Noah Hickey

Noah Hickey (born 9 June 1978) is a New Zealand footballer who plays for Gisborne City in the Central Premier League and last played professionally for the New Zealand Knights in the Hyundai A-League.[1] He plays as either a striker or a right-winger and was an established member of the New Zealand national team, the 'All Whites'.

Noel Hickey
Hickey in 2017
Personal information
Full name Noah Hickey
Date of birth (1978-06-09) 9 June 1978
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Eastern Suburbs
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Central United
1999–2001 The Football Kingz 15 (0)
2001–2003 Tampere United 42 (13)
2003–2004 The Football Kingz 7 (3)
2004–2005 Waitakere United
2005–2007 New Zealand Knights 35 (2)
2007– Gisborne City
National team
1997–2007 New Zealand 33 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

He was the 1997 New Zealand Young Player of the Year,[2] and has had trials with English teams Watford F.C. and Northampton Town F.C., perhaps due to his appearance in the 2003 Confederations Cup tournament. He also achieved numerous caps for the Eastern Suburbs first team, and was a regular goal scorer for the "White Demons".

Noah had a successful stint with Tampere United of Finland. He scored the goal that helped them win the league against MyPa, and also scored an infamous winner with his hand against rivals FC Haka.

He has presented a children's football show on Sky Sports in New Zealand. He is also infamous for missing an open goal in bizarre fashion, now featured on several 'bloopers' tapes.[3] Noah Hickey has also appeared on NZ reality television show City Celebrity Country Nobody.[4]

Noah's famous miss is featured in the football bloopers video "Nick Hancock's Football Hell".[5] Noah is repeatedly referred to incorrectly as Noel Hickey during the remainder of the video (this is a mistake made by the commentator in the video clip, and not solely Hancock's error).[6]

International career

Hickey made his full All Whites debut in a 0–1 loss to Papua New Guinea on 31 May 1997. He was included in the New Zealand side for the 2003 Confederations Cup finals tournament.

On 28 May 2007 Hickey surprised many by retiring from International and pro football exactly 10 years to the day of his first cap. [7] There have been suggestions that this came about due to a fallout with New Zealand and Wellington Phoenix manager, Ricki Herbert. This followed New Zealand's disastrous results in South America which Herbert blamed on player fitness and commitment.

Hickey ended his international playing career with 33 A-international caps and 3 goals to his credit, his final cap came in a 0–5 loss to Venezuela on 28 March 2007.[8][9]

He is now Running the New Zealand stage of "Red Bull Balls to the Wall" A one on one competition with youth.

He was also the sports correspondent for More FM's nationwide drive show Josh and Tom, and had a weekly spot around about 6.30pm every Friday night.

Noah is also running schools programme run with AUT called Shine that aims to teach students not to worry about people knocking them when they are striving for their potential.

Career statistics

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 June 2001North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand Cook Islands2–0Win2002 World Cup qualification
2.8 June 2001North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand Cook Islands2–0Win2002 World Cup qualification
3.12 October 2002A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia Estonia3–2LossFriendly
Correct as of 7 October 2015[10][11][12]

References
  1. "Australian Player Database". OzFootball. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  2. "Honours List". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  3. Audio of Hickey's infamous missed open goal (Audio)
  4. "City Celebrity Country Nobody". Television New Zealand. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  5. "Worst Football miss EVER, and it's by a New Zealander!". RadioLIVE. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  6. http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=11749
  7. "Noah Hickey Gives Up The Game". Australian Four Four Two. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  8. "A-International Appearances – Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  9. "A-International Scorers – Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2008.
  10. 2002 MATCHES INTERCONTINENTAL (July - December)
  11. 1997 MATCHES INTERCONTINENTAL
  12. 2001 MATCHES OCEANIA
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