Men's Firsts

Ansheil Kumar

Utility

Ansheil, known as Ricky, plays in shirt #13.  He comes from Fiji and his favourite club is Manchester United and player is Sergio Ramos.

His biggest influence on his football career is attributed to his family.  His favourite saying is ‘No pain, no gain!’

His best football moment is playing in the O League between 2005 – 2019.

Ansheil’s Player Sponsor is:

Aeron Singh

Centre Back

Playing in Jersey No 11, Aeron’s favourite Club is Chelsea and favourite player is Ronaldo.

His biggest influence is his family.  His favourite football memory is scoring the winning goal at Age Groups PNG in 2004!  His favourite say is ‘Oh yeah…’

Aeron’s Player Sponsor is:

Caolin Hewitt Swaine

Centre Back

Caolin’s home town is Onewhero and at the young age of 16 has been named in the Franklin United’s 1st team.  His favourite club is Manchester United and player is Roy Keane.

His biggest influence is his grandparents and mum and being a supporter of Man U.  His best football memory is Man U winning the 1999 treble.  His favourite saying it “You know the rules Brent Richards”.

Caolin’s Player Sponsor is:

Darren Woolnough

Left Back

Darren, Jersey #5, is one our most experienced players in the squad with many NRFL appearances to his name.   His favourite club is Arsenal and player is Emmanuel Frimpong.

His biggest influence has been his Dad, who has taught him that no matter your position, 90% of this game is played with your head. The balance is hard work and talent.  His favourite saying is “Live the Dream”.

Darren’s Player Sponsor is:

Jake McCoy

Centre Back

Jake, Jersey #10 will most likely hold the record of being the youngest player ever to represent Waiuku at NRFL level.  Jake has played for Franklin United’s first team for the past three seasons and in 2016/17 was named Solarix MVP.

His favourite player is Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his favourite football memory is playing for Waiuku and beating reigning Chatham Cup holders Waitakere City 4-3 in 2015.

Jake’s Player Sponsor is:

Jakob England

Striker

At only 16 years of age, Jakob is another one of our youngsters.  Playing in shirt #2, he comes from England.

His favourite club is Barcelona and player is Messi.  And his best football memory is Messi winning his first balloon d’or in 2010.

His favourite saying is ‘Upstairs for thinking, downstairs for dancing!’

Jake’s Player Sponsor is:

Jason Mann

Position:  Goalkeeper

Jason another one of our most experienced players in Franklin United. He has had over 200 appearances in NRFL.  His favourite club is Manchester United and player Lev Yashin.His biggest influence has been Dad, he played as a goal keeper in the Netherlands and came to NZ and played in Hawkes Bay.   His favourite football memory is promotion to NRFL Premier League for Melville, 2014.

Jason’s Player Sponsor is:

Kartik Kumar

Right Wing

Kartik, another one our younger players for Franklin United. His favourite club is Manchester United and player is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kartik’s biggest influence is his Dad, growing up watching him play football, which led him to fall in love with the game. His favourite football memory was playing alongside Paul Ifill, a former All White.  “You can’t win unless you learn how to lose” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kartik’s Player Sponsor is:

Kavi Kumar

Right Wing

Kavi Kumar,  another one of our young players aged only 17.  He will be making his NRFL debut this season.  His favourite club is Liverpool and player is Steven Gerrard.  His biggest influence is Steven Gerrard and Neymar and of course his Dad.

His best football memory is when Liverpool beat AC Milan in 2004 Champions League Final.  His favourite saying is “Just get it done”.

Kavi’s Player Sponsor is:

Lance Kraakman

Wearing shirt #9, Lance is a local Pukekohe lad having played 20 NRFL matches to date.  His favourite club is Liverpool and player is Stephen Gerrard.

His biggest influence on his football is his family and his best football memory is winning the U19 Napier Tournament.

Lance’s Player Sponsor is:

Liam Whiter (Captain)

Centre Midfield

At only 20 years of age Liam has been named captain of Franklin United’s NRFL team.  He has already had over 40 NRFL appearances for the club.  His favourite club is Arsenal and player is Ronaldinoho.

Liam says growing up he always wanted to be a pro fooballer, he would stay outside after school practising, always putting in the hard yards to get better!  His favourite saying is “Aue aue!”

Liam’s Player Sponsor is:

Logan Johnson

Left Back

At 17 years of age Logan, a local lad from Pukekohe is another one of our young players breaking into the Senior squad for 2019.   Wearing shirt #18, he attributes his biggest influence towards football as local Pukekohe Coach Dean Ihaia.

Logan’s favourite club is Barcelona and player Lionel Messi.  His best football memory is Barcelona’s comeback against PSG in the quarters of the Champions League.

Logan’s Player Sponsor is:

Marc Lindsay

Striker

Marc Lindsay is one of our more experienced players having played over 100 NRFL matches in his football career.   Marc’s favourite club is Chelsea and he has a number of favourite players.  But he attributes his biggest influence with football being his youth football coaches.

Marc’s best football memory is scoring his first Northern League goal at 17 year’s of age against Cambridge.

Marc’s Player Sponsor is:

Nathan Hatch

Centre Back

Nathan has moved up from playing for Franklin United Reserves in 2018.  His favourite club is Manchester City and player Sergio Aguero.  His favourite football memory is his diving/falling headered clearance off the line versing Northland last year.  Some would say spectacular others would say lucky!

Nathan’s Player Sponsor is:

Ryan Rossall

Defensive Midfielder

Ryan is only 18 and had a handful of NRFL appearances.  Playing in shirt #13, he comes from Onewhero.

His biggest influence on his football career to date is his Dad and Grandfather.  His favourite club is Liverpool and player is Steven Gerrard.

Ryan’s favourite saying is “Football is simple, but it’s difficult to play simple”. Yohan Cruyff

Ryan’s Player Sponsor is:

Shameel Rao

Striker

Shameel, born in Fiji and joined Franklin United in 2018.  His favourite club is Manchester United and player Ryan Giggs.  His biggest influence is family support.

His favourite football memory is in the OFC Final playing against Waitakere United.

Shameel’s Player Sponsor is:

Star’s Panel & Paint

Stefan van der Heijden

Centre Midfield

Stefan, has joined Franklin United this season, with 55 appearances in NRFL under his belt already.  His favourite club is Barcelona FC and player Lionel Messi.  His biggest influence is his Dad – Frans van der Heijden.

His best football memory is when Robin van Persie scored an incredible volley for Arsenal against Charlton Athletic in 2006.

Stefan’s Player Sponsor is:

Sumeet Shankaran

Defender

Sumeet is another one of our more experienced players, wearing shirt #8.

His favourite club is Manchester United and player is Messi.  His favourite football memory is being promoted to NRFL Division 1.  His attributes his biggest influence for football to his family.

Sumeet’s Player Sponsor is: