Player-coach Kieran Venema was worried then about the numbers, and he suspected the task of player recruitment would not get any easier with Thistle and Gisborne Boys' High School forging closer links.
He approached players he thought would be a good fit for the United team but — apart from a few who said “maybe” — the answer was generally “no”.
The departure of two players on overseas travel further depleted the ranks, and United decided not to defend their Pacific Premiership title. Instead the team would play Eastern League football.
United already had a strong side contesting the first division of the Eastern League. They will continue to be known as United firsts. The team coming down from the Pacific Premiership will be known as the premiers. Both could be contenders for honours.
With Venema now at Thistle, prolific goalscorer Josh Adams will coach the premiers. That will allow elder brother Corey, who was coach the season before last, to consolidate the onfield progress he made last year after injury kept him on the sideline in 2020. Their younger brother Jacob, 14, could go up front alongside Josh, if the club can get an age dispensation. He turns 15 in October.
Their father Chris, a United stalwart who still hopes to get on the field in a lower-division team this year, says most of United's players from last year will be available again, but the links between Boys' High and Thistle make it harder for other clubs to attract school players or school leavers.
Wainui Sharks coach Blake Mulrooney says he would hate to think the son of someone with allegiance to Wainui would have pressure put on him to play for Thistle. Overall, though, he says Wainui are holding their own for player numbers.
Mulrooney's co-coach from last year, Michael Smith, is spending two weeks out of three in Wanaka helping Caleb Baldacchino set up an outpost of Smith's painting and decorating business. For Baldacchino, a defender in last year's double-winning team, the shift south could be long-term, but attacking midfielder Smith is not ruling out a return to the Wainui playing ranks. While in the South Island, Smith will play for Southern Premiership club Wanaka.
Mulrooney says that while the Sharks have lost Baldacchino and Smith — as well as goalkeeper Patrick Pierard, who has gone overseas — they have gained goalkeeper Matt Wotherspoon, who impressed for United in last season's Bailey Cup final, and a promising South American winger.
“Pre-season training has been disjointed because we've had a lot of Covid,” Mulrooney said.
“The most I've had at training is 13, but 18 people are interested. We'd have a strong squad if we could get everyone to training.”
With the likes of defender Mal Furlan, midfielders Max Logan and Shane Hooks and striker Jake Theron eager to shake off early-season injuries or illness, Wainui could still be scarily good when the cogs are working smoothly.
Thistle will have two teams in the first division — a development team coached by police detective Matt Harvey, and Thistle Vintage, who could come into their own in the latter part of the season when the two divisions have been split into three.
Thistle Massive, multiple trophy winners over the best part of a decade, have been scattered across several Thistle teams. Last year's coach, Craig Stirton, is taking the Reserves in the Pacific Premiership. Craig's father John, player wrangler for most of Massive's existence, is co-coach with Steve McCarthy of a second-division Thistle team likely to include up to a third of the old Massive team.
Bohemians are in the first division, too. Player-coach this year is Chris Cockburn, a 30-year-old geospatial analyst who works with maps that help in forestry harvesting, planting and spraying.
He will play at centreback, alongside Oli Gillies, who came to the club this year with his mate Luke Fisher, who'll be competing for one of the fullback spots. Gillies and Fisher are both students at Gisborne Boys' High, and join other high school students who became club members last year.
Cockburn said Bohemians had benefited from the changes that pushed schoolboys towards clubs if they wanted senior football. The infusion of young blood was what the club needed.
He wanted to see that young players had the opportunity to develop and think about the game a bit more.
“I'll try to get them to take their time on the ball and move it around, put it in the right places,” he said.
As a youngster, Cockburn was in a strong Lytton High team in his last year at school, and had two years being coached by Craig Christophers, whose teams are always well drilled.
Cockburn joined Bohemians in his early 20s but last year played for United and got a run in the Bailey Cup final. He's not the only one returning to the Bohs. Goalkeeper Eru Rawiri and rightback Trent Donnelly were also at United last season. They, along with central midfielder Steve White and leftback Bray Pewhairangi-Kutia, will bring the experience to settle the youngsters.
Central Football Tairawhiti Gisborne operations manager Fletcher Stewart-Hill said the Eastern League would initially be split into two divisions, each of eight teams, with places determined by last year's finishing positions.
Division 1 would comprise the premiers and the firsts from United, the development team and Vintage from Thistle, a team from Bohemians, and the Sharks, Salty Dogs and Demons from Wainui.
Division 2 would comprise United seconds and thirds, a Bohemians team, Shockers, Wairoa, two Thistle teams, and Ngatapa Silkies.
Teams in both divisions would play seven round-robin games and then be split into three divisions. The bottom four teams of the first division would drop and the top two teams of the second division would rise into another division. Division 1 would have the top four teams, Division 2 the next six and Division 3 the bottom six. Points would be restarted.
A Charity Shield game, between Wainui Sharks and Gisborne United firsts, is to be played at Childers Road Reserve at 2.30pm on Saturday, April 2. The match is traditionally played between the league and cup winners. Sharks, as league-and-cup double winners, would normally have played the second-placed league team. However, Thistle Massive no longer exist as a team, so third-placed United step up.
