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New Zealand Knights FC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| New Zealand Knights F.C. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | New Zealand Knights Football Club Ltd |
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| Nickname(s) | The Knights | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1999 (as Football Kingz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dissolved | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | North Harbour Stadium, Auckland (Capacity 25,000) |
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| Chairman | New Zealand Soccer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | n/a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | A-League (until 2006-07) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A-League 2006-07 | 8th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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New Zealand Knights Football Club (known as Football Kingz Football Club until 2004) were the only professional football (soccer) team in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the Hyundai A-League, Australia's premier football competition and have since been replaced by the Wellington Phoenix.
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The Football Kingz joined the Australian National Soccer League in 1999 and were ranked 8th of 16 in 1999/2000 season, 8th of 14 in 2000/01, and won the wooden spoon in 2001/02.
In 2005, New Zealand was awarded one of the eight teams in Australia's brand new football competition, the Hyundai A-League. John Adshead, who took the New Zealand national side, the All Whites to their only ever World Cup finals appearance in 1982 was named their inaugural manager/coach. Current New Zealand international defender Danny Hay, who previously played in the English Premiership with Leeds United A.F.C. was named captain of the team.
The club underwent a name change before the 2005 season and became known as New Zealand Knights in preparation for the A-League. This was the end result of market research to determine the viability of a new identity for the team; reportedly 76% of people polled were in favour of the name change[1].
Despite having a squad boasting several players with extensive experience in English football, many pundits did not rate the Knights as serious contenders for the A-League title, and they were considered favourites for the wooden spoon. These predictions turned out to be true, with the New Zealand Knights proving to be terribly out of their depth in their debut A-League season.
In April 2006, after the poor season, manager John Adshead resigned from the club[2]. Paul Nevin was confirmed as manager a month later[3], having worked as caretaker manager since the position was vacated by Adshead.
In late October 2006, as a result of low crowd attendance at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland and continual poor on-field performances, rumours began to circulate that the Football Federation Australia was considering the possibility of revoking the Knights' A-League licence and granting it to a new team that would be set to enter the competition in the 2007-08 season.
On 15 November and nearing the end of the November transfer window New Zealand Knights board and management decided to relieve Paul Nevin of his coaching duties due to a string of poor performances. [4].
On 13 December 2006, strong rumours resurfaced that the FFA was considering the revocation of the Knights' licence to compete in the A-League. It quickly became clear that, with five weeks remaining in the current season, the FFA fully intended to reclaim the licence from the Knights [5]. The FFA had continued to express angst at low attendance numbers, poor on-field performance and the lack of domestically developed players (ibid).
Late on 14 December, the FFA announced that it had revoked the competition licence held by the Knights' owners. An arrangement with NZ Soccer would see the national body step in to manage the club for the remaining five weeks of the regular season, with former All Whites player Ricki Herbert to fill the role of Head Coach [6].
Effectively, the Knights dissolved on 21 January, when the final match of the season was played against Perth Glory.
On March 19, 2007 after several delays[7], Wellington Phoenix was selected as the successor to the New Zealand Knights.[8]
The Knights played in all-black strips, with a silver left sleeve. The change strip was white, with black shorts and white socks.
The badge was designed for the inaugural 2005-06 season and launched at the January 2005 press conference which highlighted the club name change[1].
The New Zealand Knights supporter base was known as Bloc 5.
| Season | League | Average | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/2007 | A-League | 3,009 | 7,304 - R1 - Newcastle Jets |
| 2005/2006 | A-League | 3,989 | 9,827 - R2 v Sydney FC |
| 2003/2004 | NSL | 1,273 | 4,083 - R1 v Newcastle United |
| 2002/2003 | NSL | 2,613 | 3,682 - R7 v Melbourne Knights |
| 2001/2002 | NSL | 3,874 | 8,121 - R2 v South Melbourne |
| 2000/2001 | NSL | 6,620 | 13,111 - R23 v Marconi |
John Adshead (2005-06)
Paul Nevin (2006-November 2006)
Barry Simmonds (Caretaker Manager November 2006)
Ricki Herbert (Caretaker Manager December 2006)
- Record Victory: 3-1 vs Queensland Roar (H), December 29, 2006
- Record Defeat: 0-5 vs Queensland Roar (A), September 15, 2006
- Record A-League Crowd: 9,827 vs Sydney FC, September 2, 2005
- Smallest Crowd: 1,632 vs Central Coast Mariners, September 28, 2006
- Winning Streak: 2 games (December 29, 2006 - January 7, 2007
- Undefeated Streak: 3 games (December 29, 2006 - January 21, 2007)
- Losing Streak: 11 games (September 18, 2005 - December 1, 2005)
- Winless Streak: 18 games (September 18, 2005 - September 2, 2006)
- Goals in a game: 2 - Jeremy Brockie vs Newcastle Jets (H), November 4, 2005
- Goals in a season: 4 - Jeremy Brockie, Simon Yeo, 2005/06
- Assists in a season: 3 - Sean Devine, 2005/06
- All time most Games: 41 - Darren Bazeley
- All time most Goals: 4 - Jeremy Brockie and Simon Yeo
- ^ a b Kingz are now the New Zealand Knights. Television New Zealand (January 14, 2005).
- ^ Adshead resigns from Knights. New Zealand Television (April 10, 2006).
- ^ Nevin confirmed as manager. Television New Zealand (May 11, 2006).
- ^ Nevin relieved of duties. TVNZ (November 15, 2006).
- ^ NZ Soccer willing to rescue 'embarrassing' Knights. NZ Herald (December 14, 2006).
- ^ Knights have licence revoked by soccer body. NZ Herald (December 14, 2006).
- ^ "A-League deadline becomes 'a farce'", Stuff.co.nz, 2007-03-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
- ^ "Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin", Fox Sports, 2007-03-19. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
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New Zealand Knights
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