I have been in the CEO chair for just over three weeks now and it has been a busy introduction to the role. We have been holding our Winter FTC program reviews across the three regions where this program has been in place, have had Focus Groups running across the Federation to help us define some key actions around how we engage with our stakeholders and we also have the “Muir Review” around the goings on at New Zealand Football to digest. In amongst these things has been some not so positive media coverage about Central Football written by the Hawkes Bay Today Sport Editor and contributed to by a number of club Chairs from across the Federation and was published on Saturday 6 October.

I will be the first to agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion and would maintain that as long as it is portrayed in a respectful way, and is not taken as an opportunity to have a personal dig at someone, then fair play. Football, as with any sport, is often a matter of opinion – whether it is the club your support, your preferred formation (4-4-2 or 4-3-3) or Ronaldo over Messi, it is fundamental to sport that people have and are able to share their opinions. When it comes to sharing an opinion, certainly in a public forum such as the media, I believe that an opinion should be factual. This final point is where I have a concern in regards to the recent article and so I am going to take the opportunity to put some of these facts straight. This is not to suggest that any of the clubs that contributed to this article are being limited with the facts, but I would question whether everything reported is in fact in the context in which it was intended. I am simply taking the opportunity to provide a “right of reply” around where Central Football stands on these topics, along with taking the opportunity to dispel any suggestion that there is a lack of transparency around Central Football activities. 

The recent article focused on three key points. These were;

• Hawkes Bay United (HBU) and the financial support that Central Football has made to them

• The Winter FTC program whereby Central Football has invited players to be involved in Central Football Talent Centre teams that play in our junior club based competitions across the Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Taranaki Regions

• The Taranaki land purchase and development that Central Football have entered into

In terms of addressing each of these topics, I can offer the following that hopefully offers both the transparency that is suggested to be absent and also some context around why Central Football have made the decisions they have;

HBU

HBU have a loan of $119k to Central Football – not $152k as the HB Today article suggests. This debt amount has accumulated over the past four seasons to due to cashflow issues, in a large part created by an NZF National League format that is simply financially unsustainable (a point that both Central Football and HBU have made very strongly a number of times to NZ Football). Whilst in an ideal world we would have preferred not to have needed to do this, we are comfortable that the decision to do was the right one. This money has been offered as a loan to HBU and they are doing their best to reduce this at an agreed amount. Whether they are ever in a position to reduce it completely is debatable and, quite frankly, is unlikely. As mentioned, whilst we may not necessarily be happy about this level of debt, we maintain that without our support we would simply not have a national league team in our Federation. The suggestion that this debt has not been disclosed until recently is simply not true. The Central Football Annual Accounts have had Auditor’s comments around this debt for the past two years and at the 2018 AGM it was very clearly explained, including a pre-AGM communication to all clubs outlining this debt and Central Football’s relationship with HBU amongst other points that I will raise later in this letter. The claim that anyone has been “fobbed off” when questioning this debt is again wrong, and can clearly be dispelled by the AGM minutes where there was a lengthy discussion around Central Football’s support of HBU. The questioner may not have agreed with the answer, but that does not constitute, no answer at all.

Central Football believes that an important part of what we offer our stakeholders is National League football. Whilst we would love nothing more than to have the opportunity for our players to have that pathway within other regions of the Federation, this is simply not an option at the moment.  It was interesting to note from the HB Today article that there is a strong suggestion that the money that Central Football have contributed to HBU should be invested into the development of the game so that we can produce our own players to play for HBU. The point that is missing in this comment is that without the financial support of Central Football, HBU would simply not exist and there would not be a National League team within our Federation for these young players to aspire to play for. These players that clubs and the likes of the FTC program have developed would need to leave the Federation to seek these opportunities in other parts of the country. I personally don’t want to see that happen any more than any of you do I’m sure. I accept that HBU is only essentially offering this opportunity each year to approximately 40 players (senior and youth teams) and yes, HBU do bring in players from outside the Region and Federation to help ensure that the team is as competitive as possible. What HBU offers beyond the opportunity for 40 or so players, is the aspirational aspect of having the opportunity to play National League football has for every young player in the Federation. I would suggest that if you asked any one of the 22 players involved in the HBU Youth team in 2018 (including players from Gisborne and Palmerston North) what they think of having the opportunity to play National League football I guarantee you that they would say it is one of, if not the career highlight for them so far. In addition, it has been suggested that HBU should be using local players only and not bringing in players from outside the region. Again, in an ideal world I’m sure HBU would love nothing more than to do this but at the moment this is not a reality. This is proved by both Napier City Rovers and Havelock North, the two Federation clubs competing in the Men’s Central League in 2018, seeing the need to bring in players from outside of the Region, and in a number of cases, from outside of the country. The number of players from outside of the region featuring in both these teams can possibly be attributed to their finishing position in this competition. 

