New faces boost Southern United
KICKING on from last season’s progress is the focus for Southern United and it has several new faces mixed with the familiar ones to help with that.
Liam MacDevitt, Tony Whitehead, Azariah Soromon and Markus Fjortoft are among the key players to have joined the side for the national football premiership.
Coach Paul O’Reilly is ‘‘really happy with the additions’’, the new quartet adding new pieces across the pitch.
Markus Fjortoft (24) is a 1.95m defender from Norway and has spent the past four years in the United States at both college and professional levels.
Physical defensive midfielder Tony Whitehead (22) comes from Ireland.
He was lured to the side by Garbhan Coughlan, who was signed by Southern last season and is back for another year.
Up front, Englishman Liam MacDevitt and Vanuatuan Azariah Soromon add speed and flair to the side.
Also linking with the team are Green Island’s Matt Brazier, former Auckland Grammar School captain Ben Deeley, who is originally from Timaru, and Abdullah Al Kalisy, who moves from Tasman United.
They are joined by a host of returners from the side which finished fifth last season.
Irishmen Conor O’Keeffe, Stephen Last and Danny Ledwith are back for a third year, while Liam Little and Omar Guardiola return after spending the winter in Australia.
Jared Grove and Ben Wade are both back after impressive campaigns last year as well, while Tom Stevens and Nick Treadwell have also resigned.
The squad is not yet complete and several locally based players are still deciding whether they can commit to playing around work and family.
Among those gone are Tim McLennan, who is on an OE, and Tom Connor, who has been ruled out through work commitments.
Tristan Prattley, who played a handful of games for Dunedin Tech this year, was another the side attempted to secure.
Overall, O’Reilly is happy with the squad so far and said it was important to build on the progress made over the past two seasons.
‘‘For me, we must be looking to remain in the top six.
‘‘So in terms of our aspirations for the league table, it’s can we stay in the top six?
‘‘But there’s a little bit of ambition among the group to say, ‘Can we kick on higher?’
‘‘We finished fifth last year. We had a poor spell at the middle end of the season, so before and after Christmas we had a few poor results and we ended up finishing really strong. But we need to have a bit more consistency if we’re realistic about kicking on to that top four.’’
The side is training eight times a week and O’Reilly said preseason was going well.
It has its first hitout next weekend against Canterbury United. The season begins on October 21 when it plays Canterbury in Christchurch.
FORMER Kavanagh College pupil and Dunedin footballer Andy Boyens has just been given an important job.
Boyens (35 today) has been appointed as the interim technical director of New Zealand Football.
Boyens, who joined the governing body in January 2015 in the role of youth development manager, will step into the position until a permanent technical director is recruited.
He takes on the role previously controversially held by Andreas Heraf. The Austrian was in the job for a year but resigned following a storm of controversy around his approach to the job and his management of the Football Ferns.
New Zealand Football interim chief executive Andrew Pragnell said Boyens’ appointment was a logical step.
‘‘Andy brings considerable experience to this role,’’ Pragnell said.
‘‘Having played a leading role in the technical advancement of football in New Zealand in recent years, he is well placed to ensure the various key work streams continue as planned.’’
The technical director is responsible for ensuring both players and coaches have a clear pathway from community participation through to international teams and providing them with the appropriate support on this journey.
Boyens, who played 19 internationals for New Zealand and was a member of the All Whites squad which was undefeated at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, is looking forward to the opportunity.
‘I’m hugely passionate about New Zealand football and feel privileged to be able to be in this position and contribute to the further development of the game,’’ he said.
‘‘In the domestic space, I’m looking forward to continuing some of the great work that has been done by New Zealand Football, our federations, clubs and other stakeholders to continue the growth of football in New Zealand.
‘‘In the international space, I will be supporting our national teams to try to achieve the goals that we’ve set for ourselves while ensuring we are strongly connected to the wider footballing community.’’
Boyens came to New Zealand Football on the back of a successful playing career. The 34yearold played for four clubs in Major League Soccer in the United States, including the LA Galaxy where he won the MLS in 2012.
During his time as a professional footballer, Boyens worked as a coach in his respective clubs’ community programmes and academies, including a twoyear stint in the LA Galaxy academy straight after his playing career.
When he was in the United States he often came back to Otago in the summer and held junior coaching camps around the South.
He holds the OFC/NZF C, B and A coaching licences, as well as the United States Soccer Federation B Licence, and has helped deliver coaching courses throughout New Zealand.