Not all rosy for the All Whites

It is halfway through the long Hyundai A-League domestic off-season, and just twelve months after the All Whites’ relative triumph at the 2010 World Cup. Yet despite New Zealand being the only unbeaten team at that tournament (following draws with Slovakia, Italy and Paraguay, and group-stage elimination), football in the traditionally rugby-obsessed nation still struggles both to define itself and to forge out a broad and distinctive fan base.

Such difficulties are likely to continue. This autumn, the Rugby World Cup, hosted by the All Blacks, will receive blanket coverage in New Zealand. Wellington Phoenix, the sole professional football team in the country, which competes in the Australian A-League, will play the first three matches of the forthcoming season on the days that are likely also to see the All Blacks’ three knockout matches, assuming that they reach the final. It is a fairly safe assumption that the rugby final will overshadow the Phoenix’s trip to Perth to take on the Glory on 23rd October.

Though primarily a rugby ground, the Phoenix play their home matches at the 36,000-seater Westpac Stadium. Known as the Ring of Fire by Phoenix fans (who describe themselves as the Yellow Fever), the stadium has been the scene of two matches in recent years that have done much to rejuvenate New Zealand football. In December 2007, a friendly against the David Beckham-led Los Angeles Galaxy drew in nearly 32,000 people, a record domestic football attendance in the country.

Then, in November 2009, the All Whites triumphed over Bahrain in the second leg of the World Cup qualifying play-off, with the only goal of the game coming from Plymouth Argyle striker Rory Fallon. In the aftermath of New Zealand qualifying for their first World Cup since 1982, bold predictions were made that football was on course to overtake rugby as the nation’s favourite sport.

That claim was strengthened by both the performance of the All Whites in South Africa, and the support they received throughout the tournament. More than 400,000 people – 10 per cent of the country’s population – tuned in to the Paraguay match, which kicked off at 2am New Zealand time. A ticker tape parade through Wellington, attended by Prime Minister John Key, greeted the team on its return home. It was not only the All Whites that the New Zealand public followed either, with three quarters of a million people watching the final, which began early on a Monday morning in the south Pacific.

But one year on, New Zealand has readopted its default, rugby-mad stance. It is unfortunate that the seeds sown by last year’s success have been largely trampled by New Zealand’s hosting of the rugby this autumnm. And if the perennial favourites the All Blacks were to triumph, for the first time since 1987, it would constitute an even bigger blow to their football compatriots.

New Zealand football’s struggle to define itself is much worse from a domestic perspective. With the Phoenix the only professional team, an impression is given that club football is a largely foreign – Australian – phenomenon. The eight-team ASB Premiership, featuring sides including Waitakere United and Youngheart Manawatu, is played out before crowds of similar size to those of the Welsh Premier League. It is a struggle to find any mention of it in the New Zealand media.

Even the future of the Phoenix is unclear. Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, has made overtures to the franchise, in an apparent attempt to lure the team north. Auckland has already hosted an A-League team – the New Zealand Knights – but relinquished the franchise due to poor attendances. Attendances trebled in Wellington, and by staging matches in Christchurch and Palmerston North, the Phoenix became a team for the whole nation, and not just one city, to support.

But as the Phoenix prepare for next season, such uncertainty cannot help their cause. And, with just 14 players contracted to the side, there is much to be done before October. Phoenix head coach Ricki Herbert, who combines the role with that of All Whites coach, remains relaxed about on-field matters. Owner of the Phoenix, property tycoon Terry Serepisos, has likewise dismissed talk of the team switching to Auckland.

The merits of a move to the City of Sails are minimal. Wellington has fostered (or at least presided over) a marked improvement in the fortunes of football in New Zealand. Serepisos has pointed out that the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) owns the franchise licence. As a result, only the FFA would have the right to relocate the Phoenix. It was, after all, the FFA which disbanded the Auckland-based Knights.

The fact that the FFA holds ultimate power over the Wellington Phoenix is indicative of the difficulties faced by New Zealand football. That its sole professional team is a member of a foreign league demonstrates the shallow roots of football in the nation. The rationale for 2010’s World Cup-based optimism was that success breeds success. But to start from the relatively low support base that football does, compared not just with rugby but also with sports including cricket and netball, means that a greater portfolio of achievements is a necessity. Geography is another contributory factor. It is difficult to inspire football fans when the Oceania Football Confederation features only 10 other nations. The second-highest ranked country in the OFC is Fiji, nearly 100 places behind the All Whites.

It is somewhat depressing that so soon after the success in South Africa, New Zealand football is once again in a state of flux. Equally, the draws against Italy, Paraguay and Slovakia should not act as a smokescreen. The All Whites have a long way to go before they can truly assert themselves on the world stage, as was indicated by a tame 3-0 defeat by Mexico in Denver earlier this month. The 2010 World Cup should not continue to be viewed through rose-tinted glasses. Consolidation and stability should be encouraged, and the Phoenix should remain in Wellington. At the same time, the support garnered by the All Whites has to be tapped at grassroots level if football will ever be able to compete with rugby for New Zealanders’ affections.

