Heremaia "Harry" Ngata (born 24 August 1971) is a former

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Ngata began his career with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and may have been the first Maori footballer to play in the English league. Ngata won 1998 New Zealand Players' Player of the Year award, whilst playing with

North Shore United North Shore United Association Football Club is an amateur football club based in the North Shore, Auckland. They compete in the Northern League, where they last won the competition in 2019. Their home ground is Allen Hill Stadium, which is l ...

, where he won the club's Player of the Year award twice. One of the most successful parts of his career was the five years that he spent playing for the Kingz in the Australian NSL. where he became very popular.

International career

Ngata scored New Zealand's goal in his full

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

debut, a 1–3 loss against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

on 28 April 1993. He was included in the New Zealand side for the

1999 Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico b ...

finals tournament and he ended his international playing career with 28 A-international caps and 3 goals to his credit, his final cap a substitute appearance in a 7–0 win over

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

on 13 June 2001.

Post-retirement

Ngata works occasionally as a football commentator for SKY TV in New Zealand. He has worked in the role of Sports Ambassador for the SPARC organisation (Sport & Recreation New Zealand).Profile of Harry Ngata on the NZPFA website

References

External links

Harry Ngata Interview
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngata, Heremaia 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Whanganui New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players North Shore United AFC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Football Kingz F.C. players New Zealand Māori sportspeople Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti people English Football League players 1998 OFC Nations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players Association football midfielders Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland