Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and manager. He is the current technical director at

Cambridge FC Cambridge F.C. is a football club based in Cambridge, New Zealand. It currently plays in the NRFL Division 2. In 2020, Cambridge finished 8th in a season shortened by restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, they came 5th in th ...

. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after the side failed to qualify for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Herbert represented his country at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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 national foo ...

in Spain and coached the New Zealand national team at 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 ...

, famously leading them through the tournament unbeaten. His most recent role in international football was as the head coach of the

Maldives national football team The Maldives national football team (Dhivehi: ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭ ގައުމީ ފުޓްބޯލް ޓީމް) represents the Maldives in international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Maldives. It is a member of the Asi ...

Playing career

Herbert represented New Zealand at age group level, playing for the New Zealand under-20 side and gained 61 full international caps from 1980 to 1989, scoring seven goals. Herbert made his full international début in a 4–0 win over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 20 August 1980 at the age of 18, and featured in all 15 matches of the All Whites' World Cup qualifying campaign for the

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Herbert was a substitute for the loss against

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 ...

, but was reinstated to the starting eleven for both

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

as New Zealand failed to claim any points in their first World Cup finals appearance. At club level, he represented a number of teams in his homeland and played in the Australian league. He had his greatest success with Mt Wellington AFC where he won three league championships during two spells with the club and two

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, 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 Auck ...

triumphs. In 1982 Herbert spent some time in England at

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

, where he made a few appearances for the reserve team and one disastrous friendly appearance for the first team. He also had a spell in English football with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

from 1984 to 1986, where he made 49 appearances in total. He was signed by manager

Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...

who had previously coached Herbert while manager of Sydney Olympic. However, his time at the club coincided with them sliding down the leagues; Herbert was part of the team relegated to the third tier in 1985, but left in March 1986 shortly before a successive relegation after falling out with new manager

Sammy Chapman Samuel Edward Campbell Chapman (16 February 1938 – 24 July 2019) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager. Career A former youth player with Manchester United, Chapman signed for Glentoran upon returning to Nor ...

Coaching career

Early career

Herbert began his coaching career at Papakura City AFC in 1990, before taking over at neighbouring

Papatoetoe AFC Papatoetoe AFC is an amateur football club based in Papatoetoe, New Zealand. They currently compete in the NRF Championship, however, have enjoyed successful spells at the top of the New Zealand game, namely in the former National League, and ha ...

in 1993. From 1996 he took charge of

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 changed ...

in the National Summer League, finishing mid table in his first season in charge. In both 1997 and 1998, Herbert took Central United to victory in the

and finished a close second in the league. In 1999, New Zealand reverted to separate North Island and South Island leagues, with the winners of each playing off for title of New Zealand Champion. Central United, winners of the North Island Soccer League, defeated the South Island winner,

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 ...

, 3–1, after extra time, in the championship final.

New Zealand

Oly-Whites and U17

Herbert's domestic success attracted attention from NZ football association, and in 1999 he was appointed coach of the under-23 Oly-Whites qualifying campaign for the Sydney Olympics. An appointment of assistant national coach followed in 2001. In 2003 Herbert took charge of the New Zealand U-17 team. As Director of Technical Development, Herbert was again responsible for New Zealand Olympic campaign in 2004, although they failed to qualify for the finals in Athens.

National team

Herbert was appointed All Whites coach on 25 February 2005, replacing

Mick Waitt Michael Hugh Waitt (born 25 June 1960) is an English association football player and coach, who managed the New Zealand national football team. Waitt played in the Football League for Notts County and Lincoln City FC. He took charge of the Ne ...

after being his assistant since 2003, with his first game in charge being scheduled in June that year as a friendly against archrival

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 ...

.Herbert Takes the Reins
As national coach, the All Whites won their first match in Europe when beating

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

3–1 in Germany in May 2006. On that tour, which included a 4–0 loss to

, the All Whites drew 1–1 with

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

in Tallinn. Herbert was honoured ''New Zealand Coach of the Year'' for 2007. Herbert led the New Zealand national football team to the victory in the 2008 OFC Nations Cup, qualifying for the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Herbert is the second manager and only New Zealander to take New Zealand to the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

for a second time when his side qualified for the

by winning World Cup qualifying play-off against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. On 15 June 2010, New Zealand drew 1–1 with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in their opening match in the World Cup Finals. This was their first ever point at a World Cup Finals and was earned when

Winston Reid Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand professional footballer who last played as a defender for club West Ham United. He captained the New Zealand national team. He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sport ...

headed home a dramatic injury-time equaliser. Herbert described the draw as the "best ever result" for the New Zealand national team. In New Zealand's second game in the tournament, they held reigning world champions

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to a memorable draw. The All Whites' third game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was against Paraguay. The outcome was a nil-all draw, meaning New Zealand did not advance to the second round. New Zealand ended up becoming the only 'undefeated' team in the tournament. Herbert announced his retirement following the All Whites' 4–2 loss to Mexico in November 2013, failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

New Zealand Knights

In December 2006, after FFA announced that it had revoked the 2006 season

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 held by the Knights' owners, Herbert took over the reins of the now defunct

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...

under an arrangement between the FFA and NZ Soccer whereby the national body would step in to manage the club to meet their commitments for the remaining five games of the season. In that time the franchise won three matches, drew one and lost to competition winners Melbourne Victory.

