NUAFC 1968-2018

IAN MILLER
As a pipe smoker he used this to his advantage on a
number of occasions on foggy mornings to puff out extra clouds
to convert the fog to smog and g e t h i s t e a m t o s c o r e i n
t h e confusion!
BARCLAY McGHIE
Known as Jock and sometimes Muller he was
born in that Never Never Land north of England in a place
called Alva, Clackmannanshire. He reckons that if
Clackmannanshire were in Wales it would have been called
Clackmannan-shiregogogog!
He came to NZ in 1956 as a mere sprogg of 16 (not
his IQ) as a trainee Haggis-basher. As an avid soccer player
he was recruited into the local Forrest Lake football team
(wrong football, they played League!) before suddenly
switching to Tech Old Boys (before they became Hamilton
AFC). He stroked a ball about with them for 5 years and in
that time represented Waikato in the Under-18s under Ron
White and Arthur Parker.
A machinist/cabinet maker by trade he put his
skills to the test by building crates for the Apple and Pear
Board and knocked together the upstairs bar.
He is a connoisseur in the rare art of whiskey-spilling
and is invariably conned into betting for Scotland ag a i ns t
E n gl a n d i n s o cc e r internationals, thereby regularly
losing all his pocket money.
As a die-hard Rangers fan Ian was horrified to find
out that Narra wore Celtic colours (green) until he worked
out a compromise by wearing blue underwear. As a typical
scot you can always find a fork in his sugarbowl and
chalk marks up the side of his milk container.
Ever wondered what happened to the top of his
finger? Well, he lost it trying to dig his 20 cents back out of
the pool table after losing a game to Glen Gray!
BOB O'LEARY
In 1981 Lyn Everleigh (Secretary of the Junior body)
press-ganged Bob into coaching his son's 9th grade team,
thus starting his pro career with Narra. This happened
despite Bob's protestations about not knowing anything about the
game. "Just the person we want, then!" said Lyn.
That season came and went - and so did Bob! Then at
the Senior AGM in November he found himself on the
Committee closely followed in 1982 b y c o a ch o f t h e 1 1t h
g r a d e , a qualified member of the Waikato Referees
Association and also a Junior Committee member.
Barclay had a rather colourful nickname
but, like the Dog of Footrot Flats, it cannot be divulged.
Big Bark’ was born in Glasgow (where the inhabitants
all talk like they have a mouthful of haggis) and came to NZ
when six strapped onto his mother's back.
He played schoolboy soccer for Waikato and
North Island Juniors, making his Northern League debut with
AFFCo Rangers when just 14. He continued with AFFCo until
their amalgamation with Ngaruawahia in 1977 and has been a
squad regular apart from two visits to France.
In France he worked as a painter on the Eiffel Tower,
Notre Dame and the Louvre (where he gave the Mona Lisa that
enigmatic smile!). He played part time for a local team called
Callas while part-timing as a grape-treader in a French
vineyard.
He took Karen with him on the second visit
where they worked as Apache Dancers in a Cafe. It was
learned that Karen did the violent parts of the dancing
thereby training up Barclay for his future soccer techniques.
Always known for getting seasick in a waterbed they only
way he could get to sleep was get Karen to tickle his backside with
a feather!
DICK PLUME
Lincolnshire (just out of Taupiri) was the birthplace of
Richard (Dickie) Plume way back in the mid forties. He was
known to many as Hello Sailor and was only just taller than he
was wide.
He played for Leicester Senior Amateurs as
Captain for three years as well as for Ipswich before coming to
NZ as deck cargo on a submarine. Here he joined up with
Caversham, Dunedin City and was an Otago
representative. He moved on to Rotorua City for a season,
and then to Hamilton's National League squad for three years. In
1982 he moved to Narra as a defender.
His transfer fee of two jugs of beer and a packet of
chips was kept secret until he applied through the Privacy Act to
find out what it was two years later!
Popeye and Olive Oil had a dramatic e ffect on D ic k 's
p ro gre ss as a footballer. His ability to squint at the referee
while biting his tongue was only overshadowed by the over-sized
boots he wore and the severely combed-back hair style.
He proved to be a great addition to the club and
could be counted on to flatten at least on opposition player per
game, and could never get away from the reputation that he
was the original Lincolnshire Poacher - a case that still remains open
at Scotland Yard.
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