I'd be interested to hear what players were brought to New Zealand as imports and then went on to have professional careers after their time here.
A couple of players spring to mind off the bat,
Shannon Cole played for Waitak in 2005 then went on to play in the A League for just under 10 years.He also got an appearance for the Socceroos.
Colin Falvey played for Otago and Manawatu then played 5 or 6 years in the 2nd division in the states.
Roy Krishnia is another.
Would love to hear others.
The two that immediately spring to mind for me are Johnny Gould and Brian McAllister. Came to Napier in 1989 and then went away to play for Wimbledon and Scotland (Brian) and Johnny played for Celtic and Phoenix amongst others.
I'd be interested to hear what players were brought to New Zealand as imports and then went on to have professional careers after their time here.
A couple of players spring to mind off the bat,
Shannon Cole played for Waitak in 2005 then went on to play in the A League for just under 10 years.He also got an appearance for the Socceroos.
Colin Falvey played for Otago and Manawatu then played 5 or 6 years in the 2nd division in the states.
Roy Krishnia is another.
Would love to hear others.
Norwegian Markus Fjørtoft went from playing for Southern United in 2018-19 to playing for Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premier League in 2019-20, including in front of 50,000 at Ibrox.
Technically an import at ACFC, David Browne signed with HJK Helsinki (winners of the Finnish top flight 21 times) back in January, and played a few Cup games before Covid.
Eric Molloy (ex-Southern and TeeDubs) is currently with Stomil Olsztyn in Polish I league (second tier).
About half the 1982 World Cup team. Came here to play national league and ended up in NZ side at a world cup
Paul Warhurst
Papatoetoe 1987
Oldham
Sheff Wednesday
Blackburn Rovers
Crystal Palace
Bolton Wanderers
Was called in to more than one England squad from memory
Paul McLaughlin
Gisborne City 1984
Cardiff
Shrewsbury
Wolves
Paul Nixon
Gisborne City 1987-89
Then signed for Bristol Rovers before returning to Gisborne and becoming an All White then later playing for Melville and Waikato
Jamie Murphy
As a young fella played sweeper for DB Wellington on loan from Blackpool in the early 1990's
When back and established himself as a pro for Blackpool, Doncaster, Halifax, Morecambe
Did Jermain Defoe play in NZ??
John Fashanu came to Miramar as an import in 1982, he was at Norwich but was only 19 and yet to break into their first team
His brother Justin went to Adelaide at the same time and then played for Miramar in the mid-late 90's not long before he sadly took his own life
Does Tade fit the bill? Played for ACFC then moved to the Argentinian third division as a professional and then over to South Africa to play in the PSL with some success
Peter Haddock at Dunedin City in the mid 80s, was part of the Leeds squad that won the old First Division title just before the advent of the Premier League. By all accounts he was an immaculate player and a decent bloke too.
And Colin Walker of Gisborne City, played for Sheffield Wednesday among others? and also scored that legendary goal v Israel at Mt Smart :)
Peter Mendham - Miramars first import from Norwich City in 1981 - went on to play 240 first team games for Norwich and also won a League Cup winners medal in 1985 (I think - not sure of the year).
Perhaps most notable in terms of honours - Eastern Suburbs bought out two young players from Nottingham Forest in the late 1970's. Steve Elliottt and Bryn Gunn. Elliott faded a bit on his return but Gunn won a European Cup medal with Forest in 1980 - came on as a sub in the final against Hamburg. Elloitts goalscoring record when he was with suburbs was amazing- more than a goal a game
Some of my favourites:
Cristóbal Márquez played three games for Auckland City in the 2013/2014 season. Actually came in from a fairly good standard (Ukranian top flight) at 29 years old. Found himself at CF Fuenlabrada in the Spanish third tier in 2016, and helped them to promotion into the Segunda Division as a mainstay in midfield and one of their best players.
Andreu and Joel Chianese both found themselves in the A-League at Perth Glory after spells at Auckland City.
Adriano Pimenta, a 25 year old Brazilian AM, signed for Waitak in 2008 - two years after scoring the winning goal in the Europa League round of 16 for FC Thun against Hamburger SV. Went on to play in the Brazilian Serie A for a few years
Mentioned him before but Kohei Tezuka who spent the 2015 NRFL season at Onehunga (aged 19) is now a starter in the J. League for Yokohama FC
Richard Hill
Christchurch United 1983
Signed by United for the whole 1983 NZ national league season on loan from top non-league side Nuneaton Borough.
