We don't know how lucky we are

Simon Wood, 5 Feb 2007

A couple of years ago there was a TV ad for a certain beer with the catch phrase ‘ we don’t know how lucky we are’, and that could very well apply to the NZFC, and mighty Wintec Waikato in particular.

At present here in London there is a big deal being made of the cost of going to watch a Premiership football game. Beleaguered fans are paying up to $10 000NZ for a season ticket to go and watch a bunch of Bentley driving Europeans complete a 90 minute 0-0 draw.

If you’re not a season ticket holder, you have to be very lucky to get a ticket for a match at all, but if you do, it might cost you the equivalent of $200. On top of that is $10 for a programme and $15 for a beer. Sure the standard of football might be marginally higher than that of the NZFC, but it’s certainly not light years ahead – anyone who has seen the dire Charlton ‘Athletic’ or West Ham, or even sub-par 2007 Arsenal, can testify to that.

Meanwhile back in Hamilton, unless there has been rampant inflation in the 2 months that I’ve been away, you can buy a match day ticket for $10 and get a programme thrown in for free. Or to really push the boat out, grab a season ticket for a paltry $80 and enjoy the best football in the country at one of the best stadiums in the country (or at Porritt!).

By the way, $80 is about the same as a single ticket to watch Coventry draw with Colchester…

Speaking of Coventry, former Waikato FC Captain Che Bunce has been headhunted by the Championship Sky Blues, after looking as if he was headed for the wilds of Scotland’s Dundee. I flicked him an email the other day and he’s offered me a freebie to go and watch his team if I’m ever in the area. There aren’t too many things that would entice me to go to Coventry – which is effectively a very large tenement block with a Cathedral in the middle – but a free ticket to go and watch big Buncey in action for a big team might just do the trick.

While Coventry are in no danger of making it back into the Premiership for the next season, they’re safe in the Championship, and the giant Kiwi in defence might do enough to get noticed by one of the bigger teams – for my money he’d do well at Blackburn, Middlesborough, Wigan or Portsmouth.

Being ½ Welsh, I’m heartened to see both major Welsh clubs doing well. Cardiff are pushing hard for a spot in the Premiership after leading the Championship for a time, and the mighty Swansea are in the top 6 of League One. To see a Welsh team in the Premiership mixing it with Man U, Chelsea and the Gooners would be a dream come true.

Having kept track of Waikato FC as best as I can from the other side of the world, I’m over the moon that they’re starting to head in the right direction on the table. Waitakere were always going to be a tough proposition, but losing by a couple is a huge improvement on some of the earlier results – and if we can squeak another couple of wins before the end of the season then it won’t be all doom and gloom. So if you’re reading this, then make dairy entries of the last games of the season, and line up quick at the start of the next to buy your season ticket – otherwise I’ll send Buncey round for a chat...

Simon Wood used to be a volunteer cashier and stadium manager for WFC before heading to Europe on his OE.