Skin deep: Swedish-born New Zealand footballer Oscar Faulds’ Kiwi pride and Olympic dream

Oscar Faulds proudly displays his love for his New Zealand roots via a tattoo on his left arm.

And, the 22-year-old Swedish-born football player hopes one day he will earn a football shirt bearing a silver fern to go with the large motif he has tattooed on his body.

Faulds has signed with Napier City Rovers for the upcoming Central League season, where the team are again gunning for a third succession qualification to the top-tier National League.

Goals are firmly on the striker’s mind; both scoring them for Napier City Rovers, helping them reach their National League aspirations and making a late-ditch crack at making the Olly Whites squad for the Paris Olympic Games.

All bar three of coach Darren Bazeley’s team must be aged 23 years and under.

“That’s kind of one of the reasons I wanted to come here . . . to show New Zealand Football who I am,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve been playing at a level where a lot of people have who have [made the Under-23 team]. I wanted to come out and show who I am.

“I’ve never actually played in New Zealand. I thought why not come here, raise my profile, and hopefully fight for a place in the Under-23s . . . it will be hard because it is a short time [before the Olympics] but I wanted to come and try.”

Oscar Faulds on the training pitch under the watchful eye of head coach Bill Robertson. Photo / Neil Reid

Faulds has played at various levels in Sweden, including for Second Division club Hudiksvalls FF. As a teenager, he played in the Junior Allsvenskan; the top-tier of Under-19 club football in Sweden.

His signing with Napier City Rovers follows a text he received from Stephen Hoyle; who has returned to the club he won two Central League titles with as a player and assistant coach for 2024.

“He asked me if I wanted to come over and play. It was just out of nowhere,” Faulds said.

“I thought it was a good opportunity. I thought, ‘Why not go ahead and raise my New Zealand profile?’.”

Faulds has a New Zealand passport.

His father was born in Dunedin and later travelled to England for work.

He later travelled to Sweden, meeting Faulds’ mother.

Faulds describes himself as a “proud Kiwi” while proudly showing off the sizeable silver fern tattoo on his left arm.

Oscar Faulds has impressed in training and pre-season matches to date for his new club Napier City Rovers. Photo / Neil Reid

He was inked up about three and a half years ago.

This is the second time he has been to New Zealand, having travelled here with his parents when he was a toddler.

Given his young age, he has no memory of that trip.

But memories of his arrival in the peak heat of a Hawke’s Bay summer for pre-season training are likely to stick with him for a long time.

Napier City Rovers players Max Chretien, left, and Oscar Faulds after completing the brutal Bronco running challenge during the club's Central League pre-season campaign. Photo / Neil Reid

When Faulds flew out of Sweden, he left temperatures of around –10C.

Temperatures exceeding 30C welcomed him to his new home and pre-season training sessions with Napier City Rovers.

In just the second week of pre-season training, Faulds and his fellow teammates were put through the gruelling Bronco fitness and conditioning test; an unforgiving running test where those taking part have to complete shuttle runs over 60m, 40m and 20m for five sets.

“It was a 40-degree difference which was quite an interesting experience,” he said.

The other signings include Danish goalkeeper, William Tonning, a player Faulds knows very well.

Vi gratulerar spelare och ledare i IFK Luleås herrlag till cupvinsten!
Målen görs av Nils Nilsson och Oscar Faulds. William Tönning håller nollan.
För IFK Luleå blir Nils Nilsson Matchens lirare.

💙🤍 pic.twitter.com/BtIkEJ4i2Q

— IFK Luleå (@ifk_lulea) September 14, 2022

The pair have been friends for several years and have a track record of winning silverware together; something Napier City Rovers fans hope they can replicate here.

In 2022 they combined at IFK Lulea to win Sweden’s Stora Coop Norrbotten Cup. Faulds scored one of his side’s goals in the final, while Tonning pulled over several telling saves.

“It’s good to have a friend here after moving across the globe,” he said. “I have no [close] family here.”

Danish goalkeeper William Tonning is one of the new signings Napier City Rovers have made for the upcoming 2024 Central League season. New Zealand Herald photograph by Neil Reid

Faulds has some distant relations in Auckland and Wellington.

Given his size, determination in training and skill on the ball, Faulds shapes up to be one of the players to watch in New Zealand Football’s domestic leagues in 2024.

And there’s no mistaking what he wants to do in Napier City Rovers kit this year.

New Napier City Rovers signing Oscar Faulds working out at the Hawke's Bay Magpies' gym which his football team has been using in the pre-season. New Zealand Herald photograph by Neil Reid

“There’s nothing better than scoring a goal,” he said. “It just gives you such euphoria.”

Inside the Rovers:

Episode One: Back to Work

Episode Two: The Darkest Days

Episode Three: Skin Deep

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.