Very successful in NZ.
Returned to England and grabbed headlines as one of the most prolific goalscorers of the mid-1980's in lower league football.
(46 goals in two seasons at Northampton Town)
Transferred in 1987 from Northampton Town to Watford for a Fourth Division record fee of £258,000
(Watford then under Graham Taylor and one of the top teams in the old First Division)
One season at Watford in the top tier (four apps)
Change of manager when Taylor left, meant Hill was transferred to Oxford United for £260,000
(Oxford then in the top tier of English football)
More than half a million pounds in transfer fees in a couple of seasons.
(More than two million pounds in todays money)
Solid management career since the mid 1990's:
"Since retiring from playing Hill has been assistant manager to John Gregory at both Wycombe Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers, Brian Little at Aston Villa, Martin Wilkinson at Northampton Town, Andy Hessenthaler at Gillingham, Tranmere Rovers and was first-team coach at Reading. He has also coached at Swindon Town, scouted for Derby County and managed Stevenage Borough.'
Currently managing in non-league football after being on the staff at Aston Villa as recently as 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hill_(footballer,_born_1963)
Future Scotland international striker John McGinlay.
North Shore United 1983 - 84
(24 apps, 10 goals)
A real late developer who had only played non-league fooball in Scotland and England before age 25.
Only signed for his first club in a professional league in 1989 with Shrewsbury Town.
Quickly attracted attention with Millwall in the early 1990's, scoring in their unsuccessfull 1991 play-off finals semi vs. Brighton.
Great success at Bolton Wanderers 1992 - 97 from the third tier to the Premier League.
(101 goals in 192 apps)
Played the full 1995 play-of final win vs. Reading (incl. extra-time) to gain promotion to the Premier League.
(Had scored both Bolton goals in the 2-0 play-off semi second leg win vs. Wolves, after trailing 1-2 from the first leg)
Featured and scored in Bolton's several high-profile FA Cup upset wins of the 1990's as they became known as the biggest Giant Killers of the era (knocked out holders Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton - and Spurs with a McGinlay hat trick in a 6-1 annihilation)
Played professionally in the States until aged 42.
13 caps (4 goals) for Scotland 1994 - 97 including qualifiers for the 1996 European Championship and 1998 World Cup.
Peter Mendham - Miramars first import from Norwich City in 1981 - went on to play 240 first team games for Norwich and also won a League Cup winners medal in 1985 (I think - not sure of the year).
Perhaps most notable in terms of honours - Eastern Suburbs bought out two young players from Nottingham Forest in the late 1970's. Steve Elliottt and Bryn Gunn. Elliott faded a bit on his return but Gunn won a European Cup medal with Forest in 1980 - came on as a sub in the final against Hamburg. Elloitts goalscoring record when he was with suburbs was amazing- more than a goal a game
Recent Mendham auto-biography.
Be interesting to see if he mentions his two spells playing for Miramar in NZ.
"Life on the Inside" - apt title due to his prison sentence.....stabbed his girlfriend and seriuously injured her.
https://www.amazon.com/His-Own-Words-Life-Inside/dp/1785314890
In 2007 Mendham received " a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of his girlfriend..... The Mendham case remains one of the highest-profile trials ever to have involved a British footballer."
Patricio Almendra
Hutt City in our national league 97 - 98
Came here straight from the FIFA u-20 World Cup due to a Chilean businessman in Wellington with connections.
Went on to a long and successful career in the Chilean league, the Middle East...and even the Football Kingz
Appeared for Chile in qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup after being one of the best midfielders in the Chilean league in 2000-2001.
Coachng clubs in Chile since 2013
Patricio Almendra
Hutt City in our national league 97 - 98
Came here straight from the FIFA u-20 World Cup due to a Chilean businessman in Wellington with connections.
Went on to a long and successful career in the Chilean league, the Middle East...and even the Football Kingz
Appeared for Chile in qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup after being one of the best midfielders in the Chilean league in 2000-2001.
