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What Would You Do If You Won The Lottery?

by Jeremy Ruane

I'm sure we've all done it at some time in our lives - imagined, when we've seen the Lotto Powerball jackpot spiralling up to some insanely exorbitant sum of money, what we would do with it all if we happened to hold the only winning ticket.

For your average man in the street, it far exceeds wildest dreams territory - it's a trip into fantasy land, dreamworld … call it what you will.

For New Zealand Football, it's no longer a dream. It's reality.

How starkly the situation contrasts with the national body's frequent financial plight of recent times. I think back to as recently as 2004 and 2005, when NZ Soccer, as they were then known, opted not to contest the Oceania qualifying events for the Women's Olympic Football Tournament and the FIFA U-17 World Cup Finals.

Fiscal prudence was the key phrase of the Bill MacGowan era, one in which the All Whites themselves played just six “A” internationals in twenty-six months, some five internationals more than the Football Ferns enjoyed in a two-year spell around the same time.

Failure to even finish second in the Oceania qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup underlined the folly of prioritising book-balancing ahead of on-field progression.

That approach is fine and dandy if you work for Ernst & Young, Deloittes or firms of a similar nature, but not so when your stakeholders - the New Zealand footballing community - want to see your principle assets - the country's best players - sporting white shirts with silver ferns over their hearts and taking on all-comers in the game the world plays.

Cue a change at the helm, and a sea change in philosophy, Graham Seatter's tenure as CEO paying lip service to financial concerns, while at the same time fully exploiting Australia's switch to the Asian confederation by ensuring that New Zealand's entry for any and all Oceania qualifying tournaments was the first one the confederation received, age and gender regardless.

Yes, it was an approach that proved costly to NZ Football financially, to the extent that there was sod all in the kitty for the NZ U-20s' preparations for their most recent Oceania qualifying campaign. The outcome? Egypt 09 is the only FIFA Finals at which New Zealand wasn't present during the current World Cup cycle.

But consider the ongoing legacy of that approach, with New Zealand's increased profile on the world stage, the spin-offs that has generated by way of international opportunities for both individuals and teams to play abroad, and the overall raising of expectations of New Zealand teams at FIFA Finals.

In days gone by, and Spain '82 is a classic example, merely reaching the Finals was our World Cup. Nowadays, we're looking to advance beyond the first round - that's a measure of our progress in recent years, thanks to the frequency with which New Zealand is both qualifying for FIFA Finals and taking on opponents on the world stage generally.

Consolidating this situation, and ensuring that there are no repeats of 2004, 2005 and Egypt '09, needs

"We're in the money!"

The 2006 Junior Ferns - the first NZ team to qualify for a FIFA Finals following Australia's exit stage left

Ricki Herbert and Ryan Nelsen celebrate qualifying for South Africa 2010

Heather Mitts, Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd

- what odds these Team USA stars and their

talented team-mates playing the Football Ferns

in Auckland in the near future?

to be NZ Football's first priority when it comes to investing the funds afforded them by the All Whites' qualification for “The Greatest Show On Earth”.

Ricki Herbert himself said after the play-off triumph, “We can't go down that road again. These guys will go to the World Cup and it will be lifelong memories for them. But we can't forget the young kids that are left here”, a view he expands upon in his recently published biography.

His comments refer to the then NZFA's failure to take full advantage of the situation following New Zealand's qualification for and competing in Spain twenty-seven years ago, a time when, it's fair to say, the national body took on all the mannerisms of a rabbit caught in headlights when it came to growing the game, in the aftermath of hitherto unknown achievements.

Under the stewardship of Michael Glading, it's hard to see that mistake being repeated this time round - public interest, alone, won't allow it to happen. The infrastructure in place years ago doesn't even begin to compare with NZF's 21st Century make-up, which is far more geared towards growing the game at all levels. Indeed, many of the programmes to do this are already in place and operational.

Now they have the financial means to fast-track this growth, and what means - a guaranteed $US 9m for qualifying, a portion of which will be set aside to reward those who have made this massive pay-day a reality, and the potential of a further $US 5m via endorsements … we are talking a decent sum of dough ray me, la!

And that's even before mentioning the funds brought into the game by Auckland City's fantastic achievement in overcoming two professional clubs - one from the football-mad continent of Africa - to finish fifth at the FIFA Club World Cup Finals, thus securing a further $US 1.5m for the benefit of the game in New Zealand.

This new-found “clout” also gives the national body the wherewithal to bring new money into the game, in the form of new sponsors and investors keen to jump on the bandwagon and be part of what has variously been described as “the biggest untapped market in New Zealand sport”.

And, of course, something we would all welcome - the chance to see our national teams in action on home turf against top drawer opposition. I know myself that the US women's team, the reigning Olympic champions, would relish the chance to take on the Football Ferns here in Godzone, having hosted Oceania's champions on numerous occasions in recent years.

It's the sort of fixture NZ Football hasn't even contemplated entertaining in recent times, simply due to their financial constraints - the insurance costs alone, associated with such visits, are often a decisive factor in these opportunities being declined.

Now, the prospect of hosting such attractive opposition (in more ways than one in Team USA's case!) is something that can at least be considered by our national coaching staff as part of their long-term planning for the game.

Amazing what dreams can become reality when you win the lottery, eh?

A History of New Zealand Soccer