ICC U-turn must be welcomed for the sake of world cricket

The International Cricket Council has just announced that the 2015 World Cup will not, as announced in April, be limited to just ten teams. Instead, the ICC has decided – for the moment at least – to stick by the current fourteen-team tournament.

Inevitably, Ireland has been headlined as the major beneficiary of this apparent U-turn. Supporters of the fourteen-team format have used Ireland as their most prominent argument, understandably considering that the Irish were the only minor nation to have had any real success at the 2011 tournament – most notably, their thrilling three wicket victory over England.

Indeed, the other three non-test-playing nations competing at the competition in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, were largely disappointing. Kenya and the Netherlands both lost every game; Canada only beat the Kenyans. The gulf in class between the top and lesser teams in cricket is vast, and at times embarrassing for the sport. Where is the value in a contest such as that between New Zealand and Kenya, where the latter struggled to 69 all out, a total that New Zealand rattled off in just 48 balls?

Yet despite such mismatches, I am broadly in favour of the reversal in the ICC stance. There is no easy way to spread cricket to up-and-coming nations, but to limit the World Cup to just the ten test sides would have a devastating impact on the lesser teams’ efforts to develop.

The format of international cricket is dangerously close to being stale as it is. With so few competitive teams, test matches and one-day internationals feature regular match-ups between the same combinations of teams. The World Cup, by contrast, offers a refreshing change, and – as Ireland have proved – the opportunity for a potential shock or two.

The World Cup was at times farcical, as befits a tournament run by the serially incompetent ICC. But others measures – at least two matches every day during the pool stage, a less complex competition set-up – should be implemented rather than starving developing cricketing nations of the only exposure they get to top-level cricket.

Inverclyde by-election, 30 June 2011

Inverclyde, the scene of the latest UK parliamentary by-election this Thursday, perhaps demonstrates the Conservatives' difficulties in this belt of industrial Scotland. Having witnessed a huge decline in population in the latter decades of the twentieth century, blamed by many on Thatcherism, there is no chance that the Tory candidate David Wilson will follow the example of his wonderfully named predecessor Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, MP for Greenock (a previous incarnation of the Inverclyde seat) until the end of the Second World War.

Inverclyde, in whatever form it has taken, has been rock-solid Labour territory ever since. With the Tories and Liberals the only opposition, Labour candidates have not had to work up much of a sweat in order to retain the seat. At last year’s general election, David Cairns – whose death last month at the age of just 45 prompted the contest – secured 56 per cent of the vote, a majority of nearly 40 percentage points over the Scottish National Party.

Thus, on the face of it this should be a comfortable hold for the Labour candidate Iain McKenzie. The required swing of nineteen percent is not unheard of in parliamentary by-elections, but would be almost unprecedented for an opposition party to lose on a swing that large. Labour, of course, is not in power in either Westminster or Holyrood. On the other hand, Labour’s position as a receptacle for protest votes is tempered by the continued affection for Alex Salmond’s Holyrood government – this Westminster seat will see protest votes against only the Tories and, especially, the Lib Dems. Labour has even lost one thing that they had in their favour in 2010, namely a Scottish leader in the form of Gordon Brown.

Yet despite the awesome task faced by the SNP to try and snatch the seat from Ed Miliband’s party, there are admittedly faint whispers in political circles that Labour could be in danger. David Cairns was a hugely popular constituency MP. In 2010, Cairns added seven percentage points and over 3,000 votes to his majority, and the swing to him from the SNP far outstripped the Scottish average. The personal vote unwind therefore may play into the hands of the nationalists.

What is most worrying to Labour, however, was its disastrous showing in last month’s elections to the Scottish Parliament. The SNP crushed all three major opposition parties, leaving Scotland – on the constituency map – as a sea of nationalist yellow, with just a sprinkling of red, blotches of blue and extremities of Lib Dem orange.

It is true that one of those red sprinkles was the near-equivalent Holyrood constituency, Greenock and Inverclyde. The Inverclyde Westminster seat does not have the same boundaries, but as a reference, the Scottish Parliament constituency result will surely make Labour palms sweat. Although the party’s MSP Duncan McNeil held the seat, his thirteen-point majority was slashed to less than two points. The SNP increased their vote by a half, primarily from disaffected Liberal Democrat and Conservative voters, while Labour’s own gain from those parties was cancelled out by the voters who left the party for the SNP, a pattern repeated the length of Scotland.

The SNP will hope to squeeze the Westminster coalition parties’ votes and gain a significant number of those who chose David Cairns rather than his party in 2010. It would be no less than an extraordinary result should the nationalists defeat Labour on Thursday, at least on a par with their nationwide triumph in May. The SNP are likely to erode Labour’s majority, but to take the seat would be a step too far. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will both see their vote shares decline, though, as they will be starting from a much lower base, it will probably be less than the Labour equivalent.

If Ed Miliband is questioned about a poor performance, it is not difficult to see him pointing to the probable rejection of the coalition parties. But Inverclyde is about as far from a Coalitionista hotspot as there is, and it is to be hoped that such an opinion, if it is forthcoming, receives little media attention. If Labour does well, even increasing its majority, on the other hand, it will bring relief to the beleaguered Miliband leadership in Scotland, which was so tarnished by the failings last month, nominally under the party’s outgoing Scottish leader Iain Gray.

