Football: Civic duty to lift team

Hamish McDouall will address the young All Whites in Auckland. Photo/Stuart Munro

Wanganui deputy mayor Hamish McDouall wasn't much of a footballer ... but when it comes to knowledge of the game, he's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rolled into one.

And that expertise, particularly the history of soccer in New Zealand, is being called on to boost the young All Whites team who face South Africa at Mt Smart stadium tomorrow evening.

This morning, McDouall will give a motivational talk to the New Zealand football team at their Auckland headquarters, focusing on the history and tradition of the game.

His presentation will begin with a slideshow, the first slide being the Wanganui Marist team that competed in the 2013 Masters Games. They didn't score a goal all tournament ... but things will get better from there.

His aim is to give the youthful All Whites squad - which includes Wanganui-born defender James Musa - a sense of their "whakapapa".

"I will talk to the team about the history of the national team and the key players who have filled their jerseys," said McDouall who admitted the call from the national team had come out of the blue.

"These young players have flown in from all over the world - Holland, Japan, Germany, England, France and Australia - and some of them won't know each other. Unlike a lot of sports, the players' first loyalty in football is to their club rather than their country, so I want to help create a culture around what the national team means."

McDouall plans to write a book on NZ's football history, which started in 1922 when they beat Australia at Carisbrook in Dunedin, the Basin Reserve in Wellington and at Auckland Domain.

"But they weren't the All Whites then ... they wore black."

Already the writer of a cricket book, he has records of the 458 footballers who have represented the country in a full international.

He will speak about Jock Aird who played for Scotland at the 1954 World Cup before emigrating and becoming an NZ international. Another player from that competition was England's Ken Armstrong who also picked up a number of New Zealand caps.

There's Jock Newall who scored 17 goals in 10 internationals and keeper Richard Wilson who went 930-plus minutes without conceding a goal.

He will, of course, also touch on the World Cup teams of 1982 and 2010. The All Whites failed to qualify for this year's World Cup and tomorrow's friendly against South Africa is part of their preparation for the qualifying tournament for the 2018 competition in Russia.

Unfortunately, McDouall, a supporter of English club West Bromwich Albion, won't be able to stay for the game.

"But if I can help build a bit of team spirit, I'll be happy."