Wellington Phoenix

In 2007 the new A-League franchise,

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 granted a three-year license, and owner

Terry Serepisos Terry Serepisos (born 1963) is a Wellington-based property developer and former owner of A-League association football club Wellington Phoenix. In 2010, he was the host in the New Zealand incarnation of the hit TV series ''The Apprentice''. Aft ...

and Herbert immediately confirmed as head coach. On 26 February 2013, Herbert resigned from his role as head coach and took on an advisory role within the club.

NorthEast United FC (India)

On 19 August 2014, he was named as the manager of

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Sup ...

in the inaugural

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. On 13 October 2014, the team won their first ISL match at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Spaniard Koke scoring the only goal of the game to defeat the

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

2014 FIFA World Cup (Brazil)

Herbert was appointed to FIFA's Technical Study Group to analyse tactical and technical dimensions of play at the

in Brazil.

Papua New Guinea

In July 2015, Herbert coached the Papua New Guinea Under 23 side to a bronze medal at the 2015 Pacific Games in

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Ze ...

Maldives

Herbert was appointed head coach of the Maldives on 9 September 2015. He sought an early termination to his two-year contract in June 2016 after 14 games in charge of the national side.

Waikato, New Zealand

In September 2016, Herbert announced he was taking up a new coaching role as Director of Football for St Peter's, Cambridge, and as Technical Director for

, one of the biggest clubs in the

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region. In May 2017, Herbert was announced as the head coach for

Hamilton Wanderers AFC Hamilton Wanderers Association Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club from Hamilton, New Zealand, that currently competes in the Northern League. National League Hamilton Wanderers joined the New Zealand Football Champ ...

in the New Zealand Football Championship, providing him with a summer role that complements his winter coaching commitments.

Qualifications

Herbert holds a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

'A' International Coaching Licence, and UEFA 'Pro' International Coaching Licence course that finished in June 2008.A New Fire, written by Russell Gray, was published in New Zealand by Harper Collins in 2009

Football academy

In 2014, Herbert established the Ricki Herbert Football Academy in New Zealand, providing coaching for boys and girls aged 4–17. By 2016, the academy was operating seven talent centres in New Zealand and had announced a partnership with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional football club playing in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Personal life

Herbert comes from a successful sporting family. His mother, Shirley, was a champion sprinter while his father, Clive, was a professional cyclist. His father was also a long-time football administrator, represented New Zealand as an official at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

in Mexico, and was a professional trainer of standardbred harness racing horses. Herbert's son, Kale, is a professional football coach, working as head coach for the Ricki Herbert Football Academy and as head coach for

Hamilton Wanderers Hamilton Wanderers Association Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club from Hamilton, New Zealand, that currently competes in the Northern League. National League Hamilton Wanderers joined the New Zealand Football Champ ...

who play in the New Zealand Football Championship in New Zealand. A biography of Herbert's life, ''A New Fire'', written by Russell Gray, was published in New Zealand by Harper Collins in 2009.

Managerial statistics

New Zealand record

Player

New Zealand's goal tally first.

Manager

New Zealand's goal tally first.

International career statistics

Honours

Individual

*New Zealand Young Player of the Year: 1980 *New Zealand coach of the year: 2007, 2010 *Companion 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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

: 2011 New Year Honours

Club

Mt Wellington AFC *

: 1980, 1982 * New Zealand Champions: 1980, 1982, 1986 Sydney Olympic FC *Australian National Soccer League Cup: 1983

As manager

Central United *

: 1997, 1998 * New Zealand Champions: 1999 New Zealand *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

: 2008

References

External links

* *

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 ...

Wellington Phoenix FC

Ricki Herbert Football Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Ricki 1961 births Living people Association footballers from Auckland New Zealand association footballers Association football defenders University-Mount Wellington players Sydney Olympic FC players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players National Soccer League (Australia) players English Football League players New Zealand international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players New Zealand expatriate association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England New Zealand association football coaches New Zealand national football team managers Wellington Phoenix FC managers NorthEast United FC managers Maldives national football team managers A-League Men managers Indian Super League head coaches 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup managers 2010 FIFA World Cup managers New Zealand expatriate association football managers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in India New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Papua New Guinea New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the Maldives New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Fiji Expatriate football managers in India Expatriate football managers in Papua New Guinea Expatriate football managers in the Maldives Expatriate football managers in Fiji Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit