Football warms to McLean Park
Teams could play pre-World Cup matches in Napier
Premier Hawke’s Bay stadium McLean Park could see international football next year. The possibility emerged on Wednesday as representatives of five 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup teams inspected the acclaimed Home of the Magpies in Napier for prospective use as a training base during the 32-team cup tournament co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia in July/August.
While none of the 104 cup matches will be played in Napier, Napier City Council events manager Kevin Murphy said some had asked questions about the possibility of playing warm-up matches in Napier.
But it’s now all in the hands of world football governing authority Fifa, which is expected to finalise the allocation of training venues by the end of next month.
The Netherlands, Costa Rica, South Africa, Spain and World No 2 ranked nation and four-time semi-finalist Sweden were represented by delegations of two to three people, varying from managers, coaches and administrators to security staff, all in NewZealand for the draw, which took place in Auckland at the weekend.
All five play pool matches in New Zealand.
Representing Fifa was tournament operations manager and Havelock North man Brendan Bourke, who was logistics manager for the 2008 Under 17 women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
As a chance to show off the park yesterday the timing was second-tonone, with the ground bathed in sunshine, with a football goal in place to add to the picture.
Murphy said the visitors were “very impressed” by the ground and facilities, and the proximity to accommodation and the inner city and beachfront.
“If it was up to them,” he said, “I think they’d all be here in a heartbeat.”