United welcome new talent

KEY PLAYER: Adam Cowan, who has been performing well for Team Wellington, will turn out for Wairarapa United again.PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV

COMPETITION for places in Wairarapa United's Central League football squad for the 2015 season promises to be red hot.

Pre-season training is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, February 3, at Hullena Park in Masterton with several new faces set to be in the running for places in the premier line-up.

Club president Phil Keinzley said a "good number" of players living outside the region had already expressed an interest in transferring their allegiances to Wairarapa United this year, many of whom had impressive credentials.

But he stressed the newcomers would have to earn their places in the Central League squad with virtually all of last season's side also available for selection, including regular skipper Adam Cowan, who has been performing well for Team Wellington in the national summer league and prolific goal-scorer Hamish Watson, who is playing in the United Kingdom.

"The signs are there will be no shortage of talent. I think we are going to be pretty well off in that respect," Keinzley said. "Right now nobody is guaranteed a starting spot, they all have to earn that."

Just who will coach the Central League side is still to be confirmed. The name of former Wellington Phoenix star Paul Ifill has been bandied around and those rumours have been given further credence by the news he is establishing an academy at Wairarapa United's new home base, Memorial Park, is living in the Masterton district and will be assisting Keinzley with pre-season training.

There is no question that the signing of Ifill as coach would be a huge boon for Wairarapa United, and even more so if he was part of the playing roster. The thought of a player of his calibre joining forces with Watson as the spearheads of the attack is a mouth-watering prospect. And even more so when you add Wairarapa United stalwart, former Vanuatu international Seule Soromon, to the equation as well.

Wairarapa United will also be fielding teams in the Capital third division men's competition and the Capital division one women's competition in 2015.

As has been the case in the past, the third division men's side will likely comprise a number of the region's promising younger players, some of whom could be "blooded" in the Central League team as the season progresses. Here, too, a coach is still to be confirmed but interest has been expressed by an Englishman moving to Wairarapa who is already well qualified in the coaching sphere.

Keinzley will coach the women's team which was so successful last season and a major acquisition is his daughter Michele Clarke, a former national representative who has been out of the game for a few years. She and another ex-New Zealand rep Meisha Boon will be the mainstays of a side containing several of the district's most talented college players and Keinzley has been impressed with the response to a fitness programme developed by Clarke.

"A lot of the girls are already working hard on their fitness, it's good to have that sort of enthusiasm," he said.