Oscar Faulds travelled around the world to trial for a pro deal. The footballer told Neil Reid how Covid-19, then a brutal club call, ended his hopes in Denmark and Sweden.
Sharpshooter Oscar Faulds doesn’t mince his words when describing the footballing heartache he endured during a globetrotting month.
The 22-year-old’s blistering form — scoring 21 goals in 14 Central League appearances for Napier City Rovers — had the Swedish-born Kiwi flown to Denmark by a second-division club offering a potential fully professional deal.
The deal could have had Faulds go from earning $150 a week for Napier City Rovers — the cap New Zealand Football imposes on domestic Kiwi clubs — to earning a six-figure sum; with the average pro wage in Denmark being more than $100,000.
But the highly driven 22-year-old’s aim of a pro contract in Denmark, and then two weeks later in another trial with a second-division club in Sweden, came crashing down firstly after contracting Covid-19, then becoming a victim of the at-times fickle nature of pro sport.
“An agent contacted me and talked about a club in the Danish second tier that wanted me in for a trial,” Faulds, who is now back with Napier City Rovers, said.
“They paid for my flight over.
“But I got sick in my first training with Covid and was in isolation. I only did two trainings and basically got the feedback, ‘You’re good enough, but we just haven’t been able to see enough of you because you’ve been sick’.
“It was good to know I am good enough, but it just wasn’t the time for it.”
Faulds flew to Denmark as Napier City Rovers were involved in a tight race to secure a finish in the Central League’s top three, a placing that would secure them a spot in the National League.
That race was successful for the Bill Robertson-coached team, who kick off their 2024 National League campaign against Western Springs on Sunday at Bluewater Stadium.
But what wasn’t successful was Faulds’ second trial offered to him in Scandinavia during a drama-filled four weeks away from Hawke’s Bay.
After hearing he hadn’t been signed by the Danish club, Utsiktens BK — who play in the Swedish Superettan — offered him a trial for a fully professional contract.
Faulds impressed, being offered a contract and travelling five hours from his base in Sweden to the city of Gothenburg to pose for photos to be released to media when his signing was publicly released.
But hours before the contract was to become binding on the last day of Fifa’s June 14-August 30 transfer window, club officials pulled the offer.
“I trained with the team, took a signing picture, and then two hours before the window closed, the assistant coach called me and said, ‘Sorry the club won’t pay for you’,” Faulds revealed.
“I’ve been a bit gutted about that.
“But I’m a big believer in if it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be. I think something better will come out of it.”
To rub salt into Faulds’ wounds, the goal-scoring sensation of the 2024 Central League — who topped the league’s golden boot race despite missing the final four matches of the competition — then caught strep throat.
“I’ve been very unlucky with illness,” he said.
“It’s been gutting. When you’re basically about to sign a pro contract, and then you get sick directly after it ... it’s just like a punch in the stomach.”
He flew back into Napier on September 14, returning to the training pitch with his Napier City Rovers teammates three days later.
Faulds will be the most travelled player of the 2024 New Zealand top-flight domestic season when he lines up on Saturday.
Between his initial arrival in Napier in February for Central League pre-season training — and then the recent drama-filled return trip to Scandinavia — he has clocked up more than 43,000km in international travel.
He wants to put the latest trip behind him, stressing he was “excited for this new chapter” with Napier City Rovers in the National League.
The feeling goes both ways.
While his teammates and the club’s fanbase would have wanted him to succeed in the trials, the excitement levels, when he arrived at Napier City Rovers’ awards night hours after he flew back to Napier, were huge.
“I’m happy being back with the team, coming back to the National League and hopefully taking the team to a good place in the league,” he said.
“They’re a great bunch of lads. I like the guys ... I’ve missed them and can’t speak highly enough of them.
“They’re up there for the best team I’ve been in, in terms of team spirit. It just feels like a family.”
With 21 goals, Faulds will go into the National League as the second-highest scorer out of the Northern, Central and Southern leagues the 10 qualifiers come from.
The highest scorer at the end of the season will win New Zealand Football’s golden boot award.
Cashmere Technical’s Garbhan Coughlan scored 26 goals in the Southern League — the country’s least competitive regional league where score blowouts have been frequent.
Before his globetrotting for fully professional contract trials in Scandinavia, Faulds was linked as a potential signing with the Wellington Phoenix A-League club.
He spent a week on trial with them in July, saying having a chance to train alongside experienced All Whites such as Kosta Barbarouses was a “good experience”.
Faulds said his priority now was to give it all he could during the upcoming National League for Napier City Rovers, then see if he could ignite his pro football ambition in Fifa’s next transfer window in January.
If he has his way, that’ll include a devastating highlights reel, saying he was capable of more than he showed in the Central League.
National League | Golden Boot 🥇
— NZ National League 🏆🇳🇿 (@nzleagues) September 2, 2024
The regional phase has come to an end and here are the top scorers from each League 🔥
Congrats to Jake Mechell, Oscar Faulds and Garbhan Coughlan 🫡
Watch the National League live and free on FIFA+ 📺https://t.co/rjmaAuCIas#NZNationalLeague pic.twitter.com/1XK5EFAO0d
“Like 21 goals and six assists in 14 starts is crazy numbers when you think about it,” Faulds said.
“But I think my overall play could have been a bit better. I know I’ve got more in me, so I still feel like I’m not showing the best of me yet.”
Watch the Inside the Rovers video series:
Episode One: Back to Work
Episode Two: The Darkest Days
Episode Three: Skin Deep
Episode Four: Good as Gould
Episode Five: The Hard Yards
Episode Six: Leaving a Legacy
Episode Seven: Fun and Games
Episode Eight: Game Day
Episode Nine: The Great Dane
Episode 10: Back to Back
Episode 11: Long Road Back
Episode 12: Total Commitment
Episode 13: The Bravest Boy
Episode 14: Love of the Game
Episode 15: A Rapid Rise
Episode 16: Mixed Emotions
Episode 17: Cup Fever
Episode 18: 50-Year Love Affair
Episode 19: The Music Man
Episode 20: Sammy’s On Fire
Episode 21: A Burning Desire
Episode 22: Cup Heroics
Episode 23: The Captain
Episode 24: On The Road
Episode 25: A Heartbreaker
Episode 26: Oscar’s Big Chance
Episode 27: Fabulous Ferg
Episode 28: Bill and Ben’s Big Day
Episode 29: Better Than Before
Episode 30: The Ice Man
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.
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