Neil McKenzie is one of Football South’s newest life members and there aren’t many roles he hasn’t filled within football! He’s been a player, coach, president, administrator, supporter and tour manager. Neil was delighted with his selection, “I didn’t know anything about the nomination, it wasn’t expected, Its an honour! You don’t do things in sport for recognition. The enjoyment comes from seeing individuals and the team being successful.” Neil is grateful to all who have been involved in his footballing journey, “People gave up their time to make me who I was , I felt I owed something back.You never achieve aytihng just through yourself, there’s always someone in the background propping you up! There’s a lot of people I know who have probably done more than I have that haven’t been recognised.” 

Neil was born next to Ellis Park and his older brother played for Roslyn Wakari and encouraged him to get into football, “I daresay I started kicking a ball from 4. There were no real leagues for 5,6,7-year old’s back then, but there was also no television or games consoles, so we were always in the park playing!” Neil was a talented young footballer and from a very young age, football gave him a means of seeing new places, “I flew to Nelson and Wellington when I was at U12’s level for a tournament, my mother and father had never flown!” Neil vividly memories his visit to the North Island, “In Wellington, we played the curtain raiser to the Chatham Cup Final at the basin reserve, I was a snotty nosed little 11 year-old and the old wooden stand was chocka! There were people everywhere, probably around ten thousand at the game.” 

Neil returned to the North Island a year later under the well-known Dunedin coach John Walker. Neil was a year younger than most in the U13’s side that included Malcolm Ferguson and Shorty Stenhouse. They took in many parts of the North Island including Hawkes Bay, Tauranga and Auckland. Neil reflects fondly on those times, “We went to all sorts, war museums, factories, it was mind blowing.We were all billeted and stayed with some people who had silver service! I once stayed with the Bishop of Christchurch and he gave us apple cider with our dinner!” Playing allowed Neil to see much of his home country, he represented Otago at youth and senior level and ran out for various teams in the Southern League. Playing also took him to Australia, where he played in a Scottish side due to his surname, but it was coaching that gained him many stamps within his black passport. 

Neil explains his move into coaching was accidental, “Back in ‘72, there was a coaching course in qt, a full badge course and the coach from Roslyn, Tom Smiley, was supposed to go to Queenstown for it. I think he fell ill, and I’d just finished my exams at Uni and I was asked if I’d like to go instead.” Neil initially hesitated before he was told everyhing was paid for, including accomodation, ”I went for it! 3 properly cooked meals a day which wasn’t bad for a student, it was the closest to being a pro footballer I ever got!” 

There is a long list of teams that Neil has coached, including Roslyn Wakari, Caversham, Green Island, Halswell, Hungaria, Otago Youth and New Zealand U20’s to name a few. It was his time as a youth coach that took him to many far-flung destinations, beginning with the UK. Neil did a stint as the Daily Express sponsored coach at a Butlins Holiday Camp in North Wales, “West Bromwich Albion would send a player every Thursday and we’d put on 5 a side with me in one team and a West brom player in the other. Several big names came, including Bryan Robson and Tony Godden. It taught me how to manage large groups, sometimes I'd have 150 kids!” 

On his return to New Zealand, Neil took over Roslyn as their coach and turned their fortunes around. He became a full-time coach at Otago Football before he returned to teaching but remained heavily involved in the New Zealand U20’s set-up and oversaw the likes of Evans, Irvine, White and Jones make their debut for New Zealand. Neil has travelled extensively with an array of youth teams he has managed and has visited Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Argentina, Chile, Vanauta, Fiji and several other countries, “We beat Boca Juniors youth in Argentina, played River Plate at their stadium and played Universidad in Chile , they were just an amazing team, one of best youth sides that I've seen.” 

It was hard for Neil to narrow down his favourite footballing memories, but he counts playing in the National league in ‘71 as one of them, “That was unbelievable from a playing point of view, it was new , we were playing in front of crowds of 3000+ across the country!”. He also fondly remembers attending the FA Cup Final in 1980 when West Ham beat Arsenal 1-0, “Trevor Brooking scored his only ever headed goal, that was special.” 

In recent years Neil has been involved in taking an Otago team to the Milk Cup (now known as the Super Cup). These trips have often been combined with a tour of the UK, “In the early 2000’s, we travelled to Newcastle and played their Young Professionals, Bobby Robson was on the touchline. I don’t know how, but we were 1-1 at half time, he was giving a bit of instruction! We ended up losing that game 3-1 or 4-1. Afterwards, we found out we’d played a guy that was about 23 who’d been signed from Real Sociedad for over a million!” 

Neil was ahead of his time with his training sessions, introducing plyometric sessions to his players back in 1984, “I’ve been doing plyometrics sessions once a week since ‘84, I take a group on a Monday night, last season it was Richard Kerr-Bell and Green Island’s women’s team, and this year I’ve been doing them with the Roslyn women’s team, it’s open to other people too.”  We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Neil again on becoming a life member and thank him for all the time he has spent developing players within our region! 

Article added: Tuesday 25 May 2021