Waikato footballers raise more than $50k for injured player Johnny Konings

Johnny Konings with fiancee Charlotte Gordon. Konings was paralysed from the waist down in a surfing accident at Tweed Heads in June 2024. Photo / Instagram @johnnyykonings

Waikato footballers young and old from across the region came together for two charity matches in Hamilton last weekend to support one of their own, Johnny Konings, who broke his spine in a surfing accident in Australia.

In June, 31-year-old Konings was taking on the popular break at Duranbah on the Tweed Heads when a wipeout slammed him into a sandbar, breaking his spine and ribs, and leaving him with a collapsed lung.

More than two months have passed since the accident and Konings is taking huge strides to defy the odds and walk again, but a long journey ahead remains with rising financial costs.

A Givealittle page has been set up to help support Konings’ recovery and last weekend his former teammates, led by Northern United coach Ricky Broderson and Cambridge United coach Jordan Shaw, took to the field to help raise further funds.

It has now been confirmed that more than $50,000 was raised from the match.

The Hamilton Wanderers Masters team. Photo / Jono Viviani

With Konings’ parents watching on from the stands on Friday night at Porritt Stadium, the JK Masters Team took out a 3-2 win over a Hamilton Wanderers Masters side which saw former All Whites Che Bunce and Mark Cossey take to the field along with an array of former Waikato Stars such as Dash Fellowes and Sam Wilkinson.

The facial hair was a little more prominent and the pace perhaps a little less deadly, but the old boys showed that they still had a few skills left in the tank.

A Wanderers backline consisting of twins Shane and Allan Campbell, whilst maybe not as solid as they were back in the day, made up for it in the on-field humour.

The scoreline did not matter as much as the cause but that didn’t stop some trying any means necessary to get one in the back of the net.

Fellowes turned back the clock with some silky skills before going over in the dive of the match to try and win a penalty.

With 15 minutes to go, JK Masters coach Shane Combers looked to his bench to secure the match and convinced former Melville hotshot Cossey to get on the field.

The JK Masters v Hamilton Wanderers Masters with Johnny Konings shirt number on the pitch. Photo / Jono Viviani Waikato footballers young and old from across the region came together for two charity matches in Hamilton last weekend to support one of their own, Johnny Konings, who broke his spine in a surfing accident in Australia.

It could have been a golden return for the striker, with Cossey having a hat-trick of chances later on to score, and adamant one had to cross the line when one rocketed into the crossbar and off the line.

On Saturday, it was some of Konings’ former teammates from Hamilton Wanderers, Ngāruawāhia United, Melville United and Claudelands Rovers who took to the field, with the JK All Stars taking out a 4-2 win over Wanderers thanks to goals from Callum Campbell, Rueben Henderson, Jack Connor and Alfie Cole.

Dave Smith and Jack Marden secured two goals for Hamilton Wanderers, but at the end of both matches the results did not matter – the players and organisers knew that they had made a huge difference in the funds gathered for Konings’ recovery.