Soccer: Jordan named ASB Premiership Player of the Decade

Keryn Jordan sits second on the all-time ASB Premiership scoring list with 62 goals. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Emotions ran high at Kiwitea Street on Sunday as Auckland City FC claimed their fifth national competition title while the late Keryn Jordan was named the ASB Premiership Player of the Decade in a presentation before the grand final.

Running during the 10th anniversary season of the ASB Premiership, the ASB Player and Team of the Decade promotions gave fans the opportunity to select the players who have had the biggest impact on the competition since its inception in 2004.

The fan voting overwhelming settled on Jordan, who sadly lost his battle with cancer in 2013, as the best player to have graced the ASB Premiership competition - the striker earning the golden boot in the first two seasons.

Jordan's wife Sherry, his former Auckland City FC coach Allan Jones, club chairman Ivan Vuksich and New Zealand Football chief executive Andy Martin were on hand on Sunday for the presentation of the award.

Jones, who recruited Jordan to the club after the South African spent the inaugural season with Waitakere United, said the striker was a unique game-changer. He is also second on the all-time ASB Premiership scoring list with 62 goals.

"Keryn had a massive effect both within the team and in the league,'' Jones said.

"Opponents were so conscious of his presence that by over-covering the space he would use often provided the opportunity for players breaking from our midfield to score.

"Keryn had an excellent attitude to work and demanded much from himself as well as those around him. He was a delight to coach, always interested and very professional in his approach to the game.

"His all-round technical ability was high, both on the ground and in the air. He was a clinical finisher and scored big goals in big games.

"Technically he possessed one of the tightest reverse chop turns I've ever seen and he constantly wrong footed centre backs with great embarrassment as those turns often produced direct strikes and goals.''

Jordan was also named among the starting XI for ASB Premiership Team of the Decade by the media panel formed for the competition.

Players from Auckland City and Waitakere United dominate the team, as they have the competition itself, with only one player - Canterbury United's Aaron Clapham - having not appeared for either of the two Auckland-based franchises.

ASB Premiership Team of the Decade (4-3-3): Danny Robinson (Waitakere United, Waikato FC), James Pritchett (Auckland City), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City), Danny Hay (Waitakere United), Ian Hogg (Auckland City, Hawke's Bay United, Waitakere United); Chris Bale (Waitakere United, Team Wellington, Auckland City), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Albert Riera (Auckland City); Keryn Jordan (Auckland City, Waitakere United), Roy Krishna (Waitakere United, Auckland City), Benjamin Totori (YoungHeart Manawatu, Waitakere United).

Reserves: Ross Nicholson (Auckland City, YoungHeart Manawatu), Allan Pearce (Waitakere United), Grant Young (Auckland City), Jake Butler (Waitakere United), Ben Sigmund (Auckland City, Canterbury United). Coach: Allan Jones (Auckland City).