Mick Gale, The CFA’s International Peace Field Project Ambassador presents Southland Football Club’s Nobby Clark, Mayor of Invercargill, Russell Bell, Vietnam vetran and Referees official Nick Hamlin president Southland F. A. their Peace Field Project Plaque, Commemorative Peace Poppy Football and Declaration for Peace Certificate; officially twinning the Invercargil Peace Pitch with Flanders Peace Field.
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
The First Ever Peace Pitch in New Zealand. Thursday 24th August 2023
Southland Football, Turnball Thomson Park, Invercargill, New Zealand, will twin their designated area of play with Flanders Peace Field, Mesen, Belgium, site of the First World War, 1914, Christmas Truces. ORGANISERS, Southland Football have come together with The International Children’s Football Alliance to celebrate peace through play at Turnball Thomson Park. In the year of the first ever women’s Football World Cup held in New Zealand this poignant event is reminder to the international football family about the power of the game to bring peace through play..
The total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914–18, excluding those in British and other forces, was 100,444, from a population of just over a million.
The International Peace Fields Project currently has 66 peace pitches in 5 continents. The peace pitches celebrate peace through play.
The Children’s Football Alliance UK are the custodians of the International Children’s Football Alliance. Their mission statement: Protect Childhood Through Play.
Iain Walker, “We at Southland Football are delighted to be associated with the CFA, and all they represent. They align closely with our values and we are excited to be the first peace pitch in New Zealand. We will display the plaque with tremendous pride”
Ernie Brennan, CEO, CFA said, “The Peace Fields Project is all about the essence of play. All children play without prejudice. When Allied and German soldiers stood up to shake hands, exchange gifts and play games on Christmas Day, 1914, the humanitarian act served to remind mankind that childhood is a time we all revert back to, for love, peace and happiness.”
Mick Gale, CFA, International Projects Director and Peace Field Project Ambassador ‘The first ever peace pitch in New Zealand commemorates all wars and celebrates peace through play’. ‘There is a tremendous sense of pride at Southland Football for their peace pitch.’ ‘ I know that the CFA are delighted that New Zealand will have a plaque displayed at the Peace Pitch, Mesen, under the shadow of the New Zealand War Memorial. ‘There’s plenty of scope for schools and clubs across New Zealand, to now connect with the Peace Pitch in Invercargill and the ICFA’s online resources.’’
Notes to editors
For more details, contact The CFA: Ernie Brennan on +00 44 (0)7813 082584 or email erniebrennan@thecfa.co.uk Alternatively, call Paul Cooper on +00 44 07875 283093 or email paulcooper@thecfa.co.uk
The Children’s Football Alliance was established in 2008 to protect childhood through play.
NEW ZEALAND FIRST WORLD WAR MEMORIAL, MESEN, BELGIUM, is situated next to Flanders Peace Pitch at the Peace Village.
THURSDAY 24th AUGUST
KIA ORA
Colin Farley, CFA sponsor and Founder Member of The CFA, presented Mick Gale, The CFA’s International Projects Director and Peace Fields Project Ambassador, with a Peace Poppy Ball which Mick will take with him to Turnbull Thomson Park , Peace Pitch, Invercargill, New Zealand. Mick will also present Southland Football with their Peace Field Project Plaque which will officially twin their designated are of play with Flanders Peace Field, Mesen, Belgium.
Colin Farley, said, ‘This is truly a ground breaking event that brings the 66th peace pitch into a growing International community’. ‘New Zealand’s contribution to the First World War was astonishing and will never be forgotten’. Mick Gale, added, ‘The first ever peace pitch in New Zealand commemorates all wars and celebrates peace through play’. ‘There is a tremendous sense of pride at Southland Football for their peace pitch.’ ‘ I know that the CFA are delighted that New Zealand will have a plaque displayed at the Peace Pitch, Mesen, under the shadow of the New Zealand War Memorial. ‘There’s plenty of scope for schools and clubs across New Zealand, to now connect with the Peace Pitch in Invercargill and the ICFA’s online resources.’ There are now currently 66 Interantional Peace Field Projects in 5 continents.
Turnbull Thomson Park , Peace Pitch, 199 Islington Street, Invercargill, 9810, New Zealand is twinned with Flanders Peace Field, Mesen, Belgium, site of the First World War 1914 Christmas Truces.
New Zealand’s first ever peace pitch is twinned the Peace, Flanders, Mesen, Belgium, site of the First World War, 1914, Christmas truces. Next door to the Peace Pitch, Mesen, you will find the New Zealand War Memorial. The total number of New Zealand troops and nurses to serve overseas in 1914–18, excluding those in British and other forces, was 100,444, from a population of just over a million. Forty-two percent of men of military age served in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, fighting in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front. 16,697 New Zealanders were killed and 41,317 were wounded during the war – a 58 percent casualty rate. Approximately a further thousand men died within five years of the war’s end, as a result of injuries sustained, and 507 died while training in New Zealand between 1914 and 1918.
