Melville Magic 15 e-newsletter

Chairman's Welcome

We welcome Wellington Olympic to Gower Park in what is a historic occasion given that it is the first time this century the club’shavemet.

ThelasttimeOlympicplayedatGowerParkwasin1999,when they won 1 0 in a North Island league match (though Melville hadearlierbeatenthem1 0atNewtownParkinaGoodFriday matchthroughaMatthewBeardgoal)

Olympic won the central premier league in 2010, 2016 and 2021, as well as this year, andtheywontheChathamCupin2009,sotheyhavegreatclubpedigree.

The club was established in 1952 as Appollon by the Greek community in Wellington and changed its name to Christian Youth in 1959, and then to Wellington Olympic in 1983

Like Melville, Olympic had a first up loss against Auckland opposition (losing 2 1 to Auckland City) so at least one team will be gaining its first point of the competition today.

We regret that we cannot offer hosting to our usual standards today, due to a council call to allow more recovery time from recent renovations on Gower 1, forcing us to playthismatchonGower6.

While we hope to be back on Gower 1 for other national league matches, we are also mindful that we will be working around upgrade projects with floodlighting and changingrooms,sothisisverymuchatransitionaltimefortheclub

Work began on renovating the changing sheds this week. The renovations are nominallybeingmadetomeetcriteriaasatrainingvenuefortheFIFAWomen’sWorld Cup next year, with changing rooms being made more female friendly with things like cubicleshowers

Melville had hoped to leverage the training ground hosting status to leverage a totally new changing room block as the base for our ongoing new clubrooms project. But theultimatedecisionbycouncilwastoupgradetheexisting

Congratulations to Oliver Colloty on his fine showings for the New Zealand U19 team inTahiti,wherehisgoalhaulincludedtwointhe3 0winoverFijiinthefinal

Also congratulations to Melville Academy products Charlotte Eagle (goalkeeper) and defendersManaiaElliottandEllaMcMillan,whohavebeennamedintheU17Football FernscontestingtheFIFAU 17Women'sWorldCupinIndia.

Batesy

Sam Says

Welcome back to Gower Park and the unfamiliar setting of pitch six I’d love to say our return to the National League has been all plain sailing but with pitch and changing room unavailabilityithasbeenfarfromit

That said, I’m sure it won’t detract from what should be an outstanding occasion We’ve had to wait a long time to get National League football back to Gower Park and it means a tremendous deal to the whole club…regardless of which pitch weareplayingon

Last week's result was obviously a tough one to take Against a really good side we battled incredibly hard and while I didn’t think we were at our best in the top third, we stillhasanumberofreallypositivemomentsgoingforward

Every game in this competition is going to be a huge challenge, the players embraced that challenge really well last weekend despite us missing a couple of key players. I want our lads to to be excited about the opportunity to test themselves against the best teams in the country this season. As long as they continue to play with bravery in possession and then run themselves into the ground out of possession, the results will takecareofthemselves.

Today we welcome Wellington Olympic I thought Olympic were the better side against Auckland City last weekend which highlights the quality they possess in their squad. We look forward to another tense battle and hopefully we can put on a good show for our supporters

Oh the pain

Melville must bounce back from a heartbreaking last minute loss to Auckland United whentheyplaytheirfirsthomenationalleaguematchinagenerationtoday.

Melville lost 0 1 away to Auckland United in when Sean Liddicoat was credited with scoringa93rdminuteowngoalwhentheballbouncedoffhisbodyfromcloserange was a heartbreaker for Melville, who had been seconds away from earning an away pointinamatchwheretherewereanumberofchancesatbothends

Melville had flashed a number of shots high or wide, though the best chanced came midway through the second half when the energetic Stafford Dowling, having his first start in six outings, got the better of United captain Ross Haviland but had his shot deflectedaway AttheotherendMaxTommymadeseveralimpressivestops.

Melville started with an unfamilar line up. There was a back three of Liddicoat, Raheem Hunter and Luke Searle, with skipper Aaron Scott in midfield It was the first time all year that Melville had started neither Liam Hayes nor Galletly in midfield. Galletly is on thecomebacktrailfromillnesswhileHayeswassuspended.

Hunter was the only Melville player booked (with Galletly coming on for him in the 65th minute and Scott reverting to centreback). But Melville goalkeeping coach Neil Mouncher also picked up a booking from referee Chris Bennett for dissent in the 88th minute.

The loss means Melville were the only northern region team not to win in the opening round. Wellington Olympic, the central league champions, were beaten 2 1 at home by AucklandCity

With Hamilton City Council having not released Gower Park No 1 for use, due to the turfrenovationsituation,thematchagainstOlympicwillbeplayedonGowerParkNo6, whichwillpresentanumberofchallengesontheinfrastructurefront

AucklandUnited1(OG90'+3)

MelvilleUnited0

Melville United: 1. Max Tommy (GK), 3. Aaron Scott (c), 4. Luke Searle, 5. Campbell Brown (7 Harry Rose), 9 Ryen Lawrence (13 Dylan Williams), 10 Jerson Lagos, 11 Quinton Kipara, 12. Oliver Colloty, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 15. Stafford Dowling (2. Braedan Quilter Phpps),19 RaheemHunter(17 JoshGalletly)

Subnotused:20ConorJamieson(GK)

Six Melville players to watch in the national league

by Gregor Griffin

New Zealand Football sent a national league promo email less than 48 hours out from Melville’s season opener away to Auckland United, entitled “10 players to watch inthemen’sNationalLeagueChampionship”.

