Whanganui Athletic's Central League promotion playoff postponed

The team is unbeaten in 2022. Photo / Karen Hughes

GJ Gardner Whanganui Athletic's playoff series for promotion to football's Central league has been postponed.

The team was set to begin home-and-away games against Lower Hutt's Stop Out Sports Club on Saturday, but an ongoing New Zealand Football Disciplinary Committee dispute has changed the outcome of the Capital Premier League in the Wellington region.

A change of opposition is now a possibility.

In a Facebook statement last Friday, Whanganui Athletic president Peter Czerwonka said no confirmation of a new date had been made.

"It is important to acknowledge that both of our potential playoff opponents – Island Bay United AFC and Stop Out Sports Club – are in exactly the same position as us.

"This unfortunate situation is not the creation of any of our clubs, so we will work together to ensure the best and fairest outcome is achieved."

Athletic haven't played in the Central league for 30 years.

Coach and goalkeeper Matt Calvert said his players were ready to go.

"As a group, it's important to get the balance right - that middle ground between it being a massive game and just a normal game.

"We haven't done anything extra and we haven't done anything less in our buildup. We believe our process works really, really well."

The club is unbeaten this season, carrying a 12-win-two-draw record to the Central Federation league title.

Whoever Athletic played in the playoff had to be respected as a champion team, Calvert said.

"We are going up against a team that has won their league and we know how hard that is to do.

"There are two games against a top club and that's what I want. We want to be challenged and we want to be playing against the best that we can."

Some of the players in the present squad were part of the 2014 team that lost a promotion playoff to Stop Out Sports Club.

"I think the team that year had lost a few players and went in a bit under strength," Calvert said.

"For those boys, they can feel safe in the knowledge that we're are going in as best as we can.

"We have as good a chance as anyone has had to progress."

Calvert said Athletic had been through a few ups and downs since they were last in the Central league.

"You are always reminded of Shane Wye and Ken Dugdale, that is the standard. The pictures are up in the clubrooms, as they should be.

"My motivation is 'can we be that next group that people talk about in 20 years' time'?

"We are in a position that no team has been in for a very long time. It's important to not be scared of that opportunity and embrace it and enjoy the challenge."