US scholarship and going pro fuel desire of young footballing hopeful Ethan Spencer. Video / Neil Reid
Ethan Spencer, 17, is set to represent Napier City Rovers in 2025 on the national football stage.
Spencer, a Napier Boys’ High School student, aims for a starting spot in the Central League.
His rise highlights Napier City Rovers’ pathway for young players, with aspirations for a US scholarship.
Ethan Spencer will carry a decade-long love for Napier City Rovers when he represents the club on the national football stage in 2025.
The 17-year-old – who is in Year 13 at Napier Boys’ High School – is one of four under-20 players in coach Bill Robertson’s squadfor the upcoming Central League season.
As the end of pre-season training nears, the goal very much is to build on last year, where the side narrowly missed a spot in the final of New Zealand Football’s National League; with qualifying requiring a top three spot in the Central League.
Napier City Rovers kick off their Central League campaign next Saturday against Wellington side Western Suburbs in the capital.
And Spencer is very much fighting for a spot in the starting XI for the season-opener after a series of impressive performances in warm-up matches, and a strong work ethic shown in the team’s trio of training sessions weekly since February 6.
Napier City Rovers is a club that means the world to the promising teen, having first worn its colours as a primary school student.
“I moved to Napier when I was 5 and got involved with Rovers when I was 6,” Spencer said.
“I have been here ever since. It’s my boyhood club.
Teenaged striker Ethan Spencer, with Napier City Rovers teammate Ben Stanley in the background, has impressed during his side's pre-season campaign. Photo / Neil Reid
“It means even more to me now that I’ve now made my way through the ranks and into the first team. It’s huge for me.”
Spencer, like fellow Napier Boys’ High School student Kees McKirdy, made his first-team debut last season in a Central League win over Waterside Karori.
He was well-known to his older teammates and coaching staff well before he took the pitch.
Both Spencer and McKirdy have also played under Robertson in his other coaching role with Napier Boys’ High School’s first XI football side.
Kees McKirdy made his debut for Napier City Rovers in 2024 aged 19 and wants to impress even more this year. Photo / Neil Reid
Spencer has grown up around the club by coming up through the junior grades. Last year he won the club’s Under-18 Youth Player of the Year award.
As a kid, he was also a regular spectator at the first-team’s Central League, National League and Chatham Cup matches at Bluewater Stadium.
His long association with the club – both as a supporter and a youngster who progressed through the ranks – made his progression to the first-team smooth, he said.
Napier City Rovers captain Jim Hoyle warms up before a training session, a senior player who Ethan Spencer says has helped with his development. Photo / Neil Reid
“All the older guys are great. And Jim Hoyle, the captain, he was big for me in my first year ... he was huge,” Spencer said.
“Oscar Faulds also helped me throughout last year and it’s good to see that he’s gone off [to chase his pro dream in Europe]. He taught me a lot in a short space of time.”
Spencer’s rise highlights the pathway available for young footballers at Napier City Rovers.
Given the resources, structure, its status as a genuine annual National League contender, and coaching, it is the figurehead club in the central North Island for youngsters who want to play at the highest level domestically.
The teen said he had previously fielded offers to head to Wellington to chase his footballing dream.
But he said the youth system available to him had kept him in Hawke’s Bay.
Napier City Rovers midfielder Sam Lack made his name at the side as a teenager and is now a key member of the squad. Photo / Neil Reid
“And playing with my boyhood club, you know, that’s the best place I can be, in my hometown,” he said.
“Being involved and a top four club in New Zealand [is great]. That’s a huge privilege for me. I’ve got so much to learn. It’s a great learning curve for me.”
Sam Lack is another example of the development opportunities Napier City Rovers can afford young players; debuting in the National League aged just 17 in 2022 and now being a key player in the squad.
Napier City Rovers head coach Bill Robertson watches over his players as they prepare on the training pitch ahead of the 2025 season. Photo / Neil Reid
Spencer showed a mental and physical maturity beyond his years in his handful of appearances last season.
They’re traits he has continued to show on the training pitch during Napier City Rovers’ pre-season training campaign.
He said his focus was on himself and helping his team, not on the fact most of his opponents were older and more experienced than him.
“To be honest, I don’t really look at anyone’s age or how much they’ve played,” he said.
“I just go out there and play. That’s my goal, try and beat them. I don’t care how old I am compared to them.”
Spencer’s age will see him take on a key role for the team this year.
“Going over to the US would be a real good opportunity for me to further develop, but also my studies.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
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