From ‘fanboy’ to Phoenix player
Nearly every day George Ott walked past a poster of All Whites star Chris Wood in the school gymnasium, when he attended St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton.
The big striker, who topped the Central League golden boot standings with 21 goals in 18 games for Lower Hutt this season, is a selfconfessed Chris Wood ‘‘fanboy’’ who has long dreamed of following in the footsteps of St Paul’s most famous former student.
‘‘Chris Wood’s an icon for any New Zealand striker really, especially a young one and being from Hamilton as well, he’s a bit of a role model,’’ Ott said.
‘‘He was a bit before me but I’d see his posters everywhere and I was a bit of a fanboy of his at St Paul’s.
‘‘Temps [academy director Paul Temple] always tells me stories, in fact he was telling me last night actually how he saw him out on the field kicking
with his dad for hours on end, so I try to replicate that myself and do as much as I can on and off the field to try and become a professional footballer.’’
Ott became a step closer to realising his dream yesterday, which just happened to be his 20th birthday, when he signed a one-year scholarship deal with the Wellington Phoenix’s A-League Men team along with his Lower Hutt team-mate Kurtis Mogg.
Ott has only been part of the Phoenix academy for the past year, after he was scouted by director Paul Temple while playing for Hamilton Wanderers, but has thrived in the environment in Wellington, developing into a lethal scorer at Central League level.
‘‘There’s been a lot of hard work behind the scenes that people don’t see, but I credit my team-mates a bit as well,’’ he said.
‘‘We play in a really good team and gel quite well and they put me in positions where I can score goals.
‘‘When you see a striker scoring goals it’s usually a good sign, and I feel like I’ve been playing some good football recently. I’m just looking forward to getting my chance and making the step-up to the A-League.’’
Mogg has been a regular in the reserve team for the past three years and captain for the last two, after making the move south from Auckland’s Hibiscus Coast in 2018.
The centre-back, who is also 20 years-old, first moved to New Zealand from Worcester in England in 2010.
He said securing a scholarship deal with the Phoenix was a dream come true.
‘‘It’s really exciting to make that step up into the A-League and I just can’t wait to get started,’’ Mogg said. ‘‘We’ve given so much up, we’ve sacrificed going away from our families, so it’s nice to be rewarded.
‘‘Growing up in England, everybody’s dream is to play in the Premier League, be a senior football player, be a professional, and that’s sort of just carried on with me.
‘‘Ever since I started playing football at Hibiscus Coast and then here, it was always ‘I want to be playing senior football’. And that’s
always been on my mind to sign a professional contract . . . and now that I’ve got the opportunity to sign here with the Phoenix, it’s made it all worth it.’’
The pair were among a group of about a dozen academy players who were invited to train with the A-League Men squad at the beginning of pre-season, with coach Ufuk Talay making it clear that there were contracts up for grabs for those who impressed.
‘‘I’m absolutely buzzing. It sounds a bit cliché , but it’s sort of a dream come true,’’ Ott said. ‘‘Everyone says that but you’ve been working so hard to get here, and now it’s finally happened.
‘‘It’s been really intense at training in preseason but you sort of expected that coming into the professional environment. Uffie has been really good though, encouraging the academy boys, and we’ve all been pushing to make the squad and do as well as we can.’’
Temple was delighted to see Ott and Mogg graduate to the A-League Men squad, joining other previous academy players Ben Waine, Sam Sutton, Ben Old and Alex Paulsen in the Phoenix first team for the coming season.
‘‘These kids give up their lives around the country, leaving their families to come here to fight for the dream of becoming a professional football player, so it’s fantastic when you see it happen to someone like Moggy, you’re literally making a kid’s dream come true,’’ Temple said.
‘‘George is a pretty recent recruit. He came to us with a ton of potential, but it’s a credit to the academy staff and to George as to how much he’s progressed over the past year.’’