Soccer: Stadium clash sets Waitakere back

A clash with an athletics meeting in Noumea has delayed Waitakere United's start to the new season.

Waitakere were due to kick off their 2009-10 season with the away leg of their O-League tie against New Caledonian champions AS Magenta a week today - the same day Auckland City will play Tahitian champions AS Manu Ura at Kiwitea St.

Those plans changed yesterday when Waitakere boss Rex Dawkins was told by Oceania Football Confederation head of competitions Seamus Marten there had been a double booking for the stadium in Noumea and the match has been put back a week.

"It is disappointing we weren't notified earlier," said Dawkins. "It was not until Seamus went up there this week that we became aware of the situation and that the stadium is not available.

"The positive is that we will now have an extra week to prepare but it could mean a couple of players who were likely to make the trip will now been unavailable as one is due to go to Australia over Labour Weekend and another has university examinations. It could also mean a couple of players will now miss the under-19 tournament in Napier.

"It is not good planning, really. The O-League fixture list has been out for a long time yet we only become aware of this at the last minute."

New coach Neil Emblen - who will not be able to play as he serves the first of a two-match suspension - will take a squad of 16 to the island nation on October 22 and return the day after the October 24 match.

The team will be named early next week with South African, Brazilian, Fijian and Solomon Islands players needing visas to play in the territory.