New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the
Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional
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 ...
club in
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 ...
before they became defunct. Based in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
,
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 ...
, they played in the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's premier football competition and have since been replaced by the
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
.
History
Kingz and the NSL 1999–2004
Football Kingz FC
The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural parti ...
(promoted as "Auckland Kingz" within Australia) joined the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
in 1999 and proceeded to play in the last five seasons of the NSL, failing to qualify for the playoffs in every season. The club was originally to use the spelling of "Kings", however this was changed to the Kingz after receiving legal threats from the
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
franchise.
Restructuring Football Kingz into New Zealand Knights
The Football Kingz brand was disestablished in 2004 and was restructured into the New Zealand Knights as a new franchise for Australia's new national football competition called the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
.
Market research
Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mark ...
carried out by the club, to determine the viability of a new identity for the team, indicated that 76% of respondents were in favour of a name change. When that research was focused on those aged 35 and under, the percentage in favour of a change rose to 90%. Further to that, the name of "Knights" were polled best of all names suggested in the survey, a clear 30% higher than any other option.
The former
Football Kingz FC
The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural parti ...
General manager Guy Hedderwick was promoted to the role of New Zealand Knights chief executive officer. Alongside him Football Kingz and Waitakere City Chairman, Anthony Lee, became the New Zealand Knights Chairman in the restructuring.
Initially Anthony Lee had invested into the New Zealand Knights, with his company's (Total Football Ltd) 20% shareholding second only to majority owner Brian Katzen's Octagon Sport (later included Maurice Cox as partner) with 60%. The other shareholders were Sky Television (5%), Chris Turner (10%), and New Zealand Soccer (non-cash 5%).
The only major sponsor the club had was retailer Zero's New Zealand (Sub Sandwiches). They agreed to a deal with the Knights over the first three seasons in a six figure deal as a sleeve sponsor.
New Zealand Knights was confirmed as one of the eight founding teams in the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
.
John Adshead
John Adshead (born 27 March 1942) is an English-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team—the All Whites—whom he led to their first FIFA World Cup appearance in the 1982 tournament.
Life and work
Adshead is one of the ...
, who took the
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 ...
national side, 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 ...
to their first ever World Cup finals appearance in 1982 was named their inaugural manager/coach.
former New Zealand international,
Danny Hay
Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional Football (soccer), footballer who is currently the manager of the New Zealand national football team, New Zealand national under-23 football team, New Zealand U-23, and N ...
, who previously played in the
English Premiership
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
with
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
was named the inaugural captain of the team.
New Zealand Knights A-League seasons 2005–2007
Despite having a squad boasting several players with extensive experience in
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
, many pundits did not rate the Knights as serious contenders for the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
title, and they were considered favourites for the
wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to:
* Wooden spoon, implement
* Wooden spoon (award)
A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...
. These predictions turned out to be true, with New Zealand Knights proving to be well out of their depth in their debut
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
season.
In April 2006, after the poor season, manager
John Adshead
John Adshead (born 27 March 1942) is an English-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team—the All Whites—whom he led to their first FIFA World Cup appearance in the 1982 tournament.
Life and work
Adshead is one of the ...
resigned from the club.
Paul Nevin
Paul Richard Nevin (born 23 June 1969) is a football coach and former player. He is a first team coach at Premier League club West Ham United.
Playing career
Nevin began his playing career at Shrewsbury Town, before playing college soccer whi ...
was confirmed as manager a month later,
having worked as caretaker manager since the position was vacated by Adshead.
In late October 2006, as a result of low crowd attendance at
North Harbour Stadium
North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are a ...
in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and continual poor on-field performances, rumours began to circulate that
Football Federation Australia
Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
(FFA) was considering the possibility of revoking the Knights'
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
licence and granting it to a new team that would be set to enter the competition in the
2007–08 season.
On 15 November and nearing the end of the November transfer window New Zealand Knights board and management decided to relieve Paul Nevin of his coaching duties due to a string of poor performances.
On 13 December 2006, strong rumours resurfaced that the FFA was considering the revocation of the Knights' licence to compete in the A-League. It quickly became clear that, with five weeks remaining in the current season, the FFA fully intended to reclaim the licence from the Knights.
The FFA had continued to express angst at low attendance numbers, poor on-field performance and the lack of domestically developed players.
Late on 14 December, the FFA announced that it had revoked the competition licence held by the Knights' owners. An arrangement with NZ Soccer would see the national body step in to manage the club for the remaining five weeks of the regular season, with former
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 ...
player
Ricki Herbert
Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current technical director at Cambridge FC.
Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after the side faile ...
to fill the role of head coach.
Effectively, the Knights dissolved on 21 January, when the final match of the season was played against
Perth Glory FC
Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues.
Founded in 199 ...
.
