Steven Paul Sumner (2 April 1955 – 8 February 2017) was an English-born, New Zealand

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, who was captain of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, in 1982.

Club career

Sumner began his football as an apprentice at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

before moving to New Zealand in 1973 to play for

Christchurch United Christchurch United is an amateur association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and six Chatham Cup trophi ...

, winning the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in his first year. Sumner went on to win 6

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 ...

s and 5 league titles. He is the only player to have won six Chatham Cup winners medals.

International career

His international career spanned from 1976 to 1988, including a record 105 appearances for

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 ...

(beating the record previously held by Brian Turner), 58 of which were A-internationals. An active and attacking midfielder, Sumner scored a national record six goals during

New Zealand's 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 country b ...

13–0 defeat of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

during the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

qualifying campaign. He was also one of

only two scorers in the

Finals tournament in Spain (along with Steve Wooddin), in New Zealand's 5–2 loss to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was the first player of the

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Oceania zone to score in a

. In 1991, he was inducted into the New Zealand Soccer Media Association Hall of Fame and was then awarded FIFA's top award, the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

, before the opening of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, along with

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

and former South African president

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

Later life and death

After retiring Sumner maintained his involvement in football, being employed by

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

as a media personality. More significantly he sat on the Executive Board of 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 ...

bringing much needed professional playing experience to the table. In August 2015, he was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

, from which he died on 8 February 2017, aged 61.

Steve Sumner Trophy

In 2018

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 ...

named the Man of the Match trophy for the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

final after Sumner, calling it the ''"Steve Sumner Trophy"''. It was first awarded to Callum McCowatt after he scored the only goal in Auckland City 1–0 win over Team Wellington in the final. McCowatt won it a second time the following year, this time while playing for Eastern Suburbs, where he scored a hattrick in the finals, again against Team Wellington.

Honours

Individual

*Player of the Year: 1983 *Golden Boot: 1983 *FIFA Centennial Award in 2004 *

: 2010 *Friends of Football Medal of Excellence 2015 *

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

(for services to football), 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Oceania Men's Team of All Time: 2021

Club

Christchurch United *

: 1973, 1975, 1978, 1988 *

: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1989 Manurewa *

: 1983 *

: 1984 Gisborne City *

: 1987

References

External links

New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumner, Steve 1955 births 2017 deaths English expatriate footballers English footballers English emigrants to New Zealand Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand National Soccer League (Australia) players Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand international footballers New Zealand association footballers West Adelaide SC players Manurewa AFC players Gisborne City AFC players Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Christchurch United players Newcastle KB United players Association football midfielders Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in New Zealand 1980 Oceania Cup players 1982 FIFA World Cup players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England