Home-Away Soccer “Desirable”

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32018, 19 June 1969, Page 20

Home-Away Soccer “Desirable”

(Neu) Zealand Preu Association) AUCKLAND. The tours director of the New Zealand Football Association, Mr C. J. Dempsey, said yesterday that to play Israel home and away in the qualifying round of the 1970 World Cup was both desirable and financially feasible.

He did not know whether the right to play Israel in Tel Aviv and in New Zealand could be obtained from F.1.F.A., soccer’s governing body, or whether the N.Z.F.A. would press for this change. New Zealand had agreed to play its World Cup qualifying games in Tel Aviv, when the group involved three nations—lsrael, North Korea and New Zealand. The governing factors in the decision to. play away from home were finance and travel, North Korea has since been ruled a non-starter, leaving New Zealand and Israel in one qualifying group, L . The move to push for home-and-away games against Israel was brought to a head after J. Armfleld, the player-msna-ger of the touring English F.A. team, added bis opinion that this would be very much in the interests of New Zealand soccer. Armfield felt that the N.Z.F.A. would be doing its players an injustice if it did not press for a home game now that North Korea’s withdrawal had removed some of the obstacles in the way of a full home-and-awsy round of games. Mr Dempsey said »ucb, * venture would be a gamble.

The N.Z.F.A. would now have to decide whether it would be worthwhile and whether giving its players a reasonable chance in their World Cup debut is worth pressing for. The N.Z.F.A. council will meet in Wellington tomorrow night.