When Guardian Cartoonist David Squires’ first book, The Illustrated History of Football, arrived in the post a fortnight or so back it’s no cliché to say it took me back to my childhood! I felt the same rush of excitement that I remember experiencing every time I got a new […]
By Cordwainer Bull New Zealand Football have opted for a mixed bag with their expansion teams in the ASB Premiership, backing one traditional club in Eastern Suburbs, and a hybrid “regional entity” in Tasman United (Nelson) to commence battle next summer. So that’s perhaps a sign of pragmatism defeating ideology, […]
This is a little bit naughty but, having thoroughly enjoyed John’s wonderfully evocative post on Tuesday looking at the overlaps between sport and politics, I couldn’t resist coming in over the top with a contribution of my own adding something of an historical perspective… I’ve actually been meaning to write […]
This is not a football post. In fact, it’s not even a post about sport. It’s a post about a rectangular piece of fabric that has a little bit to do with sport, but it’s such a small amount that I’m not even going to bother drawing that particular bow. […]
Auckland City 2, Hawkes Bay United 1 Kiwitea Street, Auckland, April 5 2015 I was at Kiwitea Street today to watch Auckland City FC win their 6th ASB Premiership title. Without meaning any disrespect to the Hawkes Bay team who proved themselves worthy finalists, let’s be honest, the 2-1 victory […]
The problem with being a history buff is that often simple little tasks, such as looking up some obscure fact, can easily suck you into a vortex. In order to find that fact, you have to sift through material that may or may not be relevant, leading you to discover […]
No live football for me this weekend! Instead I spent yesterday afternoon at Eden Park soaking up the Cricket World Cup atmosphere as India took on Zimbabwe (more on that later in the week), and today was the big BBQ at the former home of Auckland Football that neither wild […]
In November last year this blog published a long feature on Newmarket Park, the stadium that was the home of New Zealand Football from 1964 until it was wrecked by a landslide in 1979. The post featured many memories from people who spent a lot of time playing, watching and […]
Newmarket Park was the home of New Zealand Football between 1964 and 1979. Inaugurated well before I was born and destroyed by a landslide when I was just three years old, I had never set foot on the hallowed ground before, yet I have been moved by the passion with […]
[Welcome to ‘I Love This Club’, a series of guest posts on in-the-back-of-the.net exploring what makes grassroots New Zealand football people tick, through sharing their stories about why they love their clubs. If you would like to contribute to this series by writing about your special club, please e-mail me […]