David Grey gets a feel for what it’s like in one of the seats at the top table in the media room in the stadium of Athletic Club Bilbao in Spain. He’s wearing Spain’s national team shirt for the occasion.
A Harvard University student with Gisborne grandparents wants to help save the planet while indulging his love of football... and writing about it.
David Grey, 19, was selected last year for Harvard’s “Class of 2028” from more than 50,000 applicants . . . 3.6% of them were accepted. That’s one in every 28.
David McGregor Grey (to give him his full name) is the grandson of Gisborne avocado advocates David and Judi Grey, and over the years has been a regular school holiday visitor at their Bushmere Rd orchard.
His father, Paul, grew up on Avogrey Orchard and his mother, Sally, is from Hamilton.
In August last year, David began a four-year degree at Massachusetts-based Harvard University.
“I intend to major in physics at Harvard,” he said.
“My dream is to play a role in harnessing hydrogen fusion for renewable energy, and I keenly follow the fusion development at deep-tech start-up OpenStar in Wellington.
“But then again, physicists are also in high demand by football clubs. Liverpool are hiring physicists for their data analysis. I’d love to be the next William Spearman... Harvard physicist-turned Liverpool head of data science.”
As well as sciences and mathematics, Grey’s studies at school included English and Spanish – subjects that have ready application in the football world, for writers and active participants in the European or South American game.
Grey had studied the rigorous Cambridge International curriculum at ACG Strathallan College in Karaka, and set his sights on further study at an American university. In addition to Harvard, he was offered places at 10 prestigious US universities.
He wove his interest in physics into a 2023 study of 1000 goals in an English Premier League season to analyse the art of the curl shot. Before this study, who in football knew about the Magnus effect? (It’s the phenomenon behind a ball’s curling path through the air.)
Grey published his findings in a two-part research paper that appeared on the Friends of Football website.
Veteran football reporter Josh Easby edits the website and corrals an impressive stable of young sports writers. Among them is Joan Grey, David’s 12-months-younger sister, who has written for the website for years, specialising in women’s football.
“She started playing football when I did,” Grey said. “She was my obliging target in the goal in the paddock. It’s through Joan that I got the idea of writing articles.”
Last month, while at home in Pukekohe for the US summer break, he decided to do something with all the football knowledge he’d picked up since he fell in love with the game as a kid.
“I decided to give Substack a go,” he said.
“I thought it could be a perfect hobby: an outlet for all my ideas and opinions on football.”
Substack is an American online platform where writers and other creators can publish newsletters, podcasts and videos either free of charge or through paid subscriptions.
Born in Auckland in 2006 and raised on a farm in Pukekohe, Grey was an avid footballer from the age of 5. He progressed through the grades and played at Northern League under-23 level for Hamilton Wanderers and Manurewa as a midfielder or striker.
“Beyond that, I’ve always found the wider ecosystem of professional football particularly fascinating: the tactics, the culture and the politics of it all,” Grey said.
“My dad always told me about the glory days of Gisborne City when he was young and used to go to games.
“When I was younger, I loved learning about different teams, leagues and players in the FIFA video game. Nowadays, I listen to a couple of hours of football podcasts each day and watch my favourite teams as much as possible.
“I grew up a Liverpool supporter – through my dad – and I support Brighton myself.
“I also never miss an Auckland FC or All Whites match, even though kick-off times are not kind to those in US time zones.”
Grey has taken his love of football to the next level. He can play.
He was named the Strathallan College MVP (most valuable player) for the 2023 New Zealand Secondary Schools Trident Football Tournament – the same competition that Gisborne Boys’ High School and Campion College contested last month – and helped his team to overall victory at the tournament.
He was a coach for former All White player and coach Ricki Herbert’s RH3 Football Academy, and helped run the 18 Yard Club, a non-profit business that taught football scoring skills to young players in South Auckland.
At Harvard, Grey plays for the Harvard Men’s Soccer Club.
“It’s a competitive university league but not to be confused with NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] Division 1,” he said.
“I work at the Division 1 games through my job as matchday staff for the Harvard Athletics department.”
Grey is based near Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When he visits a city on his travels, he makes it his “personal mission” to see any football stadium there and take a selfie outside the gate.
“I also collect football jerseys and try to match my top to the games being played that day. It makes for a bright wardrobe.”
Grey started writing his football columns “just for the personal thrill of it” and without any particular audience in mind.
“I’ve really enjoyed the writing, and I’ve been encouraged by the positive response to the pieces,” he said.
“I plan to keep my writing habit going for as long as I can, although that might be a little harder when the Harvard workload really kicks in this semester.
“I hope to keep writing with my own unique voice and through a New Zealand lens where I can.”
So far, Grey’s football articles have covered subjects as diverse as “The long sleeve jersey: My favourite football aesthetic”, “The VC club: Is Chelsea’s ‘portfolio’ a sign of things to come for football?”, “The fast-bowling Sean Longstaff and other closet cricketers”, “To arrive overpriced or to arrive underrated?”, “An ode to the short-sleeve + gloves combo”, “Why keeping Hiroki Sakai betters any AFC winter transfer” and plenty more where they came from.