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1991
JOHN ADSHEAD
One of the game’s best-known personalities is noted for his feat of not only taking the All Whites to Spain, but for his non-stop promotion of the sport throughout the country.
John never gave up taking the game into rugby clubrooms where soccer had never been mentioned, into schools, offices and women’s clubs. His voice on television or radio became instantly recognisable and he is a household word in New Zealand.
John came to prominence when his 1978 Manurewa side won the Chatham Cup, the Challenge Trophy and promotion to the National League in one season. He moved into the national coach’s position and a famous 4-0 win over Mexico was the start of a brilliant career.
The magic of 1981 drew crowds of 30,000 to Mt. Smart while the rest of the country watched on television,
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three Auckland-area clubs won the Chatham Cup under hoping that soccer’s minnows would eat the sharks, and they did.
Along with his trusty deputy, Kevin Fallon, the man who the side to physical levels not seen before, John Adshead became a national institution and when the All Whites won the final qualifying game in Singapore, the wildest dream in New Zealand sporting history had come true.
The dream was documented in four books about the World Cup campaign. It was only eleven years since the first World Cup games involving this country and was a probably a record for a country going to the finals.
In Spain, New Zealand played three legendary countries in Scotland, Russia and Brazil, making it a wonderful memory. John Adshead is one of the memory makers of New Zealand soccer.
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KEN ARMSTRONG
The late Ken Armstrong was a legend in the game even before he arrived in Gisborne in 1957. Born in Bradford, he was a straight-talking no-nonsense lad who first started playing for a Sunday school team. His transfer from Bradford Rovers to Chelsea cost 100 guineas and was acknowledged as one of the greatest bargains of all time.
He was Chelsea captain, appearing a record 474 times for the club and leading them to their only championship in 1955. He played in a famous 7-2 England victory over Scotland at Wembley on April 2, 1955. It was his only cap, something argued about by Armstrong fans at the time when it was harder to get out of the England team than to get into it.
He was the iron man in the Chelsea side and beloved by the fans as he was always at full speed, always tackling and running back and everywhere in the hard part of each game. And everyone agreed that he was a very happy man, on and off the field.
There was no doubt that his coaching qualifications, plus his enthusiasm and knowledge, would have had him in a managing capacity with one of the big English clubs, but his doctor told him that his chest complaints could kill him if he did not seek a better climate.
In his last game in England, he captained Old England against Young England in front of 60,000 people at Wembley. His next match was in front of sixty hardy fans in Gisborne.
The decision to come to isolated Gisborne in 1957 was the most momentous for the code as he took soccer to a new level with his coaching of teams and coaches.
He started the soccer revolution of the late 1950s and 1960s, first with Eastern Union in Gisborne, then with North Shore, Eastern Suburbs and Mt. Wellington. The
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his direction, and he played in the 1959 final when Northern beat Shore 3-2, in 1960 when Shore won 5-3 over Tech Old Boys, and in 1961, when Northern again beat Shore, 2-0. He was back in 1963 as Shore won 3-1 over Nomads, and again in 1965, in a 4-1 Suburbs’ win over St. Kilda.
He played or coached six teams to finals in nine years, winning four.
His last game for Shore was in 1969, aged 45. Shore failed to win a place in the new National League but, late in 1970, he took over Mt. Wellington, taking his sons with him, starting a successful five-year career there. His last top game was in 1971, when he became the oldest National League player at 46 years and 319 days, helping Mount to recover from 2-1 down to a draw against Dunedin Suburbs.
Mount won two titles, came second three times and fifth in his years there, as he coached the side in 111 games. The team won the Cup in 1973 and played in the three memorable finals against Christchurch United in 1972. Under his direction, Mt. Wellington became one of the greatest soccer teams ever seen in this country, often featuring his sons, Ron and Brian, who played for New Zealand. Ron made 33 appearances while Brian played nine times.
He was national coach of coaches and sometimes the national team coach, and later as coach of the New Zealand women’s side was a huge influence. He played for New Zealand fifteen times while playing for Eastern Union and North Shore, including captaincy, and scored for goals for New Zealand.
