Auckland City pay tribute to Ivan Vicelich

A full house of Auckland City FC supporters gathered last evening to honour one of Kiwitea Street’s favourite sons, club captain and All Whites great, Ivan Vicelich.

Tributes were made to him by the club’s chairman Ivan Vuksich, New Zealand Football Life Member Arthur Egan, former All Whites captain Chris Zoricich and long-time teammate Greg Uhlmann.

A framed memento acknowledging the fact Ivan is the first player from the club to compete at a senior World Cup Finals competition was also presented to him by Auckland City FC. The award (copy attached above) also recognised Ivan’s outstanding contribution to football in New Zealand and the Oceania region over the past two decades.

Ivan in return presented the club with the All Whites shirt he wore against Paraguay in NZ’s last match at the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010. This shirt will be framed by the club and will hold pride of place in Auckland City’s clubrooms, acting as an inspiration to the next wave of talented youngsters coming through Kiwitea Street’s ranks.

A copy of the NZ Herald report on last evenings function along with some pics from the evening are included below.

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(pics acknowledgement: Marc Peretic-Wilson)