Coachng clubs in Chile since 2013
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricio_Almendra
Greg Brown, striker from England.
Napier City Rovers and Miramar Rangers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Brown_(footballer,_born_1962)
A fantastic young striker for Napier in 1985 and Miramar in 1986 (25 goals in 33 games in NZ)
MVP of the 1985 Chatham Cup win for Napier.
Played for English non-league sides Mossley, Hyde and Southport in the early 1980's before coming here.
Made the All Whites side for friendlies against foreign club sides etc. in 1986
But moved on to the Aussie national league where he was one of the best strikers 1987 - 94
(115 NSL matches, 56 goals)
Aussie Player of the Year 1990
Became a full Australian international 1991 - 92
The English-born player had the honour of playing against the full England side in 1991 on their tour Down Under.
1991 - vs. New Zealand, New Zealand, England, USA B, South Korea B, South Koreavs.
Went on to coach the Aussie national women's side 1997 - 1999, including the 1999 World Cup
A record 14 matches unbeaten during his tenure.
Patricio Almendra
Hutt City in our national league 97 - 98
Came here straight from the FIFA u-20 World Cup due to a Chilean businessman in Wellington with connections.
Went on to a long and successful career in the Chilean league, the Middle East...and even the Football Kingz
Appeared for Chile in qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup after being one of the best midfielders in the Chilean league in 2000-2001.
Coachng clubs in Chile since 2013
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricio_Almendra
The Davila comparison is bang on I think.
Of similar ability too.
His problem was that he was playing in a poor Kingz side floundering in the old Oz NSL.
So despite obvious ability, he couldn't reach his full potential there.
Peter Haddock at Dunedin City in the mid 80s, was part of the Leeds squad that won the old First Division title just before the advent of the Premier League. By all accounts he was an immaculate player and a decent bloke too.
And Colin Walker of Gisborne City, played for Sheffield Wednesday among others? and also scored that legendary goal v Israel at Mt Smart :)
There was an entertaning story in the news involving Haddock's loan to Dunedin City from Newcastle United at the time Newcastle came to NZ to play the Phoenix in 2014.
Involves teenage Gascoigne lunacy!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/8041686/How-Paul-Gascoigne-almost-came-to-town
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/glenn-roeder-day-gazza-went-7460671
"And he famously exclaimed, when told there was no bacon for breakfast at the team's hotel, "what, all the sheep in this country and there's no bloody bacon?"
Haddock must have benefited from the leaner match schedule here to recover from his injuries.
I didn't realise he went on to become such an important player for Leeds.
Sadly, Haddock seems to have just missed Leeds' 1992 title win due to having to retire due to injury at the end of the previous season:
Clemens Khaiseb, striker from Namibia.
Played for Woolston and Christchurch City (a subsequent amalgamation of Woolston and Chch Technical) in the national league in the late 1990's and early 2000's
A former Namibia 100 m sprint rep at the World Student Games with a world-class best of ten seconds (better than NZ's Olympic rep Donaldson at the time) who came to Christchurch in 1993 to study agriculture at Lincoln University for some years.
One of the few players (apart from Pacific Islanders) to be selected to play for his country on the strength of performances in our national league.
Scored on debut for Namibia in 1998 against Zimbabwe in the Southern African Championship.
https://allafrica.com/stories/199804160124.html
Went on to play for Namibia a few other times when his studies allowed.
Played Saudi Arabia when invited to France to join the Saudis' camp as their main training partner before the 1998 World Cup .
Played against the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations.
Returned to Namibia in the early 2000's
Played for a Namibian All-Stars team against an international All-Stars team in 2015 in Namibia to raise awareness of global warming.
Paul Nixon
Gisborne City 1987-89
Then signed for Bristol Rovers before returning to Gisborne and becoming an All White then later playing for Melville and Waikato
Paul played for Claudelands Rovers in 1985 and 1986, having been brought out by Roger Wilkinson, then went to Gisborne City. He was due to sign for Waikato United at the start of 1989 (it had even been announced in the media in mid-Jan) but he landed a contract with Bristol Rovers, then after his fight with Gerry Francis, later went to Eastern Athletic in Hong Kong.
While at Hong Kong he also facilitated the signing of Brian Hayes from Waikato United in 1994.
