Auckland City FC plays in the amateur New Zealand national football league, the ASB Premiership !

his is the highest le"el of New Zealand domestic football !he ASB Premiership #formally the NZFC Championship$ is a relati"ely new league ha"ing only been established in %&&' !he league is played in the New Zealand summer ( )ctober through to April Auckland City FC is also a relati"ely new club *t was formed in %&&' to specifically compete in the new league ( as were all of the other + ASB Premiership clubs )ur home ground is the modest ,iwitea Street #-one stand, we."e only got one stand /$ in the central Auckland suburb of Sandringham 0ence we sing1 -!ake me home Sandringham, !o the place * belong, ,iwitea to see the City, !ake me home Sandringham / Since its formation Auckland City FC has en2oyed some success ha"ing won the title ' times )ur fiercest ri"als are another Auckland club 3aitakere 4nited #more affectionately known as -that small club in ,umeu/$ !hey ha"e won the title 5 times !he winner of the ASB Premiership competes in the )ceania Champions 6eague #the ) 6eague$ !he winner of the ) 6eague 7ualifies for the Club 3orld Cup *t is a real challenge for Auckland City FC to tra"el to places like Papua New 8uinea, Solomon *slands, 9anuatu etc and obtain a result whilst playing in temperatures in the high 5&s and humidity in the high :&s !here are some strong sides in )ceania #relati"ely speaking$, most recently these ha"e included Amicale FC #9anuatu$, 0ekari 4nited #Papua New 8uinea$ and ,oloale FC #Solomon *slands$ 0ekari 4nited represented )ceania at the %&;& Club 3orld Cup Auckland City FC has won the ) 6eague 5 times *t is hugely important for New Zealand teams to win the ) 6eague and 7ualify for the Club 3orld Club !he money which we recei"e from F*FA for 7ualifying for the Club 3orld Cup is distributed amongst all of the : ASB Premiership teams 3ithout this money it is highly likely that there would be no New Zealand national league !his is because our go"erning body, New Zealand Football, has largely gi"en up promoting, marketing or in"esting in our national league #see more on this below$ Auckland City FC is a great club *t is how football used to be and, in my opinion, how football should be 3hat makes it so great< !he players make huge sacrifices to train ' nights a week #= nights prior to departing for the Club 3orld Cup$ and play on the weekend while still holding down 2obs>tertiary education?

!he club is run on the hard work and dedication of "olunteers?

*t.s an e@ample of affordable football ( children under ;= free, season tickets only A=& etc?

 *t is owned and run by football people, not mining magnates, sheikhs or multi million dollar poultry farmers

Auckland City FC has represented )ceania at the Club 3orld Cup on two pre"ious occasions At the %&&B Club 3orld Cup in Capan we lost %D& to the African champions Al Ahly of Egypt and 5D& to the Asian champions Ceonbuk 0yundai Fotors of South ,orea Since %&&+ F*FA has relegated )ceania to a -bit part/ as we now ha"e to play off against the champions of the host nation to gain entry to the tournament proper 3e achie"ed our greatest success at the %&&G Club 3orld Cup in the 4nited Arab Emirates Against all odds our plucky team of truck dri"ers, interior decorators, school teachers and shop assistants beat the champions of a multi million dollar Arab league #the host nations. team Al Ahly$ and the champions of one of F*FA.s largest confederations #!P FaHembe of Africa ( who came runnersDup at the %&;& Club 3orld Cup$ !his was the first time a senior New Zealand representati"e football side had won a match at a F*FA world finals tournament *t is arguably the greatest result by a New Zealand football side on the world stage 3e won enough priHe money to sa"e our national league from e@tinction !he achie"ement recei"ed little or no co"erage in our New Zealand media and only scant recognition from our go"erning body, New Zealand Football

Players to watch out for in Capan< )ur goalkeeper Cacob -Bobby/ Spoonley has ; international cap to his name #but deser"es more$ )ur left back *an 0ogg is a great left sided player Ale@ Feneridis is a workaholic in the heart of our midfield Adam Fc8eorge is another strong presence in our midfield #although he.s been getting less game time of late$ Ianko ,opri"cic is a skilful striker turned attacking midfielder Iespite the e@otic names all are ,iwis and all are eligible to play for our New Zealand national team

3hat are our chances in Capan< *t will be "ery difficult for us !he Capanese champions will be "ery 7uick and "ery skilful 3e will gi"e it our best shot

!he problem with New Zealand football, as mentioned abo"e, is that our go"erning body New Zealand Football seems to ha"e gi"en up on our national league 3e also ha"e an Australian A 6eague team based in our capital 3ellington 0a"ing a team from a foreign league based in our country sends a message to all football players, football supporters, the sports media, sports administrators, the general public etc here in New Zealand that our own national league is second rate and not worth supporting *n fact, our go"erning body pretty much ga"e up on our national league when it took on the licence of the Australian A 6eague team in %&&+ )ur national league is not second rate Back in )ctober of this year Auckland City FC #who were only three weeks into their preDseason training$ beat Australian

professional side Central Coast Fariners #who were 5 months into their preDseason training including a win o"er Celtic$ 5D;

*f the football gods are watching there will be a new name etched on the trophy in a couple of weeks time !hat name will read -Auckland City FC ( !he Pride of Sandringham/ No matter what happens Auckland City FC and ,iwitea Street will remain a bastion of -heart and soul/ football in an increasingly commercialised football world

ForHa CityJ ForHa the Pride of SandringhamJ ForHa New ZealandJ

Kic 6e Koc Auckland City FC supporter