Central Football Hawkes Bay Operations Manager role announced 

Central Football are delighted to announce that they have appointed Shane McKenzie to the role of Hawkes Bay Operations Manager. 

Shane will be known to many of the Hawkes Bay football community as the current General Manager of Hawkes Bay United, a role he has been doing for the best part of the past three years. Whilst he has loved his role working with HBU, the opportunity to have a strong influence over the local game and how it operates competitions in Hawkes Bay was one that he didn’t want to miss. Shane has a strong background in the game in Hawkes Bay having been involved in football all his life and in Hawkes Bay specifically for the past 12 years. He has undertaken various roles in local club football including club administration, with three years as Chairman at Port Hill United, coaching at Women’s Federation and Men’s Premiership level as well as in the Central Football FTC program. Shane has and also played at various levels in the local competitions and is a passionate follower of the game at all levels and is an avid Manchester City supporter for his sins. “This role is an exciting opportunity for me to stay involved and have a positive influence over the game I love and working with clubs to make the local competitions even better was something that I really wanted to be part of. I have really enjoyed the three years I have had working with a fantastic group of people at Hawkes Bay United and wanted to thank Paula (HBU Chair Paula Walker) and the rest of the HBU Board for their understanding and support of this change”. McKenzie said. 

Central Football Chief Operations Manager Donald Piper was thrilled that they had been able to secure the services of such an experienced football person in the Hawkes Bay role. “Shane is a top guy, loves and knows the local game inside out, and will be able to carry on the work we have done in developing the game at a local level. I know it was a tough decision for him to step down from his role at HBU and he has done a fantastic job there in circumstances that have not been particularly easy at times” 

Hawkes Bay United Chair Paula Walker was naturally disappointed to be losing McKenzie from the club and paid tribute to the work he had done in his time with HBU. Mrs Walker went on to say, “It has been pretty well documented that HBU have had its struggles and it would be fair to say that we may not even exist at all if we didn’t have someone like Shane in the GM role over the past few seasons. He has done an unbelievable job across the many facets of the running of a National League club and has continued to be positive, work hard and build great relationships with supporters, sponsors and the football community in general. He will be extremely hard to replace and we thank him for the dedicated service to the club over the past three years. I am delighted that he is not being lost to the game and have no doubt that he will do a fantastic job in the Central Football role” 

McKenzie will not start in the role until 1 April 2019, at the conclusion of the HBU National League season, but will, where possible, be involved in the pre-season planning for the upcoming winter season. In the interim, the Hawkes Bay operations/competition management will continue to be run by Operations Administrator Janine O’Connell along with CEO Darren Mason and Chief Operations Manager Donald Piper.