KEY POINTS:
Fervent football fans will always want their team to win but, heading into the fourth New Zealand Football Championship season which kicks off tomorrow, there is an even bigger hope.
After last season's debacles and off-field wrangles, top of the wish-list this time surely is that the title will be decided on the field not in some lawyer's office, as happened earlier this year.
The larger than usual shuffle of players has left the eight teams with many new-look combinations.
Only Team Wellington, under new coach Stu Jacobs, have not looked offshore.
Auckland City have named only one import - Argentinian striker Eliezer Anello (who played his winter football at Three Kings United) - while City's arch-rivals Waitakere United have last season's golden boot Benjamin Totori as their key new signing.
Totori joins fellow Solomon Islander Commins Menapi (United's marquee signing) at Waitakere.
They have also signed Briton Chris Bale as a second import. He is joined at Fred Taylor Park by former NZ Knights Neil Emblen (who will be Chris Milicich's assistant coach) and Darren Bazeley.
Auckland City, with Colin Tuaa following Allan Jones, Roger Wilkinson and Paul Marshall as coach, have fared well in the transfer stakes.
Solomon Islander George Suri, All Whites midfielder Jeff Campbell, Henry Fa'arodo, Rupesh Puna and goalkeeper Tamati Williams - who forced City stalwart Ross Nicholson to the bench for the season-opening O-League game last Saturday - will bolster the strong City squad who have former Korean international Ki-Hyung Lee as their marquee player.
With three of the top six goalscorers from the first three New Zealand Community Trust-sponsored NZFC seasons, Keryn Jordan, Grant Young and Paul Urlovic back, City will again be well-served up front.
Ben Sigmund leads the team and takes the key defensive role and City will again start as hot favourites to add another title to their impressive haul.
With no prizemoney, the big carrot remains the chance to play in the Fifa World Club Cup.
Again, and in a ruling which does not find universal favour, the winner of the one-off end-of-season grand final will take New Zealand's spot in the 2008-09 O-League with the winner of that guaranteed a spot in at least the early stages of the world club championship.
NZFC league manager Glyn Taylor said that if a second spot was available for New Zealand, the winner of the [three-round round-robin] championship (provided it is not the same team who wins the final) would play off with New Zealand's A-League franchise ) - at present the Wellington Phoenix - for that chance.
There remains some doubt, however, whether there will be a second New Zealand team involved in future.
Waikato FC, again with Roger Wilkinson at the helm, start their season away to Otago tomorrow. Waikato have undergone a huge player turnaround, with 20 players who played at the Hamilton-based club at some stage last season gone.
In come 14 new faces, including imports Luke Findley and Robert Gill (from England) and Welshman Dale Williams.
There will be special interest in younger players Sam Wilkinson, Steven Holloway and Chris Wood who will play early on before heading to England.
There have been similar changes around the country but it appears the top three from last season, Waitakere United, Auckland City and YoungHeart Manawatu will be in the fray again with City, who finished third after having points docked but bounced back to win the final, starting as favourites. Already their November 25 home clash with Waitakere at the Croatian Cultural Society's McLeod Rd ground shapes as the early indicator of what is in store. Of this weekend's first round, tomorrow's Fred Taylor Park battle between Waitakere and Team Wellington and Sunday's game in Palmerston North between Manawatu and City promise most.