It was a once over lightly name drop of players they might somehow have heard of at head office with a few glib comments that would add precious little to the general knowledge of most though at least Oliver Colloty got name checked for his efforts as Melville’s top goalscorer and potter of eight further goals at the under 19 champs inTahiti.

But it was a sad shadow of the days when a national league competition would automatically elicit a fully accessible media manual with pen pics of all players, competitionhistoryandrecords,andclubbackgrounders

Still, no disrespect to overworked head office staff, and you take what you can get in these straitened football times It got me thinking, in the same amount of time that it took NZF to advise that Colloty had a brilliant 2022 (and he did), I could knock out an equallyimmemorableoff the cuff“SixMelvilleplayerstowatch”blurb. Soherewego(andifyoudisagree,don’tmoan,justmakeupyour own,it’seasy)...

1AaronScott

Since 2003 there’s been a rule you can’t do a Melville first team list without Aaron Scott on it. If Colloty had a brilliant 2022, the 36 year old Melville skipper is, erm, having a brilliant century. The club’s most impeccable role model ever He’s player over 350 matches for Melville, and (at an estimate) racked up a further 150 appearances at national league level with Waikato FC, WaiBOP United, Waitakere City and Wanderers Sports Club (after which we had to give him a goodwash).Cananybodyelsewherematchthat?Thoughtnot.

2.SeanLiddicoat

Slids became an instant favourite when he rocked up at Gower Park inearly2020,notjustforhiseffervescentshowingsonthepitch,but also the genial manner in which he seemed to befriend even the most fringe club members off it When he arrived from his exploits with Canterbury United he looked so mature, team mates found themselves dutifully asking him about the wife and how many kids he had? They were astonished to learn he was only 23 (now 25).

knew the U 19 team to Oceania Champs Tahiti. Not just because they’d selected hisduepraise,butbecausetheyfeltthey dfield to leave out Josh Galletly. Josh is ith terrific vision and is a dead ball so got a mongrel streak that will happily wn an opponent’s shins if they are having tendency not to get over aroused that He scores a goal or two and barely asagreateyeforgoal.

come through the Melville ranks and d is arguably Melville’s most improved ectrifying runs down the flank He’s got asoned magician and a couple of his breathtaking.

e had to be on the list. Apart from the e youngest dad in the league, Jerson ikTok and over 5 million likes Go on, the TikTok generation, in social media timesbiggerthantheleagueitself

5.StaffordDowling

When Stafford returned to Melville this year, it was a long time since his break out 2017 gig and there was every chance he might be something of an ugly duckling with his huff and puff style confronting a cabal of younger fanny merchant team mates. But in every match he has played he has covered more miles, and done so faster than anyone and chimed in with goal of the week more than once He was so often the critical factor in Melville securing early season wins with his raw physical power and his 1980s mullet throwback.

6.MaxTommy

Goalkeeper Max was Melville’s 2021 player of the year, and after Scott, arguably the senior figure He’s unusual for a Melville keeper in that he is not totally mental (despite nominally having Neil Mouncher as goalkeeping coach) If he has a blinder, chances are Melville win. Little known Gower Park factoid: Max’s mum, Karin, was pregnant with Max when she retired from playing for Melville’s women’steamin1990

Unicorns abroad

It's been a big few weeks for Melville United players withNewZealandnationalteams.

Oliver Colloty was part of the under 19 side that qualified for the FIFA U 20 World Cup to be held in Indonesianextyear

Thestrikeralsoscoredabraceinthe3 0winoverFijiin the final and finished the tournament as joint top scorer with eight goals. In fact, the New Zealand side scored 33 goals without concerning as they cruised pasttheirOceaniarivals.

Meanwhile, Logan Wisnewski co captained the Futsal Whites to a historic first ever win in the OFC Futsal ChampionshipinFiji.

The New Zealand team accounted for perennial favourites the Solomon Islands 5 2 in a one sided final. Wisnewski has returned to his new base in the UK with aneyeonnextyearsFIFAFutsalWorldCupqualifiers.

Elsewhere, Isaac Bates has captained the New Zealand Secondary Schools under16sonatouracrosstheTasman.

And Melville Academy prospects Matt d'Hotman and Carlos Ranui have also been in action at a national U17 game in Auckland.

Melville women at U-17s in India

Three Melville United teens have been named in the U17 Football Ferns to contest theFIFAU17WorldCupinIndia,startingonOctober11.

Goalkeeper Charlotte Eagle, together with defenders Manaia Elliott and Ella McMillan have been named in a 21 strong squad that will face Germany, Nigeria and Chile in theirgroup.

