Events

That talented teen, by the name of Heremaia “Harry” Ngata, went on to appear nearly 30 times for the All Whites but it was at an unfashionable club in East Yorkshire that the seeds of his career at the top were first planted.
Ngata, who turns 40 this month, signed for Hull City in 1988 as a fresh-faced youngster and is believed to have been the first Maori footballer to play as a professional in England. The move came about due to a link between Hull and his New Zealand club side, Porirua Viard United, and Ngata says making the switch was a big culture shock at first.
“The chairman of Porirua was from Hull and knew the manager, Brian Horton,” Ngata says.
“Porirua had first-year professionals come out to New Zealand as part of their senior football career and, in return, we were able to send young players over for trials. I was the first player to be sent across for this programme at the age of 16. I had never left home before and never seen snow. I spent the first year or so living above a pub. It was a huge experience but one I thought I may never get again.”
The Tigers were in the old Division Two, the second tier of the English game in those pre-Premier League days, at the time of Ngata’s signing but were relegated to Division Three in the 1990-91 season. Ngata made over 20 appearances for the first team during his time at Boothferry Park but most of his fondest recollections are of his experiences with City’s reserve side.
“One of my greatest memories took place back in 1988 playing at Anfield against the Liverpool reserves. I was packing myself as we walked out onto the pitch and I actually touched the ‘This Is Anfield’ plaque – an unbelievable feeling after growing up supporting the club,” he says.
“Their reserve team at the time could have played in the first division – Bruce Grobbelaar, Nigel Spackman, Jan Molby, Barry Venison, Paul Walsh and Kenny Dalglish weren’t bad players. Dalglish came on as a second-half substitute and I couldn’t believe it. There was this 17-year-old Maori kid from Wellington, running around on one of the most hallowed stadiums in the world, chasing Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.”
Anfield was not the only famous turf the future All White had the privilege of treading upon.
“We also played Manchester United’s reserves at Old Trafford. That was some experience after watching Man Utd just a couple of weeks earlier on the Big League Soccer TV programme.”
On his return down under, Ngata played semi-professionally for several clubs in Australia before starring for Auckland side North Shore United in the old club-based national league. An ill-fated spell in Ireland at Bohemian FC was over soon after it had begun in the 1998-99 season but redemption was to arrive in the form of the Football Kingz, New Zealand’s first ever professional club.
The Kingz, the forerunners of the New Zealand Knights and Wellington Phoenix, competed in the now-defunct Australian NSL and Ngata became a cult hero during his five years at Mt Smart Stadium. He made over 120 appearances, many of those as captain, in the Kingz midfield and got his name on the scoresheet 27 times.
That stint was the highlight of a career also marked by a New Zealand Players’ Player of the Year award in 1998 and selection for the All Whites’ 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup squad. He scored New Zealand’s goal in his debut, a 3-1 loss against Saudi Arabia in 1993, and his final cap came with a substitute appearance in a 7-0 win over Vanuatu eight years later.
Ngata now works in the media as a football pundit, commentating for Sky TV and writing columns for the New Zealand Herald newspaper, and has also been an ambassador for the Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) organisation.
Happily, he is no longer the only Maori to have played in England and has seen the likes of current All Whites Rory Fallon, Leo Bertos and Jeremy Christie follow in his ground-breaking footsteps by appearing for English teams.
Players of Maori and Pacific Island heritage have not traditionally been a force in New Zealand football as the game in this part of the world has been dominated by those of European extraction. But the trend appears to be changing and Maori players have played a key role in the All Whites’ unprecedented success of recent months.
Fallon, Bertos and Christie were joined in New Zealand’s 2010 FIFA World Cup squad by Winston Reid, who spent much of his childhood in Denmark but has Maori bloodlines on both parents’ sides, and the All Whites would not have made it to South Africa without the Maori connection. In the all-important second leg of the World Cup qualifier against Bahrain, it was Bertos who supplied the inch-perfect corner kick for fellow Maori Fallon to head home and earn the 1-0 win.
Ngata believes there is a lot of footballing potential among the country’s Maori population and says there are now plenty of opportunities on offer.
“There have been some very good Maori footballers – Wynton and Shane Rufer, Rory and Sean Fallon, Riki van Steeden, Sean Douglas, Vaughan Coveny and Richard Mulligan to name a few. If you have the determination to succeed and are good enough then the opportunities are there irrespective of your background or culture.
“You have to be proactive and not sit around waiting for things to happen – you have to make it happen yourself. Maori have a lot to offer, not just in football but in many other sports, and the opportunities are there.”