Footballsouth Premier League

 

A Night to Savour ...
Rab Smith, pic of Boyens by Ian Edwards, Invercargill.

Thousand pardons for lateness in uploading this report, I seriously damaged my body in Wellington with excessive celebrations after the All Whites disposed of Bahrain, and clinched a place in next years World Cup in Sth Africa.

A grave tactical error was in travelling with Dave Lamont whose capacity for celebrating, is Olympic class at least.

Hardly worth repeating details of that superb win at the Cake Tin - quite a stadium by the way....

Will our new stadium at Logan Park be as good ? Wellington might have an edge in attracting near 40,000 people, while - new or not - my forecast is for crowds composed of a fraction of that number here.

Some crowd up there though, possibly the noisiest, best orchestrated crowd since Hibs beat the likes of Real Madrid 2-nil, Barcelona 3-2, and Napoli 5-nil in those halcyon days in the sixties.

The match details heve been well documented - essentially a headed goal from Rory Fallon and a penalty save from Mark Paston in Wellington, and a classy volley by Killen that hit Bahrains crossbar...carried the All Whites to the World Cup soccer finals in South Africa next year.

And John Adshead was in big demand ( pic left ) as he reminisced about Spain 1982.

Note: Kay Dunn is already on the ball with a package for next year Fifa Football World Cup 2010, Register your interest here - House of Travel Dunedin, kayd@hot.co.nz or DDI 4715588

Football fans at Wellington’s Caketin on Saturday certainly justified their tag as the All White’s 12th man as they roared their team onto victory and a place in FIFA’s World Cup in South Africa next year, and a substantial group gathered at the famous General Practitioner pub - pictured right.

But once the white wigs and facepaint came off, and sobriety set in after Saturday nights celebrations. What next, apart from some aspirin for that hangover ?

National administators’ thoughts immediately turned to the daunting logistics involved in preparing the All Whites for South Africa, and no doubt requests are already in the post for build-up matches that will prepare the players.

But in the gatherings before and after the Bahrain game, there was an interesting mix of supporters who are determined to become more involved in football’s domestic future.

There was an impressive group of 40-somethings who used to play national league in Dunedin. Not the core of British imports who formed the base of Dunedin City and Caversham’s performances, but a bunch of Kiwis.

Former University of Otago students who played in Dunedin sometimes for as long as five years, and who have fond memories of their time in Otago.

Players such as Paul Bardwell, Grant Plumbley, Craig Riddle, Maia Ririnui, goalkeeper Dave White, and so on, who in many cases have their own coaching plan for the All Whites future in offspring that are keenly involved.

And those offspring, boys and girls will be well catered for in the present elaborate collection of Football Academies, Coaching Clinics and structured competitions that run throughout the country.

Many see the main target as pumping up the coaching production line to produce better and more skilful kids, and without doubt that is an important factor.

But equally important will be the involvement of all those former players in growing the game where it is at its weakest – and that is in administration, refereeing, and in all the adult support areas that have been apathetic in recent years.

This is not a criticism of present administrators, rather a spotlight on the missing mob who have remained in the shadows and who have wondered why the game in many areas has been stagnant and possibly gone backwards.

Masters Football is often thought to have siphoned off an age group that used to provide a source of administrators and referees with real football experience.

And that may be true, but many of the fans who traveled to Wellington were talking about a more hands-on involvement in the game, apart from scoring hat-tricks in Masters Football there may be room for a more positive involvement in the game’s future.

The overall attitude was that maybe the time ie ripe to put something back into the game, and there were many talented football savvy former players giving serious consideration to some kind of increased involvement.

Former New Zealand Football chairman Dave Lamont said,’ The return of former players in an active role in football could be a very important factor if the code is to expand.’

In many ways, Lamont himself exemplifies a return from the wilderness as he took up the reins of Otago United after being absent from administration for several years.

In fact the sight of the former NZFA chairman, after a recent hip replacement operation limping along aided by a stick among the throngs of supporters at the match was inspirational.

Propped on his stick, with a Churchillian rake to the jaw he said,’ We need more young people to get involved in running the game. There are many tired administrators around, and this burst of enthusiasm could spark a revival where its needed most.’

Well said Dave, couldn't agree more...