Arthur William Leong (1931 – 30 August 2023) was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level. Born in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China, he emigrated to New Zealand as a two-year-old and became the first ethnic Chinese player to represent New Zealand in football. As well as winning a

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

winners medal as captain of

Hamilton Technical Old Boys Melville United AFC is an amateur Association football, football club in Melville, New Zealand, Melville, Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. It competes in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. History The club was form ...

on the 1st of September at The

Basin Reserve The Basin Reserve (commonly known as "The Basin") is a cricket ground in Wellington, New Zealand. It has been used for Test matches, and is the main home ground for the Wellington Firebirds first-class team. The Basin Reserve is the only cricke ...

, Wellington beating Northern 4–1, Leong played two official A-international matches for the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

in 1962 against visitors

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, the first a 4–1 on 2 June 1962, his second a 4–2 win on 4 June. They were to be his only official matches as New Zealand played no other official matches until 1967. In December 2013, Arthur and his wife Maureen, a retired midwife, were both awarded Community Awards by the

Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor i ...

at a special ceremony attended by their extended family, for service to the community. Leong died in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

on 30 August 2023, at the age of 92.

References

1931 births 2023 deaths New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Chinese emigrants to New Zealand Men's association football players not categorized by position Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub