Instituted in 2008, the Auckland Football Federation Long Service Medal is awarded to devoted volunteers to the game in our region.

The first set of medals were presented to the six recipients at the end of year volunteer function on Tuesday 16 December at Bay Olympic's clubrooms.

Auckland Football Federation Long Service Medal recipients

Kiri Morris - 2008

Morris, who joined the referee ranks in 1981, has served as president, vice-president and secretary of the Auckland Football referee group and though no longer an active whistler, devotes his time and skill to coaching the younger referees each weekend. 

Loryn Tompsett - 2008

Tompsett became a referee in 1991 and although now coaching rather than taking the middle, spent 10 years in another unseen role, that of appointing officials to youth and senior matches. Tompsett also served on the referees centenary sub committee through to the celebration in 1998 and was chairperson of the Auckland Football Referees group in 2005.

Trevor Bradford - 2008 

Bradford picked up a whistle in 1984 and served on the Auckland Football referees management committee for nine years from 1999-2007. He also serves on the Victoria Park Cultural Trust, overseeing the referees’ financial interests in the buildings and use of facilities for referee training and meetings. While also qualified as a referee coach, Bradford’s 28 years of active refereeing still continues.

Rob McCarthy - 2008 

McCarthy has devoted most of his club life to improving the junior section of his Ellerslie AFC club since becoming involved in the mid 1990’s. He took on the accounts and administration of the junior club before moving to the more operational side, as he followed his children through age grades. McCarthy has also been involved in the annual round of grading youth teams into championship divisions for Auckland Football after the initial stage of competition.

Bill Raffles - 2008

Raffles first joined his club (then known as Cornwall AFC) as a junior in 1960, before turning to administration in 1979. He has been secretary, first team or reserve team manager for over 30 years and remains the heart of his club, still fundraising, creating match programmes as well as being the essential link to Auckland Football. He also served on the Auckland Football Senior Management Committee from 1980-1983.

Jeremy Ruane - 2008

Although Ruane is not specifically attached to a club or an appointed official of the game, he is instantly recognisable to anyone who has an interest in Auckland Football through his writings for local media and his own web site. His passionate promotion of football, and in particular the women’s game, has aided greatly to the development of the sport in the Auckland region and comes at the end of a year in which women’s football has taken centre stage.

Nga Kairua - 2009

Kairua joined as a referee in 1984, and after a short break, continues to serve the game today. He has totalled 21 years of active service, and in the past five years also acting as a referee coach passing on his experience to others. He served as president on the committee of the Counties Manukau Referees Association from 1988 to 1996 and as the Senior Appointments Officer for what was then Soccer2 from 2006-07. Nga’s daughter Tiana is one of the Auckland Football Federation’s leading young female referees.

Pam Luhrs - 2009

Pam has been involved in the Papatoetoe AFC club since joining as a player in 1987. After being elected secretary in 1993, Pam still holds that role today. In fact, the job she has done is so good that the task of treasurer has been merged into it. Over the years Pam has managed a number of club ladies teams, was part of the women’s group reporting to the Board of Soccer2 in 2000. Pam also runs the canteen, is gear steward, assists behind the bar, until this year prepared the club’s programme for first team match days, organises the club’s 7-a-side summer competition, liaises with Manukau Parks, and co-ordinates the juniors. Pam was honoured with life membership of the club in 2003, and in 2006 received an external Services to Sport award.

Yvonne White - 2009

White was elected to the Manurewa AFC junior club committee in 1972, and was registration secretary until 1984. During this time she represented the club as delegate to the Franklin and district Junior Football Association (JFA), became chair and represented the JFA to the Franklin Control Board. Yvonne has served two stints as club secretary; from 1985-1992 as well as her current tenure which began in 2000, while also taking on the treasurer role at times. Yvonne was awarded life membership of the club during her first period as club secretary.

Terry Smith - 2009

Smith was first active as a referee in 1973 and is still doing his time in the middle after no less than 36 years. He has found time along the way for two stints as publicity officer; firstly for the Counties Manukau Referees Association and later the Auckland Soccer Referees Association. As an assistant referee in national leagues from 1979-85 he was in the right place to be invited to referee All Whites practice games in their most famous hour 1981-2, and then travelled to Spain to support them. Away from football he has run 18 marathons in 10 countries. In 2008 he was recognised by his peers as winner of the Ian Hiscox Trophy for services to refereeing.

Ivy Vela - 2009

Vela has served as Central United FC secretary with dignity and grace providing a service to members at her club level for 14 years. She is also a background figure also at franchise entity level since Auckland City FC’s creation for the NZFC. Vela is never one to seek the limelight, always doing her job and way beyond it for the game, for the club and for the people that she serves so well. She received recognition in 2006 as the NFSL Administrator of the Year award and then was honoured by Sport Auckland in 2007 with a Service to Sport Award.

