Ryan Feutz returns to Canterbury for OFC Pro League

Prolific goalscorer Ryan Feutz has joined South Island United in the OFC Pro League to be part of the world’s newest and most exotic professional football competition with a club from his home region.

The striker from Ashburton has an adventurous football spirit that has taken him around the world to Spain, Sweden and most recently Australia, and he could not resist the lure of travelling the South Pacific as a professional football player from Canterbury.

“It’s a brand new professional league which is super exciting,” says Feutz, who is looking forward to playing back where it all started.

“The other attraction of course is moving back to my roots, close to Ashburton where I played all my junior football,” says Feutz who still has grandparents and other family living in Mid Canterbury.

Father Greg Feutz is a legend in Canterbury football circles, winning the Golden Boot and Mainland Premier League with Nomads, and is still banging in goals on a regular basis in the Masters leagues in Wellington.

With father Greg on the sidelines, the now 24-year-old Ryan recalls his early days on a frosty Ashburton Domain, playing for the Collegiate club, and representing Mid-Canterbury.

At the age of 12, Feutz was offered a trial with Spanish academy CF Cracks and ended up in Spain for a year, including a stint at professional club Levante.

“But I never played an official game with them because I was too young under FIFA rules, so came back to New Zealand to join the Olé Academy,” says Feutz.

He stayed at the academy until he was 19 before moving to Eastern Suburbs to play National League, alongside fellow South Island United signing Josh Rogerson.

The two players then spent a season together at Torslanda IK in the Swedish second tier before returning to Wellington where Feutz started “club-hopping” from Miramar Rangers, to Wellington Olympic, Western Suburbs and back to Eastern Suburbs, before embarking on an Australian adventure at Edgeworth Eagles in Newcastle.

Feutz hit a magic streak in the Northern New South Wales NPL, scoring an astonishing 42 goals in 24 league matches, and earning him a move to Sydney Olympic where he scored 11 goals in 15 games in the New South Wales state league and the Australian Championship, the new second-tier below the A-League.

“The league is full of top teams and top players who can play in the A-League and it was definitely the highlight of my football career so far,” says Feutz who had interest from clubs in Sydney and Melbourne but opted for an South Pacific Odyssey instead.

“It was a  tough call, but it helps that the first season of the new OFC league only runs over six months if any big opportunities emerge during that period,” says Feutz who was set to play in the Pacific islands with the New Zealand U19 team before the tournament was cancelled due to Covid, so is looking forward to playing in exotic destinations.

“Nobody knows what to expect, but it will be an amazing experience,” says the Ashburton lad.

“In our entire football career, it is unlikely we get an opportunity like this to play for a new team in a new league. I can’t wait. I’m buzzing.”

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