more is that AO team manager Drew Beckie was once a teammate of Patterson’s at Oklahoma City Energy in the USL. Beckie finished his playing career at Atlético Ottawa before moving into a backroom position two years ago. That’s “team manager” in the old fashioned sense of the term, by the way. He’s not the coach, he’s the bloke who sorts out all the contingencies. But no doubt he put in a good work for Monty as this all came together.
Patterson on at 77 mins for the victors (2-0), and gets the assist for the 3rd goal. Herdman on at 78 mins (0-2) for the losers. Cavalry with a player sent off at 64 mins (0-1).
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