Only One Trialist Out Of League Soccer

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31987, 14 May 1969, Page 19

Only One Trialist Out Of League Soccer

Only one of Canterbury’s five national soccer trialists has definitely decided not to make himself available for his club’s southern league competition matches on Saturday.

The Christchurch City and former New Zealand . goal-keeper, 0. Nuttridge, who was troubled by an injured knee in ; the pre-season floodlight tournament, has decided not to risk renewing the injury before the national trial at Wellington on Sunday.

“The knee has not given me any more trouble since the start of the season but J cannot see any reason for taking a risk at this stage,” Nuttridge said last evening.

“The club has a fine player, Tony Fleming, to take my place, as he did in the floodlight tournament, so that I do not feel I would be letting the club down.” Three of the other national trialists Nuttridge’s clubmate and Christchurch City’s player-coach, A. Gowans, and K. France and G. Davis, both of Technical, have told their clubs they will be available.

The fifth player, D. Phillips (New Brighton), said last evening that no decision had yet been made although he had discussed the matter with the club coach, Mr G. Spiers. The question of whether players should be available for their club matches on the day before the national trial was not resolved when the teams were selected last Sunday.

Transfers Urged The South Island selector, Mr G. Evans, on Monday recommended that the Canterbury clubs with players in the trial teams should try to get their matches transferred to another date so that the players themselves should not be asked to make the decision which might be contrary to the loyalties they feel to their clubs. The onus fell on the clubs yesterday after the Southern League Committee decided it could not act in the matter. Its secretary, Mr M. Pahi, said he had consulted the other two senior league officials, Messrs M. W. MacKenzie (chairman) and A. G. Paine (fixtures), and they had “unanimously decided not to grant dispensations because our rules say that a club has to have three players in a trial before the dispensation clause can be used. “In this case, two clubs have two players each and therefore we cannot permit these Saturday league games to be transferred.” When the Technical club officials discussed the question with France and Davis

at a training session last evening, the players agreed to make themselves available for Saturday’s matches but asked if the club would seek to have their match against Shamrock transferred to another day.

Agreement This switch of : dates had earlier been supported by the Shamrock officials who had told the southern league committee that they would be agreeable to the match being played under floodlights on a Wednesday night. Two officials of the Technical club, Messrs A. L. Gray and J. S. Chalmers, the coach, later spoke to Mr Pahi, who told them that the league committee had already made its decision and it could not now be changed. “The Press” soccer reporter writes: The whole problem

has stemmed from the failure of the New Zealand Football Association to lay down a rule on the availability of players before next Sunday’s national trial match. By leaving it open the N.Z.F.A. has forced clubs’ and’ players into an invidious position arid caused considerable concern amongst both.

The trial match on Sunday will decide the New Zealand team to play the touring English F.A. side at Auckland on June 11 and will probably decide the nucleus of the World Cup squad. None of the trialists want to do anything that might hamper their chances of selection, yet they also feel they cannot let down their clubs.

If the N.Z.F.A. had had strong feelings on this matter it should have announced them at the time of the selection instead of leaving it to individuals to decide.