'Who were the larrikins? I'm not sure I should tell who the larrikins were,” says Ron Murray. 'We were all larrikins really; we'd all take the mickey out of one another.
'There were comedians that always made us laugh...and, of course, the quieter guys...they were the better footy players as they concentrated more on the game.”
The game being soccer – the team being Tauranga Boys' College's 1973 First XI soccer squad.
Ron, one of 13 ‘boys' still alive, has been working hard with teammates Keith Tempest, Don Good and Graham Ingall to reunite the team. This weekend will finally see 10 of the 14 lads come together at TBC for the 50th reunion. They all went to school together – and had gained a triumphant reputation. The 1973 team in its regular competition played 11 games and won 11, scoring 52 goals and conceding 15.
On tour
This had them in good spirits as they headed to a week-long national secondary schools' soccer tournament in Christchurch from August 17-24, 1973. Then they spent two weeks touring the South Island 'in a bus our coach drove down from Tauranga”, returning home September 7, 1973.
Ron, from Auckland, can't wait meet his old buddies again. 'It's 50 years since we were those long-haired soccer boys, and not running around on zimmerframes,” he jokes.
Ron says back then Christchurch was far to take a bunch of boys. It was their coach Tony Wilkinson – who'll be at the reunion – who drove the tour bus with his wife and young baby son in tow. 'We were sort of in the charge of the Wilkinson family and we just had a really interesting time. Our trip took in Wellington, before taking the ferry to Christchurch, Rangatira. Post-tournament, we toured Ashburton, Geraldine, Fairlie, Lake Pukaki, Oamaru, Palmerston, Dunedin, Milton, Balclutha, Gore, Lumsden, Te Anau, Queenstown, Haast (Okuru), Franz Josef, Greymouth, Reefton, Murchison, Nelson, Picton, and Palmerston North,” recalls Ron.
'Part of our tour fundraising was picking and selling grapefruit – the back of the bus had large stocks of the fruit to keep our vitamin C levels up!”
Ron says 10 lads will attend the reunion – a dinner at TBC this Saturday, May 6, and a breakfast for players and partners the next morning. Ex-players attending are Colin Shannon, Don Good, Hans Meys, Stuart Atkins, Keith Tempest, Graeme Burton, Peter Moczydlowski, Cavin Goodman, Graham Ingall and Ron. Unable to attend is Lindsey Corby, Keith Black and Marty Carr.
Meeting up 50 years later is special because many have lost touch. 'I had no idea how they'd ended up or what they were doing – so it's taken a bit of time to track them down,” says Ron.
Terry Mitchell
Sadly, teammate Terry Mitchell died in a 1980s top-dressing plane accident. Ron and Terry grew up together at the Mount. 'Terry went into the Air Training Corp...he and I flew to Great Barrier Island with mate Andy Graham in '74 to go surfing, with Terry the pilot. He was very capable. It broke our hearts when he died – he was such a lovely, funny guy.”
Ron reckons there'll be laughs and a few tears on the weekend. 'There'll be all manner of anecdotes – because we called into a lot of places...The guys will all have their own memories. We'll have Chatham House-type rules – so what goes on tour, stays on tour.”
Standout memories? Ron recalls the beauty of the west coast – and the fun of getting around the towns.
The comp? 'Things were tougher than back home. We won one game and lost two in the tournament; then won two games against teams that hadn't made the playoffs. Outside of Christchurch we played three games, drawing one and losing the others for a total tour record: Played: 8, Won: 3, Drew: 1, Lost: 4. Total goals: For: 18; Against: 17. Whew!”
The Tauranga Boys' College 1973 First XI soccer squad. Photo: supplied.