Christchurch just needs its own A league side. If we had 3 pro teams across the country, it would give more opportunities and more opportunities for young lads to get scouted. Money's always going to be an issue, but that can be solved. OFC pro league could also create a few more shop windows for our young lads. Great video mate, keep up the work!
Just came across your channel, great video, you've earnt a sub. You produced a lot of good points that I've noticed. One point you did miss was that there were some negative perceptions about football among the public (though that has likely changed significantly in recent years). Chris Wood was even bullied for playing football as a child. I've lived in Auckland my whole life so until a few months ago I didn't have a local professional team to follow (was very little when the Knights were around) and Auckland FC this season has completely blown me away. I feel very jealous of all the kids who'll be able to grow up with watching a football team in their city, I only started getting into football back in early 2016 and felt that an Auckland team to support would've got me interested eariler. Also I might add an interesting fact in here, New Zealand have had at least one player in every Premier League season since 05/06 (Ryan Nelsen, Simon Elliott, Winston Reid and Chris Wood) which is a positive (and all of them but Elliott spent at least 7 seasons in the league).
Thank you, I really appreciate that! I think negative perceptions about football or any sport in NZ is wrong to spread. Yeah I do remember Chris Wood saying that. Even footballers bully each other in a way, putting others down. It has to stop. Oh wow! I genuinely had no idea that at least one NZ player had been in the Prem for that long. Hopefully more to come in the future!
@@samwansbone2790yeah, same with me, that’s really cool! I will be honest, i hadn’t heard of Ryan Nelsen or Simon Elliot before you mentioned them. But that’s such an interesting fact!
I think a point that needs to be mentioned is the growth of the grassroots game. If there's higher attendance and awareness of the grassroots and non professional clubs in New Zealand, that'll boost the amount of money heading to said clubs which will allow them to develop better facilities and youth development for the game. Take Eastern Suburbs for example, no one I know regularly turns up to their senior games, their pitch and "stadium" has a bit to be desired for. Furthermore it's also interesting to compare the NZ game to the lower leagues in Aussie, where there's a tradition of "ethnic" clubs stemming from post Ww2 immigration to Aussie, something that didn't really happen in NZ (Central United/Auckland City FC, Wellington Olympic and debatably Island Bay United aside) there's a lack of community pride for local teams that you get overseas, does the average Joe turn up to their local team if they're playing every Sunday, let alone on a decent cup run or leading the league? Do you see the times of your local teams games plastered up anywhere, would you stand in a field in pouring rain on a field to watch 22 guys you don't know play against each other every Saturday, when you can watch the best players in world football from the comfort of a pub? Would you as a snotty 7-13 year old care about your local team when you can just watch Ronaldo make a fool of a team of professionals that make more every minute than your mum does in a year? The Incredibly acrid and toxic culture aside ( including a time where a player on my team was talking shit about me and my mum one game when I was playing for my school's C team (haven't played since) a solution is to invest, specifically in the lower leagues and to tie clubs to their respective communities.
Yes you raise a great perspective that I hadn’t thought about before. Investing in the grass roots game can definitely lead to more success of New Zealand football long term. When comparing NZ football to Australia the football culture is a lot more developed in Aussie. It’s good to see NZ football improving constantly but I do agree that it needs more investment and awareness!
The major difference is when you look at Europe there are elite clubs with millions of revenue, they actively recruit and scout young kids or develop talent at youth academies like La Masia. Not everyone succeeds and obviously a small percentage only go to be professional. But in New Zealand there is not a good enough pathway development to develop professionals. I agree with you the lack of number of professional clubs in NZ also reduce the chances of going pro. Another issue is the culture and style of football in NZ and the All Whites. Look at Brazil kids playing in the street, escaping poverty with amazing dribbling, flair and skills; or Spain's possesion based Tiki-Taka that develops ball control and passing angles. When I watched the All Whites growing up as a kid it was defend solid at the back, long balls as defendeds failed to pass out from the back through the midfield or failed to hold possession. So they would often panic and kick it long. It was then frustrating to watch them park the bus but without good counterattacking play to exploit teams. Having a National team coach that can challenge the way we play and develop a new environment and cultural identity as a football nation would be huge.
