Zac’s as good as gold
FORMER New Zealand youth representative Zac Speedy is the first choice keeper for the historic entry of Gold Coast United FC into the NPL Queensland competition.
Speedy, 21, will wear the No.1 jumper when United play their debut premiership match against Cairns at Barlow Park in the Far North city on Saturday night.
But the arrival of Speedy, who played under new united coach Sean Lane at the Brisbane Strikers in 2017, has cost the fledgling club a wellcredentialed back-up keeper in Josh Langdon.
Langdon has elected to join his former Gold Coast City coach Grae Piddick with the Gold Coast Knights, where he will be first choice between the posts.
A New Zealand under-17 and under-20 rep, Speedy joined Lane at the Strikers last year and made a name for himself and won the NPLQ’s safe hands award for conceding fewest goals.
Asked why he has moved down the M1 to link with a brand news club, Speedy said: “Obviously, being involved with Sean before was one reason and another is because this is an exciting new club.”
This will not be the first time Speedy has joined a brand new club.
In 2014-15 he played with now defunct Wanderers FC, an Auckland-based club in the NZ competition.
“It was a sort of development squad team for New Zealand, sort of like the Brisbane Roar Youth team in the NPL,” he said.
Langdon’s decision to rejoin Piddick at the Knights has obviously a lot to do with Speedy’s arrival at United.
“The chance to be number one keeper at the Knights helped me in my decision,” Langdon said.
Although Langdon has not officially signed, Piddick said “it will happen”.
“Josh is a young keeper working his way through the ranks and he has been (at City) behind Shane Viitakangas, Ryan Meskell and Matt Stein, like the youth and back-up keeper.” Piddick said.
Langdon played a handful of NPLQ games for City over five years after making his first-team debut against Far North Queensland (now Cairns FC) in Cairns in the opening round of 2016.