On 19 March 2007 after several delays,
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
was selected as the successor to the New Zealand Knights.
A-League Seasonal Results
Future
There has been recent speculation on a possible return for the New Zealand Knights, or another Auckland-based team, to re-join the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
.
Encouraging crowds of 20,078 in November 2011 when
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
played
Adelaide United
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...
and 11,566 in January 2013 when
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
played
Perth Glory
Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues.
Founded in 19 ...
,
both held at
Eden Park
Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...
, have added to the push for the addition of a second New Zealand team in the A-League .
Stadium
North Harbour Stadium
North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are a ...
is a rectangular stadium situated in Albany on Auckland's North Shore in New Zealand. It was opened in 1997 after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction.
North Harbour Stadium has four main seating areas with an official capacity of 25,000. 19,000 (76%) of this capacity is seated, and the other 6,000 are on grass embankments.
*Main Grandstand — A futuristic looking structure with a distinctive arched roof. It has three main tiers of seating, as well as a row of corporate boxes and several corporate lounges. A total of 12,000 can be seated, mostly under the roof. This is on the southern side of the ground.
*Open Stand — A single uncovered tier opposite the Main Grandstand that can seat 7,000.
*Embankments — At either end (East/West) of the ground, there is a single-tier grass embankment with a capacity of 3,000 people. The scoreboard is at the Western End, while the replay screen is directly opposite.
The stadium is lit with four 45 m tall light towers.
Colours and badge
The Knights played in all-black strips, with a silver left sleeve. The change strip was white, with black shorts and white socks.
The badge was designed for the inaugural
2005–06 season and launched at the January 2005 press conference which highlighted the club name change.
Supporters
The New Zealand Knights supporter base was known as Bloc 5.
Players
Former players
''see
List of New Zealand Knights FC players
New Zealand Knights FC, New Zealand Knights Football Club was a New Zealand professional Association football, football club based in Auckland. The club was formed in 2004, and played their first competitive match in July 2005 when they participa ...
''
Club Captains
* 2005
Danny Hay
Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional Football (soccer), footballer who is currently the manager of the New Zealand national football team, New Zealand national under-23 football team, New Zealand U-23, and N ...
* 2006
Darren Bazeley
Darren Shaun Bazeley (born 5 October 1972) is an English-New Zealand football coach and former player. He played as either a right full back or right-sided midfielder. He is currently head coach of the New Zealand U20 team and interim head co ...
Manager history
All Time League records
*Record Victory: 3–1 vs
Queensland Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...
(H), 29 December 2006
*Record Defeat: 0–5 vs
Queensland Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...
(A), 15 September 2006
*Highest League Crowd: 9,827 vs
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
, 2 September 2005
*Lowest League Crowd: 1,632 vs
Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...
, 28 September 2006
*Winning Streak: 2 games (29 December 2006 – 7 January 2007)
*Undefeated Streak: 4 games (29 December 2006 – 21 January 2007)
*Losing Streak: 11 games (18 September 2005 – 1 December 2005)
*Winless Streak: 18 games (18 September 2005 – 2 September 2006)
*Goals in a game: 2 –
Jeremy Brockie
Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward.
He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...
vs
Newcastle Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...
(H), 4 November 2005
*Goals in a season: 4 –
Jeremy Brockie
Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward.
He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...
,
Simon Yeo,
2005/06
*Most Assists in a season: 3 –
Sean Devine
Sean Thomas Devine (born 6 September 1972) is a retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker.
Biography
He began his career with Millwall F.C., Millwall. Having spent ti ...
,
2005/06
*All-time most Appearances: 41 –
Darren Bazeley
Darren Shaun Bazeley (born 5 October 1972) is an English-New Zealand football coach and former player. He played as either a right full back or right-sided midfielder. He is currently head coach of the New Zealand U20 team and interim head co ...
*All-time Top Scorer: 4 –
Jeremy Brockie
Jeremy Russell Brockie (born 7 October 1987) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward.
He has represented New Zealand at senior international level, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and at the 2008 Olympic Games, and wa ...
and
Simon Yeo
See also
*
Football Kingz FC
The Football Kingz were New Zealand's first professional football club. They played in the Australian National Soccer League from 1999 until their disestablishment in 2004, when they were replaced by the New Zealand Knights as an inaugural parti ...
*
Wellington Phoenix FC
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
*
New Zealand Football
New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...
*
Football Federation Australia
Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
*
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
Notes
d Caretaker manager after Paul Nevin was removed of coaching duties.
e Caretaker manager for the remainder of the season before the club was to be defunct.
References
External links
{{AUS fb general
Former A-League Men teams
Knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
Association football clubs established in 2004
Association football clubs disestablished in 2007
Association football clubs in Auckland
2004 establishments in New Zealand
2007 disestablishments in New Zealand
Expatriated football clubs