U.K. club wants to sign Black

Press, 12 July 1985, Page 36

U.K. club wants to sign Black

An English soccer club is attempting to sign the striker, John Black, who ran out on Christchurch Brother United earlier this season. Black disappeared, without informing United officials, or his team-mates, and owes the club a considerable amount of money.

United has withheld his international clearance until the debt is settled. Black is unable to play for any other club until he obtains that clearance. The secretary of the New Zealand Football Association, Mr Gwyn Evans, confirmed yesterday that he has received a request from the English Football Association for details on Black’s clearance. The English association was acting on behalf of the club. Mr Evans said he had “no idea” which club was trying to sign Black, who scored three goals in his four Rothmans League matches for United. He has written back to the English association, informing it of the situation. The next step, said Mr Evans, will be for the English club to come back to its association, if it still wants the services of Black. The United coach, Mr Laurie Blyth, reiterated yesterday that until Black repays what he owes the club, the clearance will be retained.

Of more immediate concern to the club are injuries to three players, and the suspension «f a fourth. These could pose Mr Blyth problems in preparing for United’s national league match against Southmall Manurewa in Auckland on Sunday. The English striker, John Hanson, and the utility player, Marcel Verweij, both have knee ligament.

General forecast: A depression over the north Tasman Sea is moving south-east. Northern and central New Zealand: areas of rain spreading south. South of the South Island: mainly cloudy and cold. District Forecasts: Canterbury: Moderate east or north-east winds, scattered rain developing in the north, and possibly spreading elsewhere tonight.

strains, while the injuryplagued Robbie Larter again has problems with a hamstring. The midfielder, Graeme Archer, will miss the match through a one-match suspension. United beat Manurewa with a last-minute goal when they met at English Park in a match in which two players were sent off. Both are struggling for points in the bottom half of the table. Manurewa has conceded 15 goals in its last four matches, and has been knocked out of the Le Coq Sportif Chatham Cup. Indeed, had Napier City Rovers not performed so poorly in the first half of the national league, both teams could now have a stiff relegation battle on their hands. In the other national league matches on Sunday, 4XO Dunedin City will meet DB Wellington, NZ Permanent Gisborne will play Napier, National Mutual Miramar will entertain Masport Mount Wellington, University Cowan will face McKee Nelson United and the league leader, HanimexNorth Shore, will play Landbase Papatoetoe. Hurricane Rangers will be looking to cement their lead in the Hertz League’s northern zone when they meet Nomads United at Rangers Park tomorrow. Victory will give them at least a two-point lead over Cockram Nissan Shamrock, with a match in hand. Shamrock will face Western, which beat it in the first round. In the other matches, Woolston W.M.C. will play KLM Cashmere, South Canterbury United will entertain Frucci Halswell United and New Brighton will play Christchurch United’s reserves.

Marlborough, Nelson, Buller, Westland: Some rain spreading from the north today, cool, with light or moderate easterlies. Extended range forecast to Monday: Canterbury: cloudy, some rain spreading east from the mountains especially on Sunday, Marlborough: northeasterlies from tomorrow, cloudy, some rain; Nelson, Buller, Westland: unsettled, rain.

CHRISTCHURCH READINGS

Observations taken at the Meteorological Office, Christchurch Airport, yesterday. Barometer .... 6 p.m. 11 pan. Millibars .... 1020.0 1019.4 Temperature: deg. Maximum (to 6 p.m.) . . 8 Rainfall: mm. 9 a.m. to 11 p.m Nil To date this month. . . . Trace To date this year 195 To date last year 365 Average to date 360 Average for July 62 Wettest July (1977).... 181 Driest July (1967) 5 Sunshine: hrs Yesterday 0 hr 48 min To date this month. ... 57 To date this year 1243 To date last year 1098 Average for July 122 Humidity: Per cent at n00n..... 73 Per cent at 6 p.m 76 Temperatures and rainfall for the 24 hours to 9 a.m. yesterday: Maximum 11 deg, minimum -4 deg, grass -6 deg, rainfall Nil SUN, MOON, AND TIDES Sun — Today: Rises, 8 a.m.; sets, 5.10 p.m. Tomorrow: Rises, 7.59 a.m.; sets, 5.10 p.m. Moon — Today: Rises, 2.19 a.m.; sets, 12.47 p.m. Tomorrow: Rises, 3.22 a.m.; sets 1.11 p.m. High tide at Lyttelton — Today: — and 12.27 p.m. Tomorrow: 12.44 a.m. and 1.12 p.m. (Lake Forsyth, subtract 60min; Akaroa, subtract 45min; Port Levy, subtract 30min; Ashburton and Rakaia, subtract 25min; Kaikoura, add 17min; Kaiapoi and Sumner, add 30min.) Phases of Moon New moon: July 18. First quarter July 25; Full moon: August 1. Last quarter August 9.

NOON WEATHER Auckland: 15 deg., cloudy, E., 16 knots. Wellington: 9 deg., cloudy, calm. Christchurch: 4 deg., cloudy, calm. Dunedin: 7 deg., partly cloudy, calm. Air Pollution Christchurch readings for 24 hours to 9 a.m. yesterday: smoke, high; sulphur dioxide, low. WORLD WEATHER Minimum and maximum temperatures in the main Australian cities yesterday were: Adelaide, 5, 14; Brisbane, 12, 21; Canberra, -3,14; Darwin, 15, 26; Hobart, 2, 12; Melbourne, 5, 16; Perth, 12,19 (noon); Sydney, 12, 17. Minimum and maximum temperatures in the main cities of the world in the last 24 hours Were; Amsterdam, 14, 20; Athens, 20, 34; Bahrain, 30, 35; Bangkok, 25, 31; Barbados, 24, 30; Beirut, 26, 31; Belgrade, 14, 25; Bogota, 7, 18; Brussels, 12, 25; Buenos Aires 5, 11; Cairo, 22, 35; Caracas, 19, 27; Chicago, 17, 33; Copenhagen, 11, 20; Denpasar, 24, 32; Dublin, 12, 19; Frankfurt, 11, 20; Geneva, 12, 26; Hong Kong, 27, 30; Honolulu, 24, 32; Jakarta, 23, 32; Jerusalem, 16, 26; Kuala Lumpur, 23, 33; Lima, 14, 17; Lisbon, 17, 27; London, 13, 22; Los Angeles, 22, 38; Madrid, 18, 34; Manila, 22, 34; Mexico City, 13, 25; Montevideo, 7, 11; Montreal, 16, 25; Moscow, 11, 21; New Delhi, 25, 34; New York, 20, 29; Nicosia, 18, 35; Oslo, 11, 21; Paris, 15, 26; Peking, 22, 31; Rio De Janeiro, 16, 26; Rome, 17, 32; San Francisco, 18, 32; Santiago, 5, 17; Sao Paulo, 10, 22; Seoul, 23, 27; Singapore, 24, 31; Taipei, 26, 33; Tel Aviv, 20, 28; Tokyo, 23, 28; Toronto, 12, 24; Vancouver, 13, 25; Vienna, 12, 25; Warsaw, 10, 18.