Soccer: Wilkinson gets set for step up to MLS

Gavin Wilkinson Photo / OFC

Gavin Wilkinson isn't shy about saying he wants to be All Whites coach one day.

That day might not come for a while. The 37-year-old former All Whites defender is a busy man as general manager/technical director of new MLS team, the Portland Timbers.

They had their first official training session on Monday ahead of their first season in the MLS, starting in March, and will play in a newly-renovated stadium they expect to share with the Portland's American football team.

Wilkinson wasn't really supposed to end up there. He ventured to the US in 2001 to play for Portland in the USL A-League, expecting to spend six months playing there and six months in Ireland, going from contract to contract.

But Wilkinson, who won 33 New Zealand caps, including two at the 1999 Confederations Cup in Mexico, was injured towards the end of his first year with Portland and ended up staying in the US. He started a youth club, Eastside United, which now has 4000 registered players and a national title to its name, and began a transition from player to coach to now what is effectively chief executive of an MLS club.

Wilkinson initially retired from playing in 2006 but was coerced back on to the pitch for nine more games before back troubles finally ended his career at 33. He had played professionally in five countries (Australia, China, Singapore, Ireland and the US) after leaving New Zealand aged 18 but enjoyed immediate success as a coach with Portland.

They finished first, second, third and a position Wilkinson would rather not mention in his four years in charge in the USL First Division (one below MLS). He was twice named the league's Coach of the Year. In that time, the Timbers also set a new league record 24-game unbeaten streak.

When they were handed a place in the MLS for the 2011 season, however, it was decided they needed a coach with MLS experience and former Chelsea and Scotland striker John Spencer was brought in. Wilkinson was moved upstairs, where he oversees all football matters, including the negotiation of football contracts.

One will go to former New Zealand under-17 goalkeeper Jake Gleeson, who had an excellent season for Portland's title-winning reserve team last year. Gleeson will step up to the MLS squad and Wilkinson has challenged him to be their No 1 goalkeeper in two years.

"I definitely have a bias [to New Zealand players] and it's something I am very aware of," Wilkinson says. "I know the hardship they come through in the sport and how much they have to love it to get to that level. I am biased but you have to be wary of favouritism at the highest level."

There are a handful of Kiwis who have played in the MLS, headed by All Whites Ryan Nelsen, Simon Elliott, Duncan Oughton, Jarrod Smith and Andy Boyens, but Gleeson is part of a new generation that also includes Dan Keat (LA Galaxy) and Michael Boxall (Vancouver Whitecaps), both picked up in last week's MLS supplemental draft.

Wilkinson believes the US college system is an excellent way for young New Zealand players to learn their trade. Americans also have a high opinion of Kiwis.

"Why it's so appealing is that New Zealanders travel well," he says. "They generally mature at a younger age. With the college scene, they are able to kill two birds with one stone, and get an education behind them and also pursue soccer. They don't have as much pressure on them initially."

Wilkinson didn't have that luxury, coming in as a fully-fledged international, but he also didn't make it to the MLS as a player.

It wasn't an easy transition for him in a country where football is soccer and squads are rosters and he learned to become something of a chameleon - so much so, he even uses that horrific term "semi" (as in sem-eye) final.

"When you grow up in New Zealand, you very much have the English mentality of the game," he says. "It's good to see it from a different standpoint.

"The English here have done themselves a lot of damage because there's a lot of harm to come with an accent. They see the game differently, there's different terminology and the respect for the history of the game is different here. It's the small adjustments. People assumed I was English, which is not always good.

"Eventually you get sick of repeating yourself [so you start using an American accent]. I love the fact I come from New Zealand - we're respected around the world - but it's more a matter of pronouncing things so you don't have to repeat yourself. It's about being a chameleon to a certain extent but also about getting things done. I still spend a lot of time repeating myself."

His message is clear, however, when he says Portland's ambition is to make the playoffs in their first season. Along with Gleeson, they have signed US international striker Kenny Cooper, as well as former Arsenal defender Kerrea Gilbert and former Manchester United striker Eddie Johnson.

There will be pressure to achieve that goal - Portland is nicknamed Soccer City USA - and the Timbers Army, as the home fans are known, are expected to number around 20,000 each week. How Portland fare will determine a large part of Wilkinson's future but he harbours a return to the coaching ranks.

"I still have a passion for coaching," he says, "but this role gives me a chance to sit back and look at the game from a different angle. I will re-evaluate in three or four years. I am still young when it comes to coaching. My honest ambition would be to one day return to New Zealand and coach the national team."