How a short Wolves spell played a big part in New Zealand World Cup success for Ricki Herbert

Ricki Herbert, a defender at Wolves between 1984 and 1986, played at the one, and was the Head Coach at the other. Anointing him as a member of a fairly exclusive club to have both played and managed their national team at the Greatest Show on Earth.

To complete the set, 63-year-old Herbert would love to be at the 2026 Finals in North America…as a fan.  

And the All Whites, under another former Wolves defender in Darren Bazeley, are in sight of making that happen.

This Friday they will face Fiji in the semi-final of the Oceania qualifiers in Wellington, after which, should they progress, either New Caledonia and Tahiti would stand between them and a third World Cup finals.

With the expanded tournament, qualification this time would be automatic, rather than the play-off system which has seen them eliminated in the last three attempts since Herbert’s class of 2010 made it through to South Africa, and remained unbeaten with three draws in the group stages.

So, history beckons, and Herbert is confident that the Kiwis, under the tutelage of another former Wolves defender who has followed in his footsteps, will make it.

“I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but I think we are going to go to the next World Cup, and I would love to be there as a supporter,” he declares.

“I’ve played at the tournament, and managed, but now I want to be there in the stands to feel what it means to the fans.

“That is something I’ve not had the chance to experience before.”

Herbert and Bazeley are linked not only by their former Wolves connections. As with another former Molineux man, Neil Emblen, their paths have crossed in New Zealand.

“Both Neil and Darren were playing for an Auckland franchise (New Zealand Knights) in the A-league but the club effectively had their ownership taken away,” Herbert explains.

“I was working with New Zealand Football at the time, and was asked if I could take the team to the end of the season.

“It had been a challenging season and very difficult for them but both Darren and Neil stood out, and we finished it strongly with some wins.

“Testament to their abilities is that Neil went on to be assistant for the national team, taking the Olympic team in 2012, and had a role as interim coach for a time.

“Darren came through the youth ranks with his coaching, the Under-17s, the Under-20s and Under-23s, and now he’s the national coach, and I am sure will be stepping onto the world stage next year.”

Herbert’s forays onto the world stage came with those World Cups in 1982 as a player, and 2010 as a coach, and it was in between times that he found his way to Wolverhampton to sign for Wolves.

With a father Clive as a cyclist, and mother Shirley a sprinter, sport was certainly strongly within the Herbert genes, but for him, from a young age, it was always going to be football.

He made his name as a strong-tackling defender in league football back home, particularly with Mt Wellington AFC where he had won two league titles and two cups towards the start of his career, also winning his first senior international cap in a 4-0 win over Mexico when he was just 18.

Ahead of the 1982 World Cup, Herbert actually spent three months training with Wolves’ most recent opponents Southampton, when they had Laurie McMenemy as manager and the likes of Kevin Keegan, Alan Ball and Mick Channon in the squad.

A great spell of learning, it also whetted the appetite to try and test himself in England and, having played for Tommy Docherty at Sydney United, that chance duly arrived in the latter part of 1984.

“That time at Southampton gave me some super memories as it was a real privilege to go to a great club and train with so many talented people, just before the World Cup,” Herbert recalls.

“I’d then played under Tommy Doc at Sydney, who told me he would take me to England if he landed a new role, and that role turned out to be Wolves.

“A friend of his in New Zealand contacted my Dad, and within a few hours a contract was faxed over and the deal was in place.

“By pure co-incidence, the national team were heading over to England for a tour, so we flew into London before travelling up to Newcastle for our first game, and Tommy and his assistant came up and I signed the contract there and then.  It all happened very quickly.”