Congratulations to Building King Havelock North Wanderers on being crowned Champions of the Lotto Central Federation League for 2019. A massive achievement but even more so as they ended the season with a 100% record winning all 16 of their matches, remarkable. 

We caught up with Head Coach Chris Greatholder to hear his thoughts on the successful season and the upcoming Central League Play-off game against Petone FC.

Q: What were your goals going into the 2019 Season?

There were lots of things we wanted to achieve. We ultimately wanted to gain Central League promotion, so we set goals as a squad to go unbeaten, to score and concede a certain amount of goals. Bigger than all of that though, is that the players develop, improve and enjoy themselves. The results take care of themselves.

Q: What do you see as the biggest difference between your team and the others this year?   

I think the investment in our youth over the past few years has meant they were ready and able to dominate the league. We have 9 schoolboys in our squad and we surround them with good people and experienced players. We've been relentless in our approach and I'm delighted for all involved that we've broken many records again.

Q: What was the most satisfying moment of the season? 

That is really hard to answer! There has been some fantastic individual moments, but I think being able to see our youth players really start to express themselves is the most pleasing thing. We've also had 17 different goal scorers this season, which is some record. We really want to help our players go on to the next level of football.

Q: What does this mean to you personally in your coaching career?

It gives me enormous satisfaction. The development of players is more important to me than winning trophies, but to be able to combine them is pretty cool. The playing and coaching group have worked really hard and I'm really pleased they have been able to lift the trophy in such style.

Q: Leg 1 of the Central League play off is this weekend against Petone FC, what is your approach to this game?

Petone are a good side, it looks to be a good match up. We will try and take any pressure off the players so they can do their thing. I want them to show a bigger audience what they can do, so I'm excited to see them do their thing against a better opposition than we've been used to this season. 

We wish Havelock North Wanderers all the best in their endeavours as they take on Petone FC in the Central League Playoff with Leg 1 on the 8^th of September at home and Leg 2 away on the 14^th of September.

Article added: Monday 02 September 2019