But as well in Europe there are so many clubs that weren't founded as Franchises but foundations of communities, In other markets they are founded as Franchises with the aim of making Profit
Yes I agree, there doesn’t seem to be any scouting networks that I know of that are actively signing players. Yeah the lack of Pro clubs is definitely a reason, that makes it even harder! That’s so true! An important point that I missed. I think it’s the main reason why NZ perform so poorly on the international stage. Because they play negative football and just kick it long. If NZ’s youth football implemented just a bit of the training styles from Spain and Brazil the culture would improve massively. Yeah I am the same, when I watched the All Whites play Peru in the World Cup qualifier final back in 2017. It didn’t seem like NZ had a set style of play. They quite often look uncomfortable in possession and go direct as a consequence. Lastly, yesss I really agree with you on that last point. I think if NZ had more foreign coaches or even coaches that understand how to play an attractive brand of football. It would propel NZ football forward so quickly. They wouldn’t even need the “best” players. As we have seen underdog countries excel at the World Cup in the past. We just need the right tactics and training methods.
i think with the 2026 WC, which will give oceania a guaranteed spot, i'm pretty sure football will get more popular here, especially when we're so dominant in OFC already.
yeah good point! i hope so, NZ doesn’t really get much competition in OFC when they are smacking teams all the time. It would be great to see NZ back in the WC!
It's not just you. It's a very real thing in Auckland and probably the whole of NZ. Experienced it first hand playing football in the Auckland leagues.
No not just you. I agree with you both, bullying occurs in football very regularly. Even in Christchurch, players putting each other down happens constantly. It sucks to see and I hope we see less of it.
Work on the grass roots club level, build the base stronger, pyramids are not built from the top down. Don't follow the Rugby example where it's only the All Blacks that matter.
Yes I think that is so important, because community football matters. It is how young players fall in love with the game from an early age. So I definitely think working on grass roots clubs needs to be a big focus. I agree don’t just put all of the attention on the national team like with Rugby. Because without the grass roots football clubs, the sport wouldn’t succeed anywhere around the world not just in NZ!
Good video, but can we not act like the Premier League is the only top league. Cacace plays in Serie A for example. Plus it's very clear how good he is whenever he plays for the All Whites
Thank you, yes you are right. Their are many top leagues outside of the Prem, but i do believe it is the best league in the world with the most exposure. That’s great to hear Cacace is playing in Italy, I didn’t know that. I do agree that the Prem isn’t the only top league and Kiwi’s can excel in other countries too!
Christchurch just needs its own A league side. If we had 3 pro teams across the country, it would give more opportunities and more opportunities for young lads to get scouted. Money's always going to be an issue, but that can be solved. OFC pro league could also create a few more shop windows for our young lads. Great video mate, keep up the work!
Just came across your channel, great video, you've earnt a sub. You produced a lot of good points that I've noticed. One point you did miss was that there were some negative perceptions about football among the public (though that has likely changed significantly in recent years). Chris Wood was even bullied for playing football as a child.
I've lived in Auckland my whole life so until a few months ago I didn't have a local professional team to follow (was very little when the Knights were around) and Auckland FC this season has completely blown me away. I feel very jealous of all the kids who'll be able to grow up with watching a football team in their city, I only started getting into football back in early 2016 and felt that an Auckland team to support would've got me interested eariler.
Also I might add an interesting fact in here, New Zealand have had at least one player in every Premier League season since 05/06 (Ryan Nelsen, Simon Elliott, Winston Reid and Chris Wood) which is a positive (and all of them but Elliott spent at least 7 seasons in the league).
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
I think negative perceptions about football or any sport in NZ is wrong to spread. Yeah I do remember Chris Wood saying that. Even footballers bully each other in a way, putting others down. It has to stop.
Oh wow! I genuinely had no idea that at least one NZ player had been in the Prem for that long. Hopefully more to come in the future!
@saxon1043 yeah that surprised me too when I found out that there's been a kiwi playing regularly in the prem as long as I've been alive basically.
@@samwansbone2790yeah, same with me, that’s really cool! I will be honest, i hadn’t heard of Ryan Nelsen or Simon Elliot before you mentioned them. But that’s such an interesting fact!
You sir have discovered a niche market on the RUclips market well done
haha thank you! long may it continue
I think a point that needs to be mentioned is the growth of the grassroots game. If there's higher attendance and awareness of the grassroots and non professional clubs in New Zealand, that'll boost the amount of money heading to said clubs which will allow them to develop better facilities and youth development for the game. Take Eastern Suburbs for example, no one I know regularly turns up to their senior games, their pitch and "stadium" has a bit to be desired for. Furthermore it's also interesting to compare the NZ game to the lower leagues in Aussie, where there's a tradition of "ethnic" clubs stemming from post Ww2 immigration to Aussie, something that didn't really happen in NZ (Central United/Auckland City FC, Wellington Olympic and debatably Island Bay United aside) there's a lack of community pride for local teams that you get overseas, does the average Joe turn up to their local team if they're playing every Sunday, let alone on a decent cup run or leading the league? Do you see the times of your local teams games plastered up anywhere, would you stand in a field in pouring rain on a field to watch 22 guys you don't know play against each other every Saturday, when you can watch the best players in world football from the comfort of a pub? Would you as a snotty 7-13 year old care about your local team when you can just watch Ronaldo make a fool of a team of professionals that make more every minute than your mum does in a year? The Incredibly acrid and toxic culture aside ( including a time where a player on my team was talking shit about me and my mum one game when I was playing for my school's C team (haven't played since) a solution is to invest, specifically in the lower leagues and to tie clubs to their respective communities.
