With that first cheque, I bought clothing or a pair of trainers. I remember it well because English clothing and fashion culture was very different. I had turned up in my clothes from New Zealand and got the piss taken out of me quite a lot. So, I ended up buying some English gear.<\/p>\n
Chris Wood in his early days with the national side.<\/p>\n
Finn Surman<\/p>\n
Age: 22. Caps: 21. Debut: November 2023<\/p>\n
First team<\/p>\n
Selwyn United, 10th grade. I played football at school but not seriously until I was 10. Before that it was hockey \u2013 a lot of hockey. Also cricket, a bit of athletics, volleyball, swimming.<\/p>\n
First boots<\/p>\n
I got pink Nike Mercurials from Rebel Sport, same as a schoolmate.<\/p>\n
Your first pay cheque<\/p>\n
I joined up with the Phoenix first team in November 2021.<\/a> There were four or five academy boys that went over to Australia during Covid. We got a living allowance, around $250 a week. <\/p>\n It was great; I was still in the reserves but getting paid to be in the first team and I was in Sydney. I went straight to Uniqlo \u2013 which is my favourite shop \u2013 and bought a couple of T-shirts and a pair of shorts.<\/p>\n Callan Elliot<\/p>\n Age: 26. Caps: 12. Debut: March 2023<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n They were black Nikes, fake leather ones. I just remember them having Ronaldinho on them, so I was buzzing.<\/p>\n First club<\/p>\n Annan Athletic in Scotland, then Nelson City when we came to New Zealand. We were called the Stingers.<\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n I remember it well. I went out and bought a PlayStation 4 that same day. It seemed a lot then, but it wasn\u2019t much looking back now.<\/p>\n Michael Woud<\/p>\n Age: 27 Caps: 6 Debut: June 2018.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Bucklands Beach. Then Fencibles. I also played for Eastern Suburbs, Papakura, Waitakere and Bay Olympic when I was young.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n Lotto and then Asics. Now Asics, they sponsor me, so it\u2019s pretty cool. But the most memorable thing was my parents getting me Reusch gloves; they sacrificed a lot to buy me good goalkeeping gloves.<\/p>\n First pay cheque?<\/p>\n I was on a scholarship at Sunderland. We got \u00a3135 ($315) a week and it felt pretty cool. I remember getting in trouble with my mum because I bought a Louis Vuitton wash bag thinking I was the bee\u2019s knees. I paid \u00a3600 ($1400). She told me to go back and return it, but I kept it. I still use it now, so that\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n Nando Pijnaker<\/p>\n Age: 27. Caps: 25. Debut: November 2019.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Kaharoa School in Rotorua. My first club was Ngongotah\u0101, which I joined when I was 8. <\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n I have a New Balance contract, so I don\u2019t know if I can say, but I had some other branded boots.<\/p>\n Your first pay cheque<\/p>\n At Western Suburbs in Wellington. We got $80 per game, and it was amazing. At the time I thought, \u2018Oh, I\u2019ve made it\u2019.<\/p>\n I probably just bought groceries or petrol for the car. I didn\u2019t do anything special. But the first time I signed a professional contract, I bought the latest iPhone. That was my big purchase.<\/p>\n Francis de Vries<\/p>\n Age: 31. Caps: 20. Debut: November 2021<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n The under-sixes at Cashmere Wanderers. It was my glory days. Playing left wing, getting forward.<\/a> We were at the local park down the road. I am pretty sure there were no nets in the goals.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n Lottos \u2013 that was the big boots back then. My parents always made me look after them. We had these water tins, off the garage roof to collect the rainwater. After training, they\u2019d give you a brush and we\u2019d get out there and clean the boots. That taught us discipline.<\/p>\n Your first pay cheque<\/p>\n It was at Vancouver Whitecaps. I was 22, after finishing college. It was a good feeling but I quickly realised that money wasn\u2019t the driving force. I\u2019m not going to lie, everyone plays for that and tries to get good contracts but I wasn\u2019t earning much back then, so it obviously wasn\u2019t a massive tangible difference in my life. <\/p>\n What I got, I spent on rent. Vancouver wasn\u2019t cheap.<\/p>\n Marko Stamenic<\/p>\n Age: 24. Caps: 41. Debut: October 2021<\/p>\n First club?<\/p>\n Stokes Valley. From memory, we were called the Thunderstorms.<\/p>\n First pair of boots?<\/p>\n I remember it well because I was hustling my dad for a long time.<\/a> I wanted the Nike Mercurial Vapours. I loved watching Ronaldo. I was a big fan when I was younger (still am), and they were his boots. <\/p>\n So, I was asking dad for many years: \u201cOh, can I please have them?\u201d But they were hard to source in New Zealand, especially back then. When we visited my grandparents in Melbourne, we found a Nike outlet. That was my first proper pair of boots. I was 9.<\/p>\n First pay cheque?<\/p>\n We got a few dollars at Team Wellington but that was just petrol money. My first proper contract was when I moved to Denmark. That was a surreal feeling. I had relied on mum and dad for money throughout my youth, so it was great to finally be independent and then start to pay them back in some way<\/p>\n I remember buying something for my mum, dad and sister because it was just before Christmas. Getting a present for them was the first thing I wanted to do.<\/p>\n Logan Rogerson<\/p>\n Age: 28: Caps: 18. Debut: November 2015.<\/p>\n I played for Hamilton North club and Horotiu Primary. I started around 10 at the club. So, relatively late.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n The cheapest pair, probably Mitre. As dad played rugby league, they were probably league boots. I\u2019ve told this story a few times, when he took me to my first-ever league training. I got tackled, started crying, and he\u2019s like: \u201cI\u2019m never bringing you back here.