The trio is full of excitement for what the future holds both at Gower Park and for women’sfootballthroughoutthecountry.

5

McMillan is listed as a Phoenix Academy player in the touring squad, but she came through the Melville Academy under the tutelage of coach Tarena Ranui and was this weekatGowerParkwithherteammatesthere.

“It means the world,” McMillan said. “This has been my dream for a long time and I’m pretty sure it’s the same for all the other girls. It is just so cool to be able to wear the fern”

McMillansaidithelpedthatthetriowereheadingofftogether.

“It’s so great, we are all extremely close It’s just really cool to have this deep Melville bond.

Elliott has so far played two full games for Auckland United in the national league at rightbackandscoredagoalintheprocess.

“Wehavebeenpreparingforthisforalmosttwoyearsnowandeverystagealongthe way has been very exciting,” she said. “To be finally heading off just shows all our workhascometogether

Meanwhile, Eagle, who turned 16 this week, was unfazed by the possibility that, as a goalkeeper,shecouldspendalotoftimeonthebenchifnotconsideredfirstchoice

“I think that just being there for the experience is the main thing, whether playing or sittingonthebench,”shesaid.

“Motivating and supporting all counts a lot in a World Cup situation to drive the team tokeeppushingthrough,particularlyiftheheatcanmakeitquitedifficult.”

New first team coach for 2023

Melville United will be guided by a new first team coach and academy manager in 2023,withtheappointmentofJarrodYoungtobothpostsfrom1January2023.

Sam Wilkinson, who first took up the reins with Melville in 2017, is stepping down at the conclusion of the national league section of the 2022 season, while current academy manager Harry Trethowan is due to move to Christchurch at the end of the year

Young, 28, joins Melville after two seasons as director of football at Papamoa, having first begun his coaching career as an assistant to both Danny Rattray and Brian Murphy at Fencibles as a player, and then taking over as head coach in 2020, after concussionissuescurtailedhisplayingcareer.

Young is on the cusp of attaining his B licence, and has a Junior level 3 badge He has alsojustcompletedthefirstmoduletowardsbeingalevel1coacheducator.

His playing career included youth team appearances at Melville back in about 2010, northern league appearances with Wanderers and national league appearances with WaitakereUnited.

Young described his coaching approach as being “very player based” and saw his appointmentasMelvillecoachasamajorstepup.

Wilkinson helped facilitate Young’s appointment, having known him as both a coach andaplayer,andwillassisthistransitionintohisnewrolesatGowerPark.

WilkinsonledMelvilletotheDiv1titlein2018,theChathamCupfinalin2019andthis season has guided Melville back to the national league ranks for the first time since 1998.

“After seven years I am ready for a break and to recharge the batteries,” Wilkinson said.

“The only way I know how to do things is to throw all my energy into them and I feel likeIhavebeenrunningonemptyforthepastsixmonths.

“I am mindful from the club’s perspective that they need someone with the energy andthetimetogetthingsdone.”

Hesawyoungasbeingagreatfit.

“HeisinasimilarspottowhereIwassevenyearsagoandishungryforsuccess

“Jarrod is a bright young coach with a strong work ethic and for a club which is not as wellresourcedasmanyoftheteamsitcompetesagainst,thatisveryimportant”

However, Wilkinson will not be totally lost to Melville He hopes to do more work at the Academy next year and assist with club projects at a strategic level

“IalsowanttoplayfortheMelvilleNobs.Itwouldbe nice to just be a player again My only requirement isthatGavinDouglasisreplacedasNobscoach”

Meanwhile, Melville chairman Wayne Bates paid tributetoWilkinson

“Sam’s been a really important figure for the club and is actually the second longest serving coach in theclub’shistorybehindSteveWilliams,”Batessaid.

“And beyond that he has been a major influence in setting the direction and agenda for the club at youth level with his work in founding the Melville academy.

“That is a major legacy and I am glad we are not completelylosinghim.”

14 15 16 17 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

MaxTOMMY(GK)

BraedenQUILTER-PHIPPS

AaronSCOTT(c)

LukeSEARLE

CampbellBROWN

JoeyOMOTANI

HarryCHRISTENSEN-ROSE

LiamHAYES

RyenLAWRENCE

JersonLAGOS

QuintonKIPARA

OliverCOLLOTY DylanWILLIAMS

SeanLIDDICOAT

StaffordDOWLING MohREYNOLDS

JoshGALLETLY JohnOAKMAN

RaheemHUNTER

ConorJAMIESON(GK) SeanLEADLEY LemuelLEHANE

ScottBASALAJ(GK)

JagaSCOTT-GREENFIELD

AlexPALEZEVIC

JustinGULLEY

TorDAVENPORTPETERSON

WilliamVINCENT

SamuelWALL

KailanGOULD

Coach:SamWILKINSON

GKCoach:NeilMOUNCHER Operations:SeamusMARTEN Physio:JamesYOUNG Manager:DannyMILNER

32.JontyROUBOS

Funding Partners Club Partners

Academy Partners