His early death robbed soccer of the person who took the game from the basics to the threshold of World Cup play.
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CHARLES DEMPSEY
Charlie Dempsey, formerly chairman of the NZFA and Auckland, a member of FIFA committees, has, since 1990, been President of the Oceania Football Condederation, stepping up to Honorary President in 2000. His ision for the Pacific has boosted soccer in the South Pacific. He was coach of Eastern Suburbs shortly after he arrived from Scotland and one of the prime movers towards New Zealand’s entry into the World Cup in 1969.
As a Scot, it was a great moment for him when New Zealand took the field against Scotland in the first of New Zealand’s three games in the 1982 Finals in Spain.
Charlie was awarded the CBE for his services for soccer, but there seemed a time in 1981-82 when a knighthood would have been more suitable. In 1988 he became a life member and became president of the NZFA.
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He had nineteen years on the Auckland Football Association, eleven as chairman. He was joint tours director from the mid-1960s until after the World Cup in Spain, and was jointly responsible for the visits of many famous clubs to this country.
The entry into the World Cup and the start of the National League, another of Charlie’s projects, pushed New Zealand to be ready for international soccer after decades of mostly domestic play.
The main impact of Charlie’s work in recent years has been his excellent handling of Oceania, fighting the soccer powers in the attempt to get a fair deal for this area of the world. His negotiations are long and legendary, and Charlie Dempsey has won respect for New Zealand and Oceania throughout the world.
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STEVE SUMNER
Steve Sumner, another of the Famous Five, was captain of the All Whites during that momentous campaign and set a World Cup record of six goals in New Zealand’s record 13-0 win over Fiji in the early stages. His star turn was to score against Scotland in Spain.
Born in Preston in 1955, he played for Preston North End and Grimsby Town before going to Christchurch United for eight seasons.
Steve played 105 matches for New Zealand, putting him in a very elite group of players, and he is the second highest goalscorer, with 27, one less than Jock Newell, who played just seventeen games in his two international years.
He was an All White for ten consecutive years from 1976 to 1986 and then made a comeback in 1988, and played for Christchurch United, Newcastle and East Adelaide in Australia, and Manurewa, with a short spell
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at Gisborne before going back to end his career in Christchurch.
Steve played over 250 National League games and, on retirement after injury in 1989, was appointed assistant coach of the national team.
In his long career he gathered a record six Chatham Cup winners’ medals, with Christchurch in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and Manurewa in 1984. In 1987 he was player-coach of Gisborne when they beat Christchurch 5-1 in the first leg at Childers Road and drew the second 2-2.
He then played in both legs of the 1988 final with Waikato, when two draws and the away goals rule cost Christchurch the winners’ medals. But he was back in 1989 when Christchurch beat Rotorua by a record 7-1 in his final match for the club, never on the losing side in the nine games which made up those finals, an amazing record which will take a great player to match.
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JOHN WRATHALL
Johnny Wrathall was good enough to play for the full Auckland team while he was still at Auckland Grammar School, and he became a legend with his goalscoring feats at all levels.
Even when he was a midget player, he had superb close ball control, well beyond any player of his time. This was even better when he was playing in mud, as his centre of gravity seemed so much lower than the rest.
Playing for New Zealand was less important than keeping his job, so he seldom played at international level. But he scored four goals in his five internationals, including two against Costa Rica at Carlaw Park.
It was typical Wrathall, hammering shots which hurt
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goalkeepers, as he blasted his way to over 1000 career goals, all totalled up in a little book. He was a man who bruised ribs and caused teams to make special plans to make sure that he did not turn with the ball, or get it in his favourite slot, moving across the goal from left to right.
He capped his brilliant career ith a National League hat-trick in a 3-0 1972 victory for Eastern Suburbs, his life-time club, where he won four Chatham Cup medals, in 1953, 1965, 1968 and 1969, and the National League title in 1971. He was also a national junior tennis champion.
John died suddenly in London at 43 years of age.
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