[FM24] Moana Pasifika - Rise of Oceania Football

[Feliks]

MOANA PASIFIKA

Growing up in Australia, I have always had a passing interest in football across the ditch in New Zealand. Wellington Phoenix are one of the few professional football clubs in the world to play outside of their home nation and the New Zealand league structure is constantly evolving and devolving as it encounters new problems and challenges. And as a long-time Football Manager nuff, the fortunes of other nations in Oceania also appeals to me. The smallest, poorest, least illustrious confederation by a staggering margin, with New Zealand's two appearances their only representation on the World Cup stage. I often wondered what would be the best way to drag Oceania into the footballing limelight.

So I have decided to use the FM24 editor to create my own, new reality, and try to improve football myself across the region. Moana Pasifika are a real-life rugby union club based in Auckland, who were founded in 2022 to compete in the Super Rugby competition and represent players of Pacific Island origin such as the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, all rugby strongholds who have produced numerous star players. In my reality, a joint venture from the New Zealand Rugby Union, New Zealand Football and Oceania Football Confederation also established an affiliated football team, playing under the same Moana Pasifika banner, but beginning life as an amateur club in the New Zealand regional tiers. Unlike the star-studded rugby franchise, this football team would be expected to grow naturally, albeit with two strong advantages - the limited use of the rugby team's elite training facilities, and the use of Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland as a home ground.

Moana Pasifika FC will begin life in Northern Region Football League One, sitting in the fourth tier of Kiwi football, and a small amateur league with only six teams and ten matches. They will draw on players from throughout Oceania to build their inaugural squad to compete in the league and the Chatham Cup and have already made arrangements with the OFC to conduct training camps throughout the Pacific in order to identify young talent. The ultimate aim of the club is to grow the game considerably throughout the region and provide a reliable pipeline for young players in the Pacific to play semi-professional football in New Zealand and then professional football in Australia or elsewhere.

The inauguaral manager of the side will be Wellington-born Tony Jamieson, who is the all-time record cap holder for the Cook Islands and who enjoyed a long career in the New Zealand football system. The league is due to begin in March with games roughly every month until November - most players will compete at a Sunday league level when not required for Moana Pasifika - which will give Jamieson around a month to build his first squad.