More Southern games likely for city
Southern United are keen to host future national football league games in Invercargill, despite drawing relatively small crowds this season.
Southland had 1500 registered football players in the province in the 2016 season, but only 300 people attended each of Southern United’s two Invercargill-based home games this season, at Rugby Park, against competition heavyweights Auckland City FC and Team Wellington.
According to Football South CEO Chris Wright, it was still worthwhile bringing the Stirling Sports Premiership fixtures to Invercargill.
‘‘The support from Southland Football and the ILT has been great, the crowds were vocal and passionate, the facilities are exceptional and the players had a good opportunity to engage with the local players,’’ he said.
Southern United are interested in returning south for games in future seasons, assuming it is worthwhile for the Southland football community.
‘‘We plan to continue our engagement in the regions next season in a more structured way,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m sure there are lots of ways we can continue to build the connection with players, coaches, referees, clubs and their members – but it’s a two way street and they have to really want to be a part of it too.’’
The main reason for bringing the matches south was to showcase the side across the entire Football South federation.
‘‘We want all football enthusiasts in the federation to think of Southern United as their team,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s great for all areas of the federation to be able to experience national league football and also for local players and coaches to understand the level required and hopefully aspire to it.’’
Despite the paltry crowd of 300 fitting into the main stand at Rugby Park, the priority is making the matches readily accessible to the public, with free admission for last Sunday’s fixture, despite the cost of hiring the facilities.
‘‘Every game is an investment with travel, accommodation, food and venue hire, so we just manage those expenses as the season progresses,’’ he said.
‘‘Despite being the largest participation sport, football is an amateur sport in New Zealand and not an embedded part of the culture compared to rugby and cricket.’’
Wright believes that one of the biggest things that influences support and crowd numbers are performances, so getting the team winning more matches will increase support.
While there is a Southland connection across various Southern United teams, including women, youth, futsal and senior, Wright would love to see more local heroes in the national league, with Southland’s entry in the Southern Premier League a step in the right direction.
‘‘There is definitely talent progressing from the region,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s important to recognise that the Stirling Sports Premiership is a not a representative competition and the quality of the competition is extremely high and even in the last year has taken a huge step up in level.
‘‘To be competitive we need players who are national league quality and we put out a team on the pitch that we believe maximises the chance of getting points.’’