\u201d So it was football. <\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n I had signed a three-year scholarship deal at the Wellington Phoenix.<\/a> We got around $3000, maybe $4000 a month. It was a nice feeling. I bought a designer toilet bag, because that\u2019s what Premier League players had. I spent almost my whole cheque on a stupid little Gucci bag. It lasted a long time \u2013 so it was worth it \u2013 but it cost like $2000, so it was a bit silly, looking back now.<\/p>\n Max Crocombe<\/p>\n Age: 32. Caps: 26. Debut: March 2018.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Great Linford FC. I was 6 or 7, and they were just up the road from me.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n I had Paul Gascoigne\u2019s boots, they were Diadoras. Black with a green logo.<\/p>\n First pay cheque?<\/p>\n In the youth team at Oxford United. It was incredible to be paid to play football. I remember buying a bus pass \u2013 that was all I could afford \u2013 to get myself to training. From my digs, it was a 10-minute drive but an hour on the bus. I couldn\u2019t drive so we had to bus. We got \u00a330 a week and the bus pass was \u00a336 quid a month. I\u2019ll never forget it \u2013 the 653 bus from Risinghurst.<\/p>\n Libby Cacace<\/p>\n Age: 25. Caps: 39. Debut: June 2018.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Island Bay. I was 7 years old. We were called the Sharks. Before that, I was always playing in the backyard with my brother and his mates.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about the first pair, but I remember dad brought back some boots from Italy. They were Nike \u2013 yellow \u2013 and the first pair of coloured boots I had owned because before that, dad had always insisted on black ones.<\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n I signed my first contract when I was in Hong Kong, playing in a tournament for the Phoenix.<\/a> I don\u2019t know if I bought anything but I was given a credit card by mum and dad around that time because they were always controlling my money. With that first one, it was probably going to the school tuck shop or putting fuel in my car. I wasn\u2019t that impulsive back then. <\/p>\n Elijah Just<\/p>\n Age: 26. Caps: 46. Debut: November 2019.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n It was indoor football. My mum took me down to watch one of my friends, and then someone was sick, or wasn\u2019t there and I joined in. That was where my love of the game started. I was 5 years old. Later, my parents signed me up for the local club in Palmerston North.<\/p>\n First pair of boots<\/p>\n White Adidas Predators, with a golden tongue and gold three stripes. I was 7 or 8.<\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n I was at Helsingor, in Denmark.<\/a> I don\u2019t remember what I spent it on, but I was self-sufficient. I was living, playing football and although there wasn\u2019t much money to save or to spend on something fancy, I was stoked to call myself a fulltime footballer. It\u2019s always a big jump when you go from earning nothing to earning something. It was enough to eat, enough to live with my host family and be fully focused on football.<\/p>\n Sarpreet Singh<\/p>\n Age: 27. Caps: 30. Debut: March 2018.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Papatoetoe AFC. I was 4 years old.<\/p>\n First pair of boots<\/p>\n I remember these Adidas ones, where you pull the tongue over and tuck it in. I don\u2019t know what they were called.<\/p>\n First paycheque<\/p>\n I was 16, in the Phoenix Scholarship Academy.<\/a> We didn\u2019t get much and that was covering our rent. We got $300\/week and our home stay was $260 a week so we had $40 left over. When I got my first pro contract at 18, I bought a Louis Vuitton wash bag. It\u2019s quite typical, a footballer\u2019s thing. When you\u2019re younger, you always want one.<\/p>\n Ryan Thomas<\/p>\n Age: 31. Caps: 27. Debut: March 2014.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n Three Kings United. I never made any special squads. I was probably in the second or third team for my age.<\/p>\n First boots<\/p>\n Red Lottos. They were cheap hand-me-downs from my brother.<\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n It was a big moment and a nice taste of what can happen in football. I went to Holland with almost nothing in my bank account and that was big difference … the first time I got a decent amount of money for myself. I bought a PlayStation \u2013 my first big purchase.<\/p>\n Joe Bell<\/p>\n Age: 27. Caps: 34. Debut: November 2019.<\/p>\n First team<\/p>\n I played at Ferrymead Bays in Christchurch. Dad was coach. I have great memories of that time.<\/p>\n First pair of boots<\/p>\n My favourite ones were the old Adidas Predators, with the grip on the inside. They were quite iconic.<\/p>\n First paycheque<\/p>\n I got something special. A new surfboard, I think.<\/p>\n Jesse Randall<\/p>\n Age: 23. Caps: 13. Debut: June 2024.First team<\/p>\n Hataitai School was my first team. My primary school team.<\/p>\n First pair of boots<\/p>\n I can\u2019t remember the first pair, but I love the Messi ones, the 15.1s. I always got Messi boots at college because he was my favourite player.<\/p>\n First pay cheque<\/p>\n I was at Charleston (US).<\/a> I spent it on groceries, since it was my first time living away from home.<\/p>\n Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\nFinn Surman goes after the ball for the Phoenix in 2021. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Nando Pijnaker in action with Team Wellington in 2017. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marko Stamenic with his father Niko. Photo \/ Instagram<\/p>\n
Libby Cacace playing for the Wellington Phoenix against Melbourne Victory in 2019. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Joe Bell in action for the Phoenix youth team. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n