New Zealand Football’s Annual Congress (AGM) held in Wellington on Thursday marked the end of a quite remarkable tenure as President of the national body for Dr Johanna Wood.

Johanna has been in the President role for the past seven years and on the New Zealand Football Executive Committee for eight. Based in Manawatu, Johanna is a former Board Member and Chair of Central Football and in her time on the NZF Executive Committee has overseen a huge rise in participation in football across the community game, the growth of the professional game which has provided greater pathway opportunities for men and women players and played a critical role in securing of the duel hosting rights and delivery of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand  and the legacy projects from that tournament that has seen the girls and women’s game go from strength to strength. In 2019 Johanna became the first New Zealander to be elected to the FIFA Council, a role she still holds, and was awarded the Sport New Zealand Leadership Award at the Halberg Awards in 2021 and appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order for Merit for services to football in 2024.

Alongside all of these achievements on the national and international stage, Johanna remains a consistent supporter of the community game demonstrated by her attendance at the recent Central Football Breaking Down Barriers event in Whanganui where she participation in the walking football game alongside other events. She expects no fanfare and is as happy and comfortable helping at on a sausage sizzle fundraiser as she is mixing with the FIFA hierarchy in Zurich and you can be sure that what is good for the game, and in particular the people who are involved in it, will be a the very forefront of her thoughts and actions.

 Central Football CEO Darren Mason said, “Johanna has done an incredible job in the eight years she has been at the helm of New Zealand Football. The Game was teetering a bit when she took over in 2019, but the growth, reputation and strength of the game nationally has never been better. This is largely down to her incredible way of bringing people together and then calmly and effectively working towards a collective outcome. Whilst plenty has been said about her work at a national and international level, what I have always admired is Johanna’s connection to the community game, her interest in what is going on there and how we can all support those that give up their time to help deliver that community game. We are incredibly proud to have had “one of our own” achieve so much for the game we love and whilst it’s tinged with sadness to see her leave Ex-Co, we are also very grateful to have had her contribution to our game at a local level, nationally and internationally, and she can say with absolute certainty that the game is now in a much better place than when she came on board”

 Central Football Chair Jamie Hall said, “Johanna has a deep history from within our federation from her time as a Team Manager at Red Sox in Palmerston North through to being Chair of our Board and at all times, it has been about the people for her – players, coaches, volunteers, referees, administrators and spectators. Johanna always made sure they had a voice and were heard. Through her tenure at NZF, Johanna championed good governance, integrity, and accountability. She helped guide football through periods of change and multiple challenges, always with a steady hand and a focus on long-term sustainability and her leadership has been defined by inclusion and progress. In moments of celebration and in moments of scrutiny, Johanna has been a constant calm, thoughtful, and a principled presence, never waning from her true values or her own moral compass.
We own Johanna a great debt of gratitude and thank her and her family for the many sacrifices she has made and for everything she has done for football in Aotearoa New Zealand I personally can not thank her enough for the guidance, support and most importantly, friendship, that she has provided me in my time at Central Football and to our game across the federation”

Former Mainland Football CEO and current CEO Of Equestrian New Zealand Julian Bowden was appointed as the new President for a two year term at the New Football Congress on Thursday.

Article added: Friday 24 April 2026