Soccer: NZF won't make '82 mistakes

There's barely a week goes by when Frank van Hattum isn't reminded of how football bosses didn't take advantage of the 1982 World Cup.

"If I have heard it once, I have heard it 1000 times," he says a little wearily. "People say, 'don't stuff up like 1982' but what does that look like?"

The national body ended up with barely $50,000 in the bank after the 1982 World Cup once the Auckland Football Association had taken their cut. So today's surplus of $7.7 million signals a different era but the sentiments expressed to van Hattum are a clear indication of the responsibility he and others at New Zealand Football bear.

The current NZF chairman doesn't want people to say in 28 years they didn't take advantage this time around.

The last 12 months have been the most momentous in New Zealand football history, certainly recent history. Not only did the All Whites return from the World Cup undefeated, after draws with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay, but the national body recently posted that huge surplus $7.7 million, won the hosting rights for the 2015 Under-20 World Cup and picked up a series of new sponsors.

In addition, two teams played at youth World Cups, the Football Ferns last year made it to the final of the Cyprus Cup, the Wellington Phoenix qualified for the A-League playoffs, a new over-arching development programme was rolled out, the All Whites won four Halbergs, including the supreme award, and coach Ricki Herbert and captain Ryan Nelsen were recognised in the New Year's Honours.

Never before has the game been in such good shape, although everyone acknowledges there are things that desperately need to improve. For many, however, the most important thing is that the game has achieved credibility.

This happened only because of the World Cup results. In the same way the All Blacks define success in New Zealand rugby, the All Whites are indicators of achievement in football. Few people outside football are aware that three New Zealand teams play in their respective World Cups in the next six weeks (women, under-17s and under-20s).

NZF wouldn't be so financially healthy without the All Whites. Only four years ago, the national body needed a bank loan to remain solvent. The injection of US$10 million for qualifying for South Africa - US$4 million of that went to the players - leaves them the envy of most sporting bodies in this country.

That sort of financial security has allowed NZF to plan with some certainty and implement programmes that might have otherwise been too ambitious.

Already $2.5 million has been set aside for international teams over the next three years and $3.9 million has been plugged into their Whole of Football Plan (WOFP) being rolled out across the country. Another $4 million has been invested into a trust called the New Zealand Football Foundation - a pot that will be left to grow in reserve - and the $1.5 million Kiwibank loan was paid off a year earlier than planned.

It's memories of why they needed that loan in the first place that guide NZF.

"We should always keep in mind how easy it is to not have money," van Hattum says. "That is guiding the board now and is why we're not spending it all in one hit. We need to provide for the future. As we build up our reserves, we can make more decisions rather than live hand to mouth. It's about being masters of your own destiny and the only way to do that is to run a really tight ship."

It doesn't mean there's a lack of ambition. The aim is for all eight New Zealand teams (under-17 to senior level) not only to qualify but also perform well at their respective World Cups. The biggest goal is to get the All Whites to Brazil in 2014. Development programmes are important but only another World Cup appearance will really engage a nation again.

Qualification for Brazil will come down to 180 minutes of football. It's what happened last time when the All Whites beat Bahrain 1-0 in the second leg of the World Cup playoff in Wellington.

NZF will know next month what confederation Oceania will be paired with for final qualification (Asia, Oceania, North America and South America will go into a pot to determine the match-ups) and planning will then step up to help the All Whites get there. They will firstly need to negotiate Oceania qualifying from June 2012 with games against the top three island nations before, assuming they progress, a home and away playoff.

Preparations began for that in March with an international against China and continued last week with challenging friendlies against Mexico and Australia. NZF are looking to fill a couple of the Fifa windows in September, October and November, when there will be an accent on younger players to help the Olympic (under-23) side qualify for London, before a crucial fixture in March.

"My mandate is pretty simple," Herbert says. "My vision is to go to back-to-back World Cups. Why not? Why can't we do it? We might not have everyone believing the dream but the staff and players do. How cool would it be to have the team at another World Cup?

"The March window becomes important for us because that's the primary lead-in to the [Oceania] qualifiers. There needs to be an absolute commitment from everyone, staff and players, that they will be available for the window. We are a World Cup team now. To make it to Rio is going to take another strong, committed group. You don't want to activate a window and people don't want to be a part of it."

All Whites vice-captain Tim Brown is one who wants to be there. If he had his way, New Zealand would be trying to qualify through Asia, not Oceania. He sees that as the only way New Zealand will play meaningful games more often and, while it would be harder for teams to qualify for World Cups, is the only way to improve the international game.

"Three World Cup games in the lifetime of a player is not going to help them professionally but if you go through qualifiers in Asia, it's 15-20 games home and away," he says. "Politically it's a minefield and Oceania would probably cease to have any meaning - but if you look at the next two to three years and the only meaningful games are against Vanuatu and Fiji, I think we should be looking at a different level.

"If you can make it work, it's probably where you want to be. Otherwise it seems like we are fumbling around in the football wilderness."

It's not going to change in this World Cup cycle and NZF aren't going to agitate for change because they believe they have too much to lose financially and at youth and women's level, where they have direct entry to world tournaments. But it would be a way to ensure the national side are more visible and active.

Instead, the All Whites will face a number of challenges similar to the last campaign. There was considerable consternation after last week's 3-0 losses to Mexico and Australia but there were similar defeats to nations such as Costa Rica (4-0), Venezuela (5-0) and Spain (5-0) last time around.

They were certainly gifted a great opportunity when Fifa changed the qualifying route - meaning the Oceania winners needed only steer past the fifth-best Asian side instead of South American opposition to get to South Africa. But lessons learned along the way helped and they need to be as active as possible this time to develop players and expose them to different conditions.

One of the most encouraging things is the fact a greater pool of players is available. Heading offshore to chase a professional career is still the best option and there are now about 40 New Zealanders who play professionally and another 50 on scholarships at American universities.

It might take another 28 years to find a special player like Ryan Nelsen, who is the best this country has produced since Wynton Rufer who played in 1982, but there are some like Marco Rojas, Kosta Barbarouses, Chris Wood, Michael Boxall, Jake Gleeson and Michael McGlinchey who are emerging as genuine talents. The challenge for NZF now is to find the ones of tomorrow.

The whole of Football is a lofty title. There are so many strands of the game, from youth to masters, indoor to outdoor and women's to beach football that it is easy to get lost.

It's at grassroots and domestic levels where most criticism is directed. Things might be good at international level but it's not necessarily the case further down the food chain.

Former All Whites coach Allan Jones has been involved in football in this country for 30 years and there are times when he still despairs, especially around domestic football and the quality of players, coaches, facilities and competitions.

"The game financially is in the best state it's been in during my time," he says. "That's terrific. In terms of where the game is, I don't think we have moved forward. I watched a game last Saturday where I was looking at two or three potential players for the national under-20 side in a game that was nothing short of the Rose & Crown playing Blackthorn in Hackney Marshes in the Sunday morning pub league.

"Other countries are working six or seven days a week. We are working two if we are lucky. Our swimmers are working twice a day and yet we are still working twice a week and we think we are going to qualify for World Cups. We are doing it in spite of what we are doing, not because of it."

It's part of the reason why NZF have introduced the Whole of Football Plan, an ambitious project to "provide more and better football opportunities for our junior players aged 4-12". It's a national approach to football development with a greater accent on smaller-sided games. Essentially, it's not about more people playing the game but staying in the game - and going on to national teams.

Sparc have jumped on board with funding and support and NZF want to see it fully operational in the next three years. It's run alongside efforts to improve coach education; talent identification; facilities, which are at breaking point; and plans to work more closely with schools; raise the profile of the ASB Premiership and develop women's football.

"People are right [in their criticisms of grassroots football]," new NZF chief executive Grant McKavanagh says. "We thought we were doing the best job over many years but now we have to lift that further. At least now we have a tool to try to do that. What we do might be only 70 or 80 per cent right but that's 70 per cent more than what we had before."

And more than what happened after 1982.

The next 12 months

June 18-July 10: Under-17 World Cup, Mexico.
June 26-July 17: Women's World Cup, Germany.
July 29-August 20: Under-20 World Cup, Colombia.
October 8: Start of new A-League season.
December 8-18: Club World Cup, UAE.
March 2012: Oceania Olympic qualifiers.
June 2012: World Cup qualifiers begin.