Soccer: United youngster proves his worth

Jack Pelter, left, clashes with Wellington Phoenix A player Mirjan Palovic. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Waitakere boss Neil Emblen is making way for defender Jack Pelter to shine on the field.

No one loves a game of soccer more than Neil Emblen but the Waitakere United boss has happily resigned himself to being on the bench and more often than not out of the ASB Premiership squad to make way for Jack Pelter in his commendable "give youth a chance" policy.

Pelter has relished the confidence shown in him by the United coaching staff, making the central defensive role his own with a series of no-frills, hard-working performances in a team which goes into tomorrow's home game against Otago United protecting a season-long unbeaten record.

It has been a long haul for Pelter, who has had more than his share of setbacks since first stepping on to New Zealand soil from his native England in 1996.

He started at Christchurch Technical and had some time under Danny Halligan at Canterbury United - with Ben Sigmund among his teammates - where he made his way into the New Zealand under-17 team.

"I had a year at King's College where Ricki Herbert was involved with their academy. We went to the UK with a New Zealand Football academy squad and after that I made the under-17s."

After another trip to England for a couple of weeks at the Chelsea academy as part of the deal between the premier club and the New Zealand Knights, Pelter returned nursing a back injury.

"It turned out to be much worse than first thought and I needed the same surgery, from the same surgeon, that Shane Bond needed," said Pelter, 23.

"I was told I needed at least a year off to recover. It was a real blow. All I had ever wanted to do was play football and here I was being told I might not be able to play again."

He was out of the game for a year but returned at the time the train-on squad for the national under-20 team was being selected.

"I was 18 or 19 and I had my first game in 13 or 14 months. We beat Australia in a three-game series."

Pelter was subsequently named to captain the team to the 2007 Under-20 Fifa World Cup in Canada - a team that included Jeremy Brockie, Jacob Spoonley, Ian Hogg, Aaron Clapham, Cole Peverley, Greg Draper and Phil Edginton.

Yet, bizarrely, and with no prior inkling, Pelter was not selected by Stu Jacobs for the opening games against Portugal and Gambia (both losses) and the armband was handed to Dan Keat. Pelter returned for the third game - the 2-1 loss to Mexico - scoring New Zealand's only goal of the tournament.

In that one appearance he did enough to catch the eye of the scouts and landed a trial and subsequent contract at Sunderland, though he was hampered by an ankle injury.

He later played on loan at Bradford and eventually made his way into the under-23 team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Again his hopes were dashed, this time by groin/stomach problems later diagnosed as a hernia. He left the Olympic Village the day before the opening ceremony and was replaced by Draper. For another six months he was on the outside looking in.

"I then got a call from an agent and went off to play in Norway," said Pelter.

"Eventually I got a call from Neil Emblen in January last year. We talked about the chance of playing at the Club World Cup so I came back and joined Waitakere. The World Cup didn't happen but it is still very much our focus again this season.

"There is a great bond between the staff and the players at Waitakere. That has kept me here. I have never been happier. It is a brilliant atmosphere."

Emblen has no regrets in being pushed aside. "Jack has established himself in the team," he said.

"He is a confident lad on and off the pitch. He has got himself a lot fitter and he is a good talker, something we were missing when I did not play."