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RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Auckland FC scoop major prizes at A-League's awards night
Hiroki Sakai and Steve Corica celebrate with the A-League Premier's Plate. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ Steve Corica has been named A-League Coach of the Year after steering Auckland FC to the Premier's Plate in their maiden season in the football league. The premiership winners fell at the season's penultimate hurdle on Saturday night , when they lost 2-0 to Melbourne Victory before 29,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium in the second leg of their semi-final tie. Auckland FC just needed a draw to go through, but the Victory with a 2-1 aggregate score, will play Melbourne City in the grand final this weekend. Corica was left fuming about a ruling that denied them a goal after Logan Rogerson headed a Guillermo May high cross into the net in the 69th minute. The Australian took out the top coaching award at the Dolan Warren Awards on Tuesday night, which recognises the best and brightest across the men's and women's 2024/25 A-League season. Auckland FC's Francis de Vries took out the Fan Player of the Year award, receiving the most votes for his outstanding season at the back for Auckland which also included two goals and seven assists. For the second year in a row, Alex Paulsen, was named the Goalkeeper of the Year. Paulsen was a brickwall at the back for the eventual Premiers that saw him record 73 saves and 12 clean sheets throughout the regular season. Alex Paulsen Photo: Alan Lee / The Auckland FC star was also recognised for the Save of the Year for his reflex save to deny Melbourne Victory's Nikos Vergos at AAMI Park in Round 27. Football Ferns goalkeeper Claudia Jenkins, who plays for Adelaide United, won the save of the year award in A-League Women, for keeping out a longe-range attempt by Cass Davis of the Newcastle Jets in round nine. Western Sydney Wanderers' attacker Nicolas Milanović, claimed the Johnny Warren Medal, awarded to the best player in the 2024/25 Men's A-League. Auckland captain Hiroki Sakai finished third in the Johnny Warren Medal voting, with 24 votes to Milanović's 28.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
See the shocking injury boy, 11, suffered when he was IMPALED on a metal pole while celebrating his brother's birthday at footy final
A young Auckland FC supporter has suffered a shocking injury after being impaled on a metal pole while leaving the A-League semifinal on Saturday evening, turning a family birthday celebration into a night of distress. Jude, a passionate 11-year-old football fan, was leaving the Mt Smart Stadium with his family after Auckland's 2-0 loss when the incident occurred. 'Just after we'd crossed the main road, Jude was walking just in front of me – not seeing a waratah (metal pole), randomly sticking out of the ground,' Jude's mother Mary explained to The New Zealand Herald. 'Next I heard him cry out and looked down to see blood and yellow flesh coming out of his shin where the waratah had impaled [him]. 'We realised he would need to go to the hospital, so I went with Jude in a taxi, waving to my husband and other three children who were all looking very worried.' A football scarf was used as a tourniquet to slow down the bleeding before Jude was rushed to Starship Children's Hospital for emergency surgery. 'We arrived at Starship and Jude was in agony,' Mary said. 'While waiting to be seen [he] started sobbing saying, 'I feel so awful for Wilf (Jude's younger brother), it's his birthday!'.' The injury, which fortunately missed major tendons, will sideline Jude from playing football for up to a month, causing him to miss out on upcoming tournaments. Jude's mother was perplexed as to how the metal pole had been allowed to be placed where it had been. 'Jude was very lucky that it didn't go into tendons or muscle,' she said. 'I would not want this to happen to anyone else and want to ensure that this is dealt with so that this or worse doesn't happen to anyone else.' Auckland Council told the Herald that the pole has now been removed. 'Unfortunately, that was too late for Jude and we're hoping he has a speedy recovery and is able to get back onto the football field as quickly as possible,' a spokesperson said.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Young Auckland FC fan's leg gashed on way home from semi-final