Roy Cox - 2009

One of many football immigrants from the United Kingdom, his involvement in football in New Zealand started small, as a reserve team coach at Eden AFC in 1972 - just a year later he got the job of treasurer and secretary. Although he was involved in boys coaching for the Auckland Football Association, and played a key role in helping to fund the All Whites campaign leading to Spain in 1982, he made an indelible mark in his promotion of women’s football. Cox has coached women’s club teams at Eden, Three Kings United and University-Mt Wellington AFC, and led Auckland representative team in three stints covering 11 years, (seven of them unbeaten) taking eight national titles. Instead of receiving awards, he has donated them, and a shield bearing his name is still played for between Auckland and Wellington representative teams - a legacy of his early days creating regional and national structures for the women’s game. Cox remains chairman of the University-Mt Wellington club.

Ann Sova - 2009

Sova has been at the heart of Lynndale AFC, which later became Lynn-Avon Utd AFC, for the last 38 years holding a variety of positions in the club (currently as president); chairperson, treasurer and football delegate for both the junior and senior, men’s and women’s sides of the club. Sova also served many years on the executive committee for the Auckland Junior Football Association and also was Lynndale’s delegate to the women’s association.

An Slecht - 2009 

Slecht joined Papatoetoe AFC in 1971 and soon after began managing the club canteen, serving the club in that position a further 18 years until 1993 when she became a life member. Slecht has also held a number of positions on the club’s junior and senior committees including junior chairperson, treasurer, registration delegate and gear steward and was a key member of a number of fundraising initiatives the club have taken part in over the years.

Tony Andrews - 2009 

Andrews was a founder member of the Green Bay Titirangi Sports Club in 1972 and served two stints as secretary before becoming a life member in 1982. After the club merged with Blockhouse Bay to become Bay Olympic, he became part of the club’s Junior Committee from 1998 to 2001 and has currently sits on the executive committee, a role he began in 2003. He is also a member of the football committee, is the club’s match-day programme editor, match-day announcer and after-match speaker.

Tony Pickering - 2009 

Pickering was elected to the Eden AFC Management Committee in 1985 initially as gear steward and publicity officer before becoming treasurer at the club in 1988 - a role he performed up until the club merged with Mt Roskill AFC to form Three Kings United in 1995. Since then he has been a member of the Three Kings United executive committee holding various positions including treasurer and more recently secretary. Pickering is a Three Kings United life member.

Danna Mandry - 2009

Mandry has been with her club since Howick AFC and Pakuranga Town AFC came together to form Fencibles United AFC in 1995. Mandry has been the club secretary for 10 years and has filled the role of women's club captain, youth coordinator, building and facilities manager, bar manager, caterer, cleaner, mentor to many of the youth players at the club.

Peter Shackleton - 2009 

Shackleton joined the Auckland Soccer Referees Association in 1988 at age 55. Over the next 20 years he refereed almost exclusively at youth and secondary schools matches while being acknowledged along the way by the now Auckland Football Federation Referees with a number of awards. During that time he also served six years as Youth Appointments Officer as well as seven seasons, including 2009, on the executive committee. Shackleton is now also a referee coach.

Brian Teirney - 2010

Teirney has been a part of the Junior/Youth Division of Ellerslie AFC for over 20 years, moving from a parental support/coaching role over the initial years into an administrative role in more recent times. He has overseen the doubling of the Division’s playing numbers whilst also taking on a prime role in the development of the Tamaki League, involving 6th-11th grade players from the wider footballing community in the greater Auckland area.

Graham Whitford - 2010

Whitford joined the Auckland Soccer Referees Association in 1982. He rose through the ranks from local football all the way up to Northern Premier League and National League. In addition to his refereeing, he has been looking after the apparel needs of the referees, uniforms, flags, whistle’s and providing a service that is second to none around the country.

Mate Tolj - 2010

Tolj has served the game across a number of sectors for a staggering period of 44 years since becoming involved with his Central United FC club. In that time, he has held every position in the club including making a first team appearance as a player. He was president of the club during the late 1980s and was awarded life membership in 1999. Tolj also served as an Auckland Football administrator in years gone by and has also totalled approximately 20 years of service as a referee of the game.

David Downing - 2010

Downing began his association with his club in 1982. He coached his son’s 8th grade midget team in 1984 and since that time he has filled a number of roles with the club including coach, manager, committee member and senior chairman, groundsman among many others. He was an integral part of the group that worked towards the amalgamation of Green Bay Titirangi and Blockhouse Bay that saw the birth of the club he’s still serves – Bay Olympic.

Colin Sargent - 2010

Sargent transferred from Cornwall FC to Mt Roskill AFC in the mid-1960’s and quickly established himself in the 1st team of the club. He went on to complete around 300 league and cup appearances over the next 20 years. He served on the Executive at Mount Roskill AFC and then Three Kings United FC following the merger with Eden AFC and is a Life Member of the Club. He currently serves on the Senior Playing Committee at Three Kings United and has long been involved with running the bar facilities and also assists with all aspects of the grounds and facilities at his club’s home at Keith Hay Park.

Margaret McKenna - 2010

McKenna has been involved in the game for more than 20 years and literally built her club – Papatoetoe United - from scratch. She established the junior club before developing its senior branch and while coaching teams and generally keeping things going, has been the one and only club president since it’s inception during the 1990s. McKenna has already been honoured with a Counties Manukau Sports Award in 2002, life membership of her club in 2005 and a Papatoetoe Service to Sport award.