Former Northland and New Zealand hockey goalkeeper Ross McPherson has passed away at age 77.
McPherson began his hockey career as a goalkeeper at Whau Valley Primary School.
From primary school he went onto attend Whangarei Boys High.During his club career he played for Old Boys, Rovers and Springfield.
In his international career he played for NZ at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and the Munich Olympics in 1972. Over a nine year period during the late 1960s and early 1970s Ross played 64 matches for NZ, 37 of them tests or matches at the Mexico Olympics and the Munich Olympics.
During this time he did not let one single penalty stroke get past him. He had an uncanny ability to stop penalty strokes, a skill which he put to particularly good use helping Northland to win the Challenge Shield on two occasions by stopping penalty strokes.