To them, it seemed as if local football was dying.
And they felt that efforts to strengthen clubs by encouraging them to work with schools in coaching and player development were not having the desired effect.
The best or most physically robust players found places in senior men’s football, but many of those who would have enjoyed playing with their mates in lower-grade senior competition did not have a team.
Without any one club being at fault, the culture of local football seemed in need of a boost.
“We thought, ‘What if we could change that culture and encourage people to come back to the sport, or bring in people who have never been involved but would like to be’,” McFatter said.
He, Pegram and Yates had been talking among themselves about what could be done to reinvigorate local football. The idea of a new, locally focused club had already taken hold when mutual friend Tim Lister suggested that High School Old Boys Sports Club might be receptive to having a football team under its umbrella.
A few meetings later, it was all agreed. Pre-season training took place at the Oval and the football team were allowed use of the HSOB clubroom facilities.
On another front, the new entity had to gain Central Football approval to take part in local club competition.
Central Football had to be convinced that the club would not just dilute the talent pool, weaken other clubs and then die out. It took a while, but Central Football agreed to the participation of HSOB in Eastern League football, subject to KPIs (key performance indicators) being met.
If HSOB failed to meet any of these, their continued participation in the competition would be reviewed.
“We’re not allowed to default games, we have to host teams, club members have to do refereeing and coaching courses . . . we agreed to all of it,” McFatter said.
“If we hadn’t agreed we wouldn’t have been allowed to play. We’re committed to meeting those KPIs. We don’t want to disappear next year.”
They’ll start in the Eastern League second division with one team . . . learning to walk as a new club before they run.
The founding trio of the new HSOB football team intend to share the coaching and selecting duties.
“It won’t be just one person making the decisions, and if we disagree on anything we can reach a majority decision,” McFatter said.
McFatter is from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. He was 18 when he came to Gisborne with his mother, stepfather and younger brother just over a decade ago, and they’re all still here . . . “We fell in love with the place.”
Over the past few years he has established himself as a reliable fullback or central defender for United in the Eastern League first division.
Pegram showed promise as a versatile rightback in Gisborne City teams before he headed to the Waikato for degree studies in sport and exercise science. On his return to the district, he joined Gisborne United and played in the same side as Yates and McFatter.
Yates was an imposing presence at the heart of the United Firsts’ attack, whether bearing down on goal or holding the ball until support arrived. As a youngster, he also showed promise on the basketball court.
HSOB have signed players with a mixture of youth and experience. They include former United players Carl Shaw, Cody Keepa, Matt Miller, Toby White and brothers Tom and Willie Garrett; Steve White and Jeremy Ion from Bohemians; relatively inexperienced players Rob Fitzpatrick and Pila Lolohea; 15-year-old junior representative Kosta Destounis; and Kelly Humphries, an attacking player who has kept his considerable talent under wraps until now.
Pre-season games have included an 8-1 loss to Gisborne Thistle’s Federation League team and a 5-0 win against Ngatapa Silkies in a match between the two football teams sponsored by Gisborne Glass. The latter fixture is intended to be an annual event, with the possibility of other teams being invited to make it a tournament.
The last Gisborne football team to carry the High School Old Boys name finished a lengthy spell in local competition in 1989, when they contested Division 2. The HSOB name was missing from local football draws the following season.
HSOB were at their strongest in the 1970s, when brothers Vern, Royden, Lester and Gwyn Owen, and brother-in-law Andrew Robertson provided the backbone of a fearsome defence, and the brothers’ father, Bert Owen, provided ever-present support on the sideline. Bert Owen and Harry Parkin were instrumental in starting the club.
The Owen influence gradually diminished but the HSOB team were still contenders for local honours deep into the 1980s.
They were well served over the years by, among others, Scotsmen Archie Sommerville and Robertson, Englishmen Alan Barker, Geoff Capon, Terry Outten, Wilson Pears, Eric Hooks and Denis Smith, Welshman Dennis Jones, and Kiwis Trevor Braybrook, Ross McNamara, Rod Hibbert, Allan Fisher, Ian Cameron, Gary Elsmore, Mickey Grant, the Moroney brothers (Allan, Michael, David and Dennis), John Hutchison, Carl Cooper, twins Kevin and Brian Pitcher, Graham Pitcher, Alan Smith, Peter Findon, Mike Thomas, Murray Glass, Peter Frazer, Jimmy Baker, Ron Ovenden, John Saxby (a child immigrant), Chris Nalder, the Owen brothers and cousin Stuart Owen (a national league winner with Gisborne City).
Robertson, a fit 73 and still working as a caretaker at Mangapapa School, said the old HSOB club had good team spirit. Sommerville and Jones had the knack of drawing people together, and the team even had their own unofficial after-match watering hole in the Frazers’ basement.
Robertson’s wife Jackie, sister of the Owen brothers, said the High School Old Boys club carried on from the former Riverina team that disbanded after being a force in Gisborne football for much of the 1960s. Both teams played in green shirts.