Jude Beattie. Photo: Mary Beattie / supplied Warning: This story contains a photograph of a severe leg injury. Proceed with caution. An Auckland mother says her 11-year-old son needed surgery after gashing his leg on a metal post leaving the Auckland FC game at the weekend , and wants all berms checked for hazards. Mary Beattie's son Jude is a huge football fan. She and her husband took their four children to Saturday's game at Mt Smart Stadium with friends as a birthday treat for their younger son. But it all turned pear-shaped when they were leaving the match and Jude walked into a knee-height metal post on a berm. "There were so many people, it wasn't like you would notice it or avoid it. It was dark, and of course it kind of camouflaged into the ground, so it was just totally unobvious," she said. "Next thing, he's impaled his shin into it and then everyone stopped and you could see how bad it was, and I could see the flesh out, it was awful. "He just said, 'Mum, I just had no idea it was there.'" The offending post. Photo: Mary Beattie / supplied They used a Te Atatu Football Club scarf as a tourniquet - the club Jude plays for. Beattie said the gash was deep and she knew immediately they had to get to hospital. "When I saw how bad it was, I was quite concerned - I could see that it was almost to the bone and that there was flesh coming out." Her husband stayed with their other children while she and Jude hailed a taxi to Starship Hospital. "I had to leave my other children standing there in tears, looking very, very worried about their elder brother, who they all adore." Beattie sang the praises of the taxi driver and hospital staff. "He was obviously in a whole lot of pain. The taxi driver, bless him, he lifted him, carried him into the hospital," she said. "[Jude] was saying, 'Oh that taxi driver was so kind, wasn't he?'" The gash. Photo: Mary Beattie / supplied Jude was quickly assessed as needing surgery and had stitches under general anaesthetic on Sunday afternoon, still wearing his Auckland FC top. Beattie said local authorities and private landowners need to ensure crowds can safely walk to and from the stadium, especially when it is dark. "I just have no idea how on Earth this [post] could be standing up at the ground like that, legally. It's just such a hazard waiting to happen. "I would hope that the council would be checking the areas around a big stadium where they know there's going to be lots of people, so that there aren't any hazards and other people aren't at risk of getting hurt." Jude and Mary at the hospital. Photo: Mary Beattie / supplied Auckland Transport (AT) manages the berm, and a spokesperson said its maintenance team removed the metal post - and another trip hazard found there - as soon as they heard about the injury. "We were really disappointed to hear that a boy was injured in Penrose last night while heading home from the Auckland FC match at Go Media Stadium," they said. "We're wishing Jude a speedy recovery and hope he is able to get back on to the football field as quickly as possible." AT is responsible for maintaining more than 7500km of footpaths in Auckland and regularly inspects roads and footpaths, but relies on Aucklanders to report issues with berms, particularly in commercial areas. "When issues are reported to us we aim to promptly send out our contractors to address these, especially if there is a safety risk," the spokesperson said. Te Atatu Football Club. Photo: Mary Beattie / supplied Beattie said she was overwhelmed and thankful for the support the family received from the Te Atatu community. Jude played for three football teams, and missed a tournament with Te Atatu Football club on Sunday. The team rallied around Jude and brought him the trophy and medal they won in his absence. "They all tucked their shirt in, in honour of him, because he's the only one that tucks his shirt in when they're playing because his shirt's too big." She said Jude's biggest challenge would be having at least two weeks off sports - he had various tournaments coming up that he hoped to play. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Football: Record-breaking season despite Auckland FC's semi-final loss
Auckland thank their fans. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Less than an hour after the final whistle in Auckland FC's home semi-final loss , their imprint at a home venue they had so much success at was being washed away. In front of 29,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium the A-League Premiers were taken apart by a Melbourne Victory side that changed their formation and overcame the odds to win and seal a place in the Grand Final. With Auckland's abrupt end to the season, the sporting landscape moved on quickly as groundsmen waterblasted away the football line markings to prepare the field for the Warriors' NRL game against the Canberra Raiders. How quickly things can change. A record-breaking professional football season like New Zealand had never seen before was over. A week before many thought it would be. One piece of silverware was missing from the first year club's trophy cabinet. The fans that had been around since the start of football's new era in Auckland, and those who jumped on the bandwagon when silverware was in their sights, would have to wait until next season to see if their club could win the biggest prize. Auckland were the favourites to make the Grand Final. They had won on the road to set a platform for success at home, but