2010 result:

Lab 56
SNP 18
LD 13
Con 12
UKIP 1

Predicted 2011 result:

Lab 47
SNP 36
Con 9
LD 6
UKIP 2

In homage to...Montreal, Canada

Arriving in Montreal on the overnight Greyhound bus from Boston, I was immediately struck by the distinct character of the city compared to the American east coast cities I had visited in the previous four weeks.

I snaffled two breakfasts, a croissant in an almost-Parisian café and a do[ugh]nut in the chain bakery Tim Horton’s. The difference between those two establishments seemed to sum up the unique blend of cultures that Quebec as a province – and particularly Montreal, its biggest city – represents.


My hostel was situated in Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal), below. When you are immersed in this riverside district of the city, it is impossible not to think of yourself as in Europe; twisting, cobbled streets are lined with elegant restaurants and shop fronts.

I had been expecting a typical North American (I cannot say Canadian, having never visited English-speaking Canada) metropolis, but the old town would sit more comfortably anywhere in continental Europe than it does in the new world. Even Boston, famed for its compact nature, has nothing on this.


Perhaps because of the distinct features of this quartier, however, it is somewhat spoiled by the sheer numbers of cheap souvenir shops that detract from what would be the magic of Vieux-Montréal. It seemed as though every fourth property sold the same tat – $5 t-shirts, moose fridge magnets, ‘J’Aime Montréal’ keyrings. It would be exceptionally naïve to claim that Montreal is unique in being blighted by such touristic commercialism, but it was particularly stark in comparison to the atmosphere of the streets.

Montreal combines showcasing its ‘old city’ with a modern business and shopping district. This part of the ville is not exactly a tourist hotspot, and to a large extent it would blend into the facelessness of any modern North American city. The difference, of course, is that everything is in French; the impression I was left with – contrary to my expectations – was that the Montréalais are not so much Canadians who speak French, but Français who live in Canada. But I don’t want to enter the minefield of Québécois identity and the debate over national sovereignty.

I had anticipated that road signs would be bilingual, that English-language newspapers and magazines would be on sale and that very few native citizens would speak only French. Perhaps that was due to a certain arrogance on my behalf, but I assumed that Montreal, and the province of Quebec, would be comparable to Wales. Not a bit of it. Apart from tourist attractions, very little was bilingual; Quebec, of course, is famous for having ‘ARRET’ written in place of the familiar ‘STOP’ on signs – even France (albeit due to EU regulations) has the latter.

Not that Montreal’s fierce pride in its French heritage should be mistaken for insular parochialism. As well as being the home to a number of international organisations, Montreal hosted the renowned Universal Exposition in 1967 as well as the Olympic Games in 1976 (stadium pictured below). The city is also to the forefront of the petrol heads’ map of the world, hosting the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. (Indeed, that the race took place this weekend – resulting in a thrilling victory for Jenson Button – inspired me to write this article.)

Cosmopolitan, diverse, if sometimes a little arrogant, Montreal reflects many of the values of great European cities; the most notable comparison is between the Quartier Latin in Paris and Vieux-Montréal. But Quebec’s showpiece metropolis is more than simply a cliché, or a city in an existing mould. Instead, it combines cobbled charm with a bohemian district; it contains the mandatory (and typically anonymous) business district, but is also a student city; it is a celebrated international city, but very much remains true to its roots. Montreal is a curiosity, and curiosities are always the best for the traveller to explore.

Abuse is an object of multi-faceted despair - and must be a catalyst for change

I saw last night the brilliant piece of investigative journalism that was BBC Panorama's uncovering of the appalling treatment of residents at the Winterbourne View Hospital for adults with learning disabilities and autism.

It was an extremely distressing hour of television to watch. Inevitably, questions are raised about how could people be so heartless, particularly those in the care profession.

I found it particularly disturbing, having spent time volunteering with Disability Sport Wales, where I helped to coach a variety of sports to children and young adults with learning difficulties.

I was also lucky enough to be invited to Old Trafford cricket ground, where I assisted the other coaches of the Wales disability cricket team in their match against England.

Having worked with some fantastic people - both coaches and coachees - it was depressing to see Panorama and witness the almost systematic abuse at Winterbourne View.

My experience of staff of Disability Sport Wales was only positive - they were gentle, kind, warm and treated the children and young adults with a mutual affection.

While Panorama has undoubtedly done a great service to those who suffer in the manner uncovered at Winterbourne View, it will have the unfortunate side-effect of casting suspicion over everybody who works in care.

I am sure that the exhausted but the satisfied smiles that were prevalent at the end of each weekly coaching session was enough to confirm the value of what Disability Sport Wales was doing (and still do).

I can only hope that there is not widespread mistreatment of vulnerable people in residential care and elsewhere, for the sake of those at risk as well as for the profession as a whole, and the reputation of those who do so much good.

But of course, hope has to be accompanied by a practical framework truly to guarantee the well-being of those who require care, and to ensure that the Winterbourne View abuse catalyses the implementation of these safeguards.