Yes you raise a great perspective that I hadn’t thought about before. Investing in the grass roots game can definitely lead to more success of New Zealand football long term. When comparing NZ football to Australia the football culture is a lot more developed in Aussie. It’s good to see NZ football improving constantly but I do agree that it needs more investment and awareness!
The major difference is when you look at Europe there are elite clubs with millions of revenue, they actively recruit and scout young kids or develop talent at youth academies like La Masia.
Not everyone succeeds and obviously a small percentage only go to be professional. But in New Zealand there is not a good enough pathway development to develop professionals. I agree with you the lack of number of professional clubs in NZ also reduce the chances of going pro.
Another issue is the culture and style of football in NZ and the All Whites. Look at Brazil kids playing in the street, escaping poverty with amazing dribbling, flair and skills; or Spain's possesion based Tiki-Taka that develops ball control and passing angles.
When I watched the All Whites growing up as a kid it was defend solid at the back, long balls as defendeds failed to pass out from the back through the midfield or failed to hold possession. So they would often panic and kick it long.
It was then frustrating to watch them park the bus but without good counterattacking play to exploit teams.
Having a National team coach that can challenge the way we play and develop a new environment and cultural identity as a football nation would be huge.
But as well in Europe there are so many clubs that weren't founded as Franchises but foundations of communities,
In other markets they are founded as Franchises with the aim of making Profit
Yes I agree, there doesn’t seem to be any scouting networks that I know of that are actively signing players.
Yeah the lack of Pro clubs is definitely a reason, that makes it even harder!
That’s so true! An important point that I missed. I think it’s the main reason why NZ perform so poorly on the international stage. Because they play negative football and just kick it long. If NZ’s youth football implemented just a bit of the training styles from Spain and Brazil the culture would improve massively.
Yeah I am the same, when I watched the All Whites play Peru in the World Cup qualifier final back in 2017. It didn’t seem like NZ had a set style of play. They quite often look uncomfortable in possession and go direct as a consequence.
Lastly, yesss I really agree with you on that last point. I think if NZ had more foreign coaches or even coaches that understand how to play an attractive brand of football. It would propel NZ football forward so quickly. They wouldn’t even need the “best” players. As we have seen underdog countries excel at the World Cup in the past. We just need the right tactics and training methods.
i think with the 2026 WC, which will give oceania a guaranteed spot, i'm pretty sure football will get more popular here, especially when we're so dominant in OFC already.
yeah good point! i hope so, NZ doesn’t really get much competition in OFC when they are smacking teams all the time. It would be great to see NZ back in the WC!
Is it just me, or is there a bit of a culture of bullying in football in NZ, or is that just my experience of football in Auckland?
It's not just you. It's a very real thing in Auckland and probably the whole of NZ. Experienced it first hand playing football in the Auckland leagues.
No not just you. I agree with you both, bullying occurs in football very regularly. Even in Christchurch, players putting each other down happens constantly. It sucks to see and I hope we see less of it.
Things are about to change with FIFA bank rolling the new OFC professional football league which kicks off in 2026.
I didn’t know about that, it sounds exciting! Hopefully another step forward for NZ football!
Good points made
thank you!
Work on the grass roots club level, build the base stronger, pyramids are not built from the top down. Don't follow the Rugby example where it's only the All Blacks that matter.
Yes I think that is so important, because community football matters. It is how young players fall in love with the game from an early age. So I definitely think working on grass roots clubs needs to be a big focus. I agree don’t just put all of the attention on the national team like with Rugby. Because without the grass roots football clubs, the sport wouldn’t succeed anywhere around the world not just in NZ!
Good video, but can we not act like the Premier League is the only top league. Cacace plays in Serie A for example. Plus it's very clear how good he is whenever he plays for the All Whites
Thank you, yes you are right. Their are many top leagues outside of the Prem, but i do believe it is the best league in the world with the most exposure. That’s great to hear Cacace is playing in Italy, I didn’t know that. I do agree that the Prem isn’t the only top league and Kiwi’s can excel in other countries too!