Central Football believes strongly in our FTC program as a way of developing players that will eventually become our Central League and National League teams, however the initial graduates from this program (players born in 1999 and 2000) are only now “coming of age” at senior football level and do have a presence in the HBU senior team through the likes of Jorge Akers, Karan Mandair and Ben Lack whilst the HBU Youth team is full of these players. 

It was suggested in the article that essentially the players that have come in from outside the area are both taking the opportunities that other local players should have and that they are only here for the money. Firstly, the selection policy around HBU is not part of Central Football’s role in supporting the club but I can assure you that every opportunity was offered to local players to be part of the squads if they were good enough. Secondly, the national league is not semi-professional as the reporter suggests and is a strictly amateur competition. Some players are offered reimbursements of expenses occurred i.e. petrol costs, accommodation subsides if relevant but no players is “paid” to be part of HBU. There is no “money” in playing for HBU but what players do get is the opportunity to play at the highest level in the country and for one of the best, if not the best, coach in the country in Brett Angell.

My final point around this topic, and despite the reporter and club contributor’s assertions in this HB Today article, Central Football have not increased fees to invest in HBU. In fact, our fees are less than they were seven seasons ago so any suggestion that this is where “player fees” are going is plainly incorrect.  Central Football turns over income per annum of approximately $2m. In the past four years we have therefore had income in the range of $8m and, of that, $119k has been contributed, in a loan, to HBU. This equates to around 1.5% of the income generated over this time. It should be noted also that we have not at any stage sacrificed development or any other worthwhile project as a result of our support of HBU.

In summary, Central Football does support HBU and maintain that we do so for very sound reasons. There is a debt and whilst we are not necessarily happy about having that debt, never-the-less, it is a fact and not a fact that we have attempted to hide. We maintain that having the pathway to the National League is important to our players and, as it stands, that pathway is through HBU.

Winter FTC program

This is a program that we have run over the past two winter seasons in Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Taranaki. As planned when it was introduced, the continuation of this program was to be reviewed at the end of the second season and this review has begun over the past two weeks with face to face meetings with stakeholders in each of these regions. These meetings were facilitated by Brett Angell and myself with the feedback from these meetings to be considered by a Review Group. This Review Group will include club representatives from each Region, parents, coaches and a Regional Sports Trust representative along with Brett and myself. Surely not a Central Football heavy panel where we are “looking after our mates” as the HB Today article also suggests. We have been very open about the process we are undertaking with this review and that we will make a decision around the continuation of the program on the back of this.

Taranaki land purchase 

This was a topic that really surprised me as something that clubs felt we had not provided any information about. In hindsight, maybe we have considered this to be a “Taranaki” project and therefore it has not been as widely shared across the Federation as it could be, but to suggest that there is a lack of transparency and that we are being intentionally “secretive” about this is wide of the mark. All clubs across the Federation were sent details around what was planned with this in early May and a Central Football board member addressed a number of the Taranaki clubs, including the Chair of New Plymouth Rangers, at the Taranaki Club prize giving a few weeks ago. This update included where things were at with the project and why we were doing this.

As part of the recent newspaper article, it was suggested that we are not a commercial body and therefore should not be entering into commercial opportunities. Whilst essentially we are indeed not a commercial body, we do have a responsibility to ensure that we have a game that is sustainable long-term and able to grow and prosper. For any club or sporting entity that wishes to have long terms growth and prosperity, it cannot simply rely on the same traditional funding streams of such things as cash sponsorship and funding grants. We have recognised this and have therefore tried to both help grow the game in Taranaki by looking at developing a “home of football” with the land purchase but also hopefully provide alternative income streams that will benefit the Federation as a whole. 

In closing

I have covered the three main points raised in this article and tried to ensure that there is sufficient detail around each to ensure that you as a stakeholder in the game have a good understanding of our position on each. I strongly deny that we have intentionally not been transparent but accept that if this is genuinely the feeling, then we need to do better to make sure that you feel informed of the goings-on of Central Football. To this end, you can expect more regular communication of this nature to ensure that you are armed with relevant information for both you and your club member’s benefit. I would like to add that if at any point you feel that we have not provided sufficient information or you have questions about anything we are involved in, that you contact me directly. My preference, as I am sure it is yours, is that our mainstream media should be, wherever possible, full of positive news about the game – not articles that ask questions that could simply be answered by direct contact with myself or our team.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and, as eluded to, please let me know if you have any questions or require further information about any of the above or any other Central Football matter.

Kind regards and yours in football,

Darren Mason - Central Football Federation CEO 

Article added: Thursday 25 October 2018