Written by Michael Burgess with support from the NZ Football Foundation
When the final whistle blew at Mbombela stadium on June 21 2010, Ryan Nelsen sunk to his knees.
For the All Whites’ captain, it was a moment of elation and exhaustion, as New Zealand had pulled off one of the great World Cup shocks, holding defending champions Italy to a 1-1 draw.
After the unexpected point against Slovakia, these were salad days for the All Whites, putting the Silver Fern in the footballing spotlight like never before.
“When I look back, to be able to play as well as you can at that level, and lead a bunch of guys, and bring the country on a journey as well, I’ll never forget that until the day I die,” says Nelsen. “That’s one of the proudest things, way more than the Premier League stuff.
“It is pretty crazy to get those results and perform the way we did. In the trenches, head down, fighting away. [But] internally we were really confident. That kind of confidence is easy to say, but hard to get.”
It was the undoubted high point of All Whites history, but Nelsen’s team was just another chapter of a legacy established across decades.
Fighting the odds has been a common theme for the New Zealand men’s team, over nearly 120 years of international competition. It’s rarely been easy competing in the global game from the bottom of the Pacific, but when the going gets tough…
The beginning
As far as New Zealand representative teams, it began on July 23, 1905 at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin. Captained by local boy David McMilan, the team wore heavy white jerseys with a prominent black fern on the chest.
The touring New South Wales team trumped 1-0, followed by a 3-3 draw in Wellington.
The first overseas trip was a year later, with an 11-game tour of New South Wales, including three matches against the state side.
It was 17 years until New Zealand played again but it was a memorable occasion, with a 3-1 win over Australia in Dunedin. Goals from Southland’s Ted Cook (2) and Auckland’s William Knott secured victory in New Zealand’s first full international. Three weeks later the Kiwis sealed the series, in front of a 15,000 crowd in Auckland.
At high point of the decade was the 1923 tour of Australia, with Wellington’s George Campbell helping the tourists claim the “Ashes”, to much acclaim from media on both sides of the Tasman.
There was limited activity over the next two decades, with visits from Chinese Universities (1924), Canada (1927) and England Amateurs (1937) along with tours to Australia (1933 and 1937). The powerful English team were the pick of the visitors – going unbeaten – while the 1933 Australian trip was notable for the team performing a pre-match haka, wearing black jerseys.
Post Second World War.
A tour by South African was the major event of the late 1940s, with the Springboks completing a 4-0 series sweep. The 1950s saw the first trips to the Pacific, for matches against Fiji, Tahiti and New Caledonia and a Hong Kong team visit New Zealand. But a trip by FK Austria in 1957 had the biggest impact, with the sparkling football of the Vienna team.
In 1961 an England F.A team including the legendary Tom Finney and a young Bobby Moore captivated the football public here, beating the Ken Armstrong coached New Zealand side convincingly in both internationals.
A 1964 `world’ tour was ahead of its time, with 15 games across Hong Kong, Thailand, Iran, Germany, Switzerland, England and the United States.
It was a tall order, with opposition including FC Basel, Nottingham Forest and an England XI. At one stage Bert Ormond’s team faced four matches in nine days, but they at least finished on a high, with a 5-2 win over San Francisco.
Kiwi footballers faced two immense challenges in 1967. Reigning English League Champions Manchester United, featuring Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law, were probably the best team to visit this country and managed 11 goals without reply in Christchurch.
In November the NZFA accepted an invitation to play a tournament in Saigon, in the midst of the Vietnam war. New Zealand performed credibly, including a 3-1 win over Singapore, but it was an uncomfortable experience for many.
New Zealand’s first foray into FIFA World Cup qualifying came in 1969, with a two-leg playoff against Israel. Unfortunately, due to financial reasons, both games were staged in Tel Aviv, in front of massive, partisan crowds. Grahame Bilby’s team fought manfully, against a team containing several European professionals, but went down 0-4 and 0-2.
1970s
New Zealand played 80 matches across the decade, from club teams like Sunderland, Norwich City, Ipswich Town and Dundee, to the first internationals against China and South Korea.
Qualifying for the 1974 FIFA World Cup saw New Zealand grouped with Australia, Indonesia and Iraq. The All Whites grabbed two draws against the Socceroos (1-1 and 3-3) but could only claim one further point in their other four matches.
Four years later the All Whites again fell at the first World Cup qualifying hurdle, finishing behind Australia.
In 1978 Bobby Robson brought a strong England B team to these shores, with a 3-1 loss in Wellington the best effort by the All Whites.
Probably the most significant result came on June 13, 1979, when a Duncan Ormond goal secured the first victory over Australia in 25 years. It was John Adshead’s second match as coach, accelerating his eventual appointment for the 1982 World Cup campaign.
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