In 1995 he finally joined Waikato United, and was player-coach for part of the 1996 summer league. He then played for Melville in the summer league and Wanderers Sports Club in the winter - though then went back to Melville, where he was youth team coach and then first team coach in 2003.
Hope this helps.
Alan Lamb turned out for Gateshead (if that counts) in 1999 after Mt Maunganui first brought him out in 1995. (He stayed on here till 97-98) and later returned from the UK to play for Melville, and then Taupo into his dotage.
I remember regularly going along to Park Island to watch Brian Gayle play for Napier City Rovers as a central defender. From Wikipedia
Gayle began his career at Wimbledon as an apprentice, signing a full contract in October 1984. He spent time with New Zealand club Napier City Rovers before breaking into the first team. He helped Wimbledon to the sixth round of the 1987-88 FA Cup, which the club ultimately won, but was given a red card for a foul on Malcolm Allen in the match against Watford, and did not feature in later rounds. In July 1988, Gayle joined Manchester City for £325,000.
He was transferred to Ipswich Town for £330,000 in January 1990, and then joined Sheffield United in a £750,000 deal in September 1991. While at the Blades, in 1992, Gayle scored an own goal in a match against local rivals Leeds United which led to a 2–3 defeat. This, coupled with Manchester United losing to Liverpool, gave Leeds the First Division title.
OK, maybe drawing a long bow, out of left field etc, but I'm going to nominate Shane Smeltz and his one season for Napier City Rovers - he'd never lived or played in NZ before then, had a solid season with some great goals, and then went off and did some other NSL stuff in Adelaide and a short stint at Mansfield in England, before doing the A-League rounds and Turkey etc.
Clemens Khaiseb, striker from Namibia.
Played for Woolston and Christchurch City (a subsequent amalgamation of Woolston and Chch Technical) in the national league in the late 1990's and early 2000's
He was Chch Tech not Woolston ?
Clemens Khaiseb, striker from Namibia.
Played for Woolston and Christchurch City (a subsequent amalgamation of Woolston and Chch Technical) in the national league in the late 1990's and early 2000's
He was Chch Tech not Woolston ?
was that not around the time Woolston and Tech merged and were known as Woolston Tech?
OK, maybe drawing a long bow, out of left field etc, but I'm going to nominate Shane Smeltz and his one season for Napier City Rovers - he'd never lived or played in NZ before then, had a solid season with some great goals, and then went off and did some other NSL stuff in Adelaide and a short stint at Mansfield in England, before doing the A-League rounds and Turkey etc.
Don't forget AFC Wimbledon - he had a season there when they were lower down - pretty sure he was the first AFC player to earn an International cap
I saw his debut at Kingsmeadow. Also remember at the NZ v Australia game at Craven Cottage there being a quite a few Dons scarfs around
Brian Gayle also played a season for Seatoun - about 1983 i think
He was Chch Tech not Woolston ?
[/quote]
Definitely Chch Tech, played against him (when I say played, I was on the same field and he was just this blur running past me at will - he scored 4 that day...)
He was Chch Tech not Woolston ?
[/quote]
Definitely Chch Tech, played against him (when I say played, I was on the same field and he was just this blur running past me at will - he scored 4 that day...)
same :)
Does Paul Mariner playing for North Shore a couple of times while he was out here as a TV pundit during the 1986 World Cup count?!
If Mariner counts then what about Mick Channon at Blockhouse Bay and Trevor Brooking at University around the mid 1980's. Had the privilege of seeing a Brooking inspired University beat Napier City Rovers (think it was 5-0) at a packed Nelson Park in Napier . If anyone attended Nelson Park in those days then you'll remember it was probably as far way from Upton Park as it was possible to envisage. Rudimentary changing rooms and what was essentially a giant Para Pool type of arrangement as a fence! Brooking was superb. Kevin Keegan was out here around the same time but I think the game(s) he played for Claudelands Rovers were non competitive,
Another Miramar import in the late 1980's was Matty Holmes from Bournemouth. He was subsequently transferred to Blackburn Rovers and played in the Champions League for them and then sold on to West Ham United. Career was ended by a Kevin Muscat tackle that ended up going through the courts .
on the non-competitive kick-about front, you could add in Bob Marley and Rod Stewart! :) But I digress...
