KEY POINTS:
New Zealand soccer is in tremendous heart if its promising youngsters can show the skill and spirit that Graham Seatter displayed by appearing in a photograph celebrating this country's continued presence in the Australian competition.
What a comeback Graham, just as the rest of us were trying to work out how desperate New Zealand Soccer was to stay in a competition that is a rising star of the global game.
Private enterprise got New Zealand into the Aussie league in the first place, and private enterprise provided an 11th-hour rescue. Along the way, NZS announced it would not risk one dollar on the venture, even though it may take a seat on the new board.
I'll dare to presume that everything is in order, that the money is secure. Soccer falls so disastrously below its potential in this country that the ring of alarm bells, rather than cash registers, usually fills the air. Fingers crossed.
There have been a few heroes in this long-running saga, including anyone who has tried to follow the story. Some people have managed to get their full driver's licence while soccer has been getting an A-Licence.
But there is one obvious hero in all of this and that is Ricki Herbert. Just as New Zealand soccer was sinking beyond trace, the national coach stepped up to the plate and put a halt to a series of strikeouts.
After a season which redefined the term "sporting horrors", Herbert took over the pathetic Knights and, after a loss a few days later, inspired them to a three-win, one-draw finish. Finally, a beleaguered game had something to cling to.
Herbert, the most unassuming coach you could meet, has been a beacon of hope in this near tragedy.
If New Zealand lost the A-League licence the game was dead meat.
But there is another hero, Wellington businessman Terry Serepisos, who has produced more than $1 million to become the franchise owner after Australian soccer bosses revoked the Knights' licence. Plenty of tough work lies ahead, but this is a moment to celebrate.
There are other contributors, including Wellingtonians Ian Wells and John Dow, who kept the flame burning while the national body dithered.
Seatter's NZS, now the principal licence holder, was next to useless. The national body lacked purpose, foresight and charisma.
Seatter was quoted yesterday as saying: "There have been delays, and there has been criticism for those delays. I would simply say to those critics that were it not for the delays, we wouldn't be here today."
Talk about damming yourself with faint praise.
Seatter went on: "The soap opera has a happy ending, and this team, unlike the stadium debacle in Auckland, is going to be built."
Pass the bucket. Graham, you were creating a debacle even more disastrous than the unbuilt glass house you threw a few stones at. At least the rugby World Cup will go ahead, whatever the stadium outcome. New Zealand soccer was in its death throes before Serepisos came along.
No Graham, the fact is if it wasn't for Serepisos, you wouldn't have been wherever you were this week, chucking a football around for the camera.
And where was Serepisos when he decided to take charge? He was sitting in a barber's chair, listening to reports about the debacle on the radio.
The core of this issue was money. In this, NZS sat on its hands. It wasn't pro-active, it was prolapsed.
Good luck has come to the rescue of bad management in what may prove to be a history-turning moment for soccer in this country.
