$1.6m soccer payday and Tokyo here we come

Auckland City celebrate their win over AS Pirae. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Around 7 last night, life was pretty good for Paul Seaman.

He had just helped his Auckland City club beat Tahitian club AS Pirae 3-1 to win a US$1 million ($1.6 million) windfall in the final of the Oceania club soccer championship, which puts them on the plane to Tokyo in December for the world finals.

The hardworking midfielder will pocket about $25,000 as his share of the spoils. His partner, Meredith Donnelly, is about six weeks away from giving birth to their first child, a daughter, and now he's got the money for a deposit on their first house.

Oh yes, it was also his 31st birthday yesterday, so nothing was about to rub the grin off Seaman's face.

"I'm over the world about it. Nothing else could explain it really," he said. "The boys were up for it and we pulled it all together."

Cardiff-born Seaman, who first came here in 2000, is coaching at several North Shore schools, notably the Rangitoto College first XI.

Several young faces were familiar in the small but noisy crowd at North Harbour Stadium last night.

He was chuffed to see them there and this week there's sure to be plenty of chat in between the dribbling and shooting practice.

And the search can now start for that house.

Auckland City owed the win to a hat-trick from South African striker Keryn Jordan, the New Zealand Football Championship's top goalscorer for the last two seasons.

But despite having been a prolific goalscorer this season, that doesn't automatically equate to his receiving a lion's share of the player split.

Numbers are crunched on a spreadsheet to work out who gets what. All sorts of factors come into that equation: game time, starting appearances, substitutions, and the coaching staff get a slice of the pie.

On top of that, it is misleading to imagine seven figures dropping into the Auckland club's bank account.

Before the money is divvied up, any outstanding expenses are taken into account. Broadly speaking, the breakdown is 30 per cent to the club; 30 per cent to the players; 30 per cent to the seven other franchises in the national league; and 10 per cent to New Zealand Soccer.

And while the senior players who got the most game time this season are due somewhere round $25,000, spare a thought for youngster Joel Mathews, who was injured before the NZC season began late last year, so is due about $700.

When they get to Japan, they will play the champions of the host country's J-League for the final place in the main draw, meaning the tempting prospect of tackling one of the game's giants, such as Champions League winners Barcelona.

NZ Soccer chief executive Graham Seatter said "It's unbelievable, and they'll be the only amateur club there, so it'll be a real David and Goliath experience for these players. "

The financial windfall would be a "significant amount of money to come into the sport from offshore".