Mark Elrick (born 7 April 1967 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

) is a retired

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 ...

soccer player who last played as a striker for

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franchise based league, which ran independently of the winte ...

. He is mostly being used as a substitute, due to his age. He has played for several teams in his native country and came out of retirement in November 2006 to join struggling Hawke's Bay. He had been player-coach at

Onehunga Sports Onehunga Sports Football Club is a youth football club based in Onehunga, New Zealand. A senior side formerly competed in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier, last appearing in the competition in 2019. The club is widely regarded within New Zea ...

in Auckland for the last two years. A spectator at Hawke's Bay's 2–1 loss to

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeu and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

Elrick approached

Jonathan Gould Jonathan Alan Gould (born 18 July 1968) is a football coach and former professional player who is a goalkeeping coach for Stoke City. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1989 until 2009 playing for numerous clubs, notably in the Premier Le ...

after the match and asked if the Park Island club would be interested in his services. An agreement was immediately reached on the spot. Also, he works occasionally as a football commentator for SKY TV. Elrick scored a hat-trick in the final of the 1999 New Zealand National Soccer League, a match which

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it change ...

won 3–1 over

Dunedin Technical Dunedin Technical (known locally as Tech) is a semi-professional association football club in Dunedin, New Zealand. They compete in the ODT FootballSouth Premier League and were the 2018 ODT FootballSouth Premier League champions. Club history ...

. He has played 40 times for the

New Zealand national soccer team 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 Football ...

, 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 ...

, including 30 A-internationals in which he scored 3 goals.

References

External links

* 1967 births Living people Association footballers from Auckland New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers National Soccer League (Australia) players North Shore United AFC players Football Kingz FC players Hawke's Bay United FC players Waitakere City FC players Men's association football forwards 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players {{NewZealand-footy-forward-stub