NZ Football President Johanna Wood speaks on stage during Football Australia's FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup Bid Media Opportunity. Photo / Getty Images.
To the average football follower, Johanna Wood's CV might come across as a bit perplexing.
Dairy Farmer. Former school principal. Grandmother. And FIFA council member.
On the surface it's an incongruous mix. The FIFA council is arguably the most powerful committee in sport. Thirty-seven individuals, who are responsible for shaping the future of the world's most popular game.
It brings to mind high-powered businessmen, corporate veterans, former players and wily administrators, who have fought their way to the top. The current crop also includes the son of a former Brazil President, lawyers and others with long standing FIFA ties.
Wood, who was elected New Zealand Football President in April 2019, has a background that is considerably different.
"I was thinking the other day – how many council members would know that I get out and milk the cows and feed the calves?" said Wood. "Probably not many. But I'm just normal. Some people might think it is a bit different. But I guess that is New Zealanders too. We are a little bit more down to earth. "
That humble touch served her well over the last few months, when she played an important role in the successful bid for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Along with Football Federation Australia Chairman Chris Nikou, Wood was charged with lobbying her fellow FIFA council members, selling the virtues of the As One bid.
That meant calls and video presentations at all hours of the night, and paid off handsomely, with the trans-tasman bid securing 22 votes of a possible 35.
"It was diplomacy at its finest – delivering our key messages in a humble but positive way," reflects NZF Chief Executive Andrew Pragnell. "She's been successful in many different fields and can talk to a real range of audiences because of that. That's really important with FIFA. You might be on a call to Malawi at 2am and then you have to jump to talk to Russia at 4am. You need to be able to adapt, be respectful of cultures and have an aptitude for staying up all hours."
Wood acknowledges she was just a part of a giant machine within the bid process, but was proud of her role in it.
"I've always believed you should take the opportunities that you are given…and I've been given some amazing opportunities," said Wood. "I would never have thought when I gave up teaching, that in 2020 I would be part of a team to win hosting rights for a World Cup. I guess I've got a bit of a can-do attitude."
Wood has lived in Hiwinui, a tiny settlement wedged between Palmerston North and Fielding, for the past 39 years, since she got married to husband David.
Home is a 350 acre dairy farm, with 270 milking shorthorn cows. The couple also have a 550 acre beef farm next door, which two of their four adult children manage.
"I was a city girl, scared of cows - but I love it," laughs Wood. "I wouldn't have it any other way and it's a great lifestyle."
In parallel with all her farm duties, Wood started working life as a teacher (Maths, Economics, English and German) before nine years as principal of Queen Elizabeth College in Palmerston North. She then spent eight years at Massey University's centre for educational development, where she also completed a PhD.
"Once we started our family thought I would stop teaching but then the bottom dropped out of dairy farming [in the late 1980s], with interest rates at 27 per cent. But I always had a love of teaching and education, you get hooked."
In parallel with that career path was a slow burning involvement in football administration. Childhood Saturday afternoons were spent watching her father play for Petone FC, then all of her children played the sport. Wood helped out with her son's team, before being asked to manage the men's first team at the local club.
"I remember thinking 'I don't know anything about football'", said Wood. "But both my boys thought it was a good idea."
That led to a place of the committee at Red Sox Manawatu, before she joined the board of Central Football in 2006, serving as chairwoman from 2010 onwards.
In March 2018 she stood for the NZF board and was voted onto the council as part of a wind of change, reflecting general grassroots dissatisfaction.
Wood was one of three new directors, and soon plunged into the middle of a crisis, with the Football Ferns refusing to play for their controversial coach Andreas Heraf.
That episode, in June 2018, sparked an astounding chain of events, which saw Heraf resign and chief executive Andy Martin walk away from his job. The Muir report was released a few months later, with NZF president Deryck Shaw and vice president Phil Barry also deciding to step down.
Wood moved into the vacuum; she was elected as the new NZF president, and onto the Oceania Football Confederation executive committee as a vice president, which also meant a seat on the FIFA council.
That comes with an estimated stipend of US$250,000 plus expenses, though Wood and the two other Oceania council members have agreed they won't take the full amount, instead pledging a portion to football development.
Her ascension may have been partly due to good timing and circumstances, but she has proven a capable operator, helping to improve New Zealand's relationship with the Oceania nations and also, along with Pragnell, strengthen ties with Australia.
"Within the New Zealand system she has done a lot of work behind the scenes," said Pragnell. "She is not just a flash in the pan; she has toiled at every level of the game."
Wood attended her first FIFA Council meeting in March 2019 in Miami, just a few days after being voted onto the OFC executive. It was a challenging experience.
"I didn't know what was going on, my luggage had been lost on the way - I was probably like a possum in the headlights."
But she has proved a fast learner since then.
"It's a big council, so it's about getting to know people," says Wood. "I've always prided myself on getting to know people's names – that's the teacher in me.
"Council is the formal part but the networking outside of those meetings is absolutely critical, to connect with other confederations."
Wood also tries to meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino during each council trip ("it's about using the time really strategically") and has a good relationship with the all-powerful Swiss.
"He's very personable and I just treat him like anyone else really," she says with a laugh. "But he always takes an interest in Oceania."
The region will be the focus of the football's world attention in 2023, when FIFA's second biggest tournament is staged in Australia and New Zealand.
It should be a wonderful occasion, the dividend of a mountain of work by a focused bid group across the two countries.
The Covid-19 situation meant the usual in-person lobbying was impossible, instead replaced by calls, emails and phone calls.
"It was about Chris [Nikou] and I coordinating our diaries, at a time to suit the council member, often at odd times," said Wood.
"I remember a 2am Zoom presentation to the CONCACAF executive, sitting in my lounge with the fire going."
Given the tainted history around bidding for FIFA tournaments, the messaging was careful and concise.
"At no stage did we say we want your vote," said Wood. "We explained this is what we can offer, this is why we think our bid is the best and then asked if they had any questions."
The climax was last month's FIFA council meeting, which started at 1am on Friday 26 June (NZT). The vote – via an app on each member's phone – was the last order of business – before an interminable wait for Infantino's announcement to the world.
"It felt like hours, though it wasn't," said Wood, who felt a mix of relief and jubilation at the confirmation.
And how did she celebrate?
"I went and woke up my husband," laughed Wood. "But it was about 4:30, so he was going to get up shortly afterwards anyway."
But the next night the accomplishment was marked with dinner at the local Bunnythorpe pub, with three generations of the Wood clan as well as neighbours and friends.
"It's quite humbling and a huge responsibility," says Wood as she reflects on her unlikely journey. "I need to look at what is best for football and the organisation.
"I'm still quite grounded. It's not my god-given right. I've got a duty to serve – but I have made this my job. I still help on the farm and do the GST, but I don't believe I could serve NZF, OFC and Fifa if I had a fulltime job."
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