“This creates more opportunities for New Zealand footballers, which is great. And the draw of New Zealand’s first professional football derby is going to be huge,” says Shaun, whose top role at what was formerly Aotearoa’s only A-League football side came after a lifetime of coaching and sports management success.
Despite ‘Director of Football’ being the type of job kids might say they’d like to be when they grow up, it wasn’t exactly what he planned when growing up in Titahi Bay. “When I started university, I thought I might aim to join the police force.
“I began a major in sociology, because at the time you needed that to get into criminology in second year. I realised by the end of that first year that I didn’t want to join the police, so I added education to my degree,” says Shaun, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and education, alongside a love of football.
While at university, he played football for Wellington and Miramar FC, because they were the two national league clubs based in Wellington. “One of the cool things about university is you make mates from outside your home town. I made friends from Taranaki and Gisborne, as well as from overseas through football, and they were influential in my future direction.
“When I was doing a window-cleaning job I met Stu Jacobs, who coached New Zealand football; and businessman Nick Mills, who gave me a job as events and project manager at the Basin Reserve when I was 21. He was a massive mentor for me getting into sports and events management.”
Shaun’s football career was stymied by breaking his tibia and fibia shortly after finishing uni, “I went over to the UK, and when I returned I picked up a few games here and there, but it was never the same.” Shaun completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management at Massey, then worked his way up to general manager of the Saints basketball team—the role he held prior to joining the Phoenix.
He was the first in his family to pursue tertiary education, and he says that this had intergenerational impact. “University was always spoken of with our kids as being important. My eldest daughter is now first year doing Law at Vic, and excelling. The next generation picks it up.”
He considers the soft skills he learned in his initial Arts degree as being important for his skills coaching and managing people. “My sociology degree helped me understand what makes people tick, how they operate. Why they do what they do.”
As Head of Football, everybody in the football department of the Phoenix reports to him. “While the coaches also have a line through to the chairperson, all the staff under the head coaches report through to me. We’ve got sports scientists, physiotheraphy, psychologists, nutritionists, doctors—it’s grown significantly since I started.”
Shaun is a dedicated Wellingtonian—not only having grown up here, but having helmed many of our major sports teams. He appreciates the positive impact that Yellow Fever Ngā Wana Kōwhai has on the Phoenix. “The core guys that set it up were Wellingtonians, and they have been amazing for the club. I used to go and stand with them during games, they are incredible.”
While he identifies the previous season as the highlight of his career, Shaun wasn’t at Sky Stadium during the sold-out Phoenix semi-final against Melbourne Victory. “I had knee surgery on 24 April, and it got infected. So I had to watch the sold-out game from my hospital bed! So it was a highlight and a lowlight.”
If you are keen to be at the top of sports administration, it’s handy to have a degree, says Shaun. “It may not be a direct line to help your career, but I know how to read a research report, how to write, how to put proposals, presentations together—for me, this came from university.
“But my main tip is you need to get involved. To get to this level in football—or any sport—get involved in the game at all levels.”