SOCCER: Just call me No 31, Ross tells proud Dad

HAMISH BIDWELL
There's something about the Goodacres and their voice.
Mike's has been one of the real features of Hawke's Bay United's season, consoling, encouraging and entertaining fans and players alike over the public address system at Park Island. In a New Zealand Football Championship season in which the home side has hit few high notes, the exception has continued to be Mike Goodacre's and his banter from the box.
Now take his son, Ross (below). Napier City Rovers to the core, he's been part of the furniture at Park Island for much of his life.
From his days as a wide-eyed boy in the stand, through to his deeds on the paddock in the famous Rovers colours, young Ross is as familiar a sight around the clubrooms as any. So, naturally enough, there will be plenty of old-timers lining up to say g'day this afternoon when he dons the new black and white clobber of Hawke's Bay United in their match against Team Wellington.
But while the wide grin and infectious laugh will be there, there'll be something about Ross that doesn't quite fit - the voice.
No, your eyes and ears won't be deceiving you, it's definitely Ross Goodacre you're talking to, it's just that after eight years of living in the United States the former New Zealand under-23 player sounds like a Yank.
"Yeah, it's certainly stuck and I've gotten a bit of grief about it, so I'll be doing my best to sound slightly less American," Goodacre said of his accent yesterday .
"I've been away since 98 and for the first few years I came back intermittently but I probably haven't been back for about four years. I was studying at Clemson in South Carolina and then I went on to grad school at Ohio State, which was a great opportunity to continue my studies."
Goodacre and his American wife are in the midst of their three-month honeymoon, before they look to settle back here permanently later this year. They hit town on Wednesday, Ross was training with the team on Thursday and he'll be playing the holding role in midfield this afternoon.
"I've been following everything on the NZFC website and reading a lot about the guys," he said.
"It's great that someone like Marty Akers is still around, I mean he was a guy I used to watch when I was eight or nine years old, then I played with him and now I've come back and he's still here. I feel old at 27 and Marty's still playing."
Aside from his on-line reading, Goodacre has had plenty of reports about the antics of his old man. "My brother Ian's been worried that Dad's going to get all choked up when I'm out there. I'm just hoping he keeps to calling me number 31 rather than shouting 'well done Goodacre'."