Victory have been in many finals before. The visitors, who were undermanned through injury, knew they had to win and they were prepared to do whatever it took to make it happen. Auckland coach Steve Corica called out Victory's "time wasting". He had even more to say about the referee's decision making. His disappointment post-match was palpable. With a winning record over the season he had not had many times like this. Finding himself having to answer for what went wrong. Auckland FC versus Melbourne Victory Photo: Shane Wenzlick / The coach , who has had a lot of success over many years in the A-League, said he had no regrets. He would not have changed the way they prepared or the calls he made on which players were on the field when. Corica acknowledged it might have looked like the players were passive and sitting on lead from the first leg of the semi-finals, but he said that was not the case. He said it was "unfortunate" they could not pull off another late goal that had been a trademark of their season. Corica had spoken often over the season about the A-League Championship trophy being the one he wanted. Having come so close to taking a new club to a place he had been before with Sydney FC, the ending to the fairytale season hurt. Hiroki Sakai and Steve Corica celebrate with the A-League Premier's Plate. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ In the days or weeks to come Corica and the players can look back at all the things that went right in their first season. Finishing top of the league and claiming the Premiers Plate, being the fastest club to score 50 goals in the 20 seasons of the A-League, setting records for unbeaten streaks and clean sheets. Creating an identity that fans got behind from the beginning. Corica starting a club from scratch was a challenge - for all involved - but one that he felt the players and staff had thrived in. Auckland FC owner Bill Foley is known for telling his sports team to 'always advance, never retreat'. Something the whole club bought into. Corica would look to next season now. His goals would likely remain the same - silverware or bust. "We come back next year ready to go to fight again." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Auckland FC's shock elimination leaves coach Steve Corica fuming
Victory for the Victory over Auckland FC in the second leg of the semi-final. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / The dream season is over. And the coach is fuming. But Auckland FC could not stop Melbourne Victory when it mattered most. Victory's 2-0 win at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday sealed an A-League Grand Final spot with a 2-1 aggregate score across the home and away semi-finals series. The shock result of the fifth-placed side toppling the Premiers Plate winners ended a barely believable run for an expansion club. It was a result that Auckland FC coach Steve Corica had questions about. Auckland took a one goal advantage into the second semi-final at home needing a win or a draw to continue making history in their inaugural season. After a goalless first half that ended with rising tempers, Victory scored first in the 54th minute to level the aggregate score and scored again in the 60th minute to take the lead and put the pressure on the hosts. Auckland could not respond, despite the support of a crowd of 29,148 fans. Auckland FC coach Steve Corica. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Corica said he believed a disallowed goal of Auckland's near the 70th minute mark was a turning point for his side. The ball was ruled by VAR to have gone out of the field of play before going into the goal. "The referees made a bad decision, the linesman has and so has the VAR whoever is in charge up there because that would have obviously helped us get back into the game. "It wasn't our day we had a few half chances but it just wasn't falling for us we switched off a couple of times and let them get into the lead but for me we weren't given the opportunities to get back into the game because of that decision as well." Corica said he did not want an apology, like had been proffered for incorrect calls during the season. "I want the right decision to be made and my opinion is they got it wrong and that could of cost us getting back into the game for one and getting into a final. You're talking about big decision there so you would hope they get it right but I don't think so," he said. Victorious coach Arthur Diles said he believed things evened out across the season. "Over the course of a year your luck comes and goes and come the end of the season it normally balances itself out, because there's been many games this year that we should have won and we didn't, we've been unlucky, but in the end you can talk about referees decisions , you can talk about luck bad luck or good luck but in the end of the season it normally pans out and it evens itself out." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
