Christchurch United eye up early silverware in Charity Cup

Christchurch United will have their first chance to pick up silverware in 2024 when they take on Wellington Olympic in the pre-season Charity Cup on Sunday.

The cup is played for by the winners of the previous season’s National League and Chatham Cup winners – which were Olympic and United respectively.

United head coach Ryan Edwards said he’s excited to see his team play in the Charity Cup in Wellington.

“I think it’s a really cool initiative for New Zealand football to get a competition like this started up in the country and it’s gonna be really cool.”

The chance to pick up silverware early in the season is enticing for Edwards – although he feels his team is up against it due to the timing of the fixture.

“I think Olympic have been training for five weeks because they’ve got the OFC (Champions League) qualifiers afterwards,” he said.

“So they’ll be at the end of their pre-season in terms of match readiness and we’re at the start of ours, so it’s not a very balanced position to be going into.”

There’s a lot of familiarity between the teams - former Olympic winger Joel Stevens has moved to join United this year, while coaches Paul Ifill and Ekow Quainoo have joined Olympic along with former United forward Eddie Wilkinson.

Edwards also represented Olympic in his playing days, and said those personal connections between the two sides will make it a good match.

“I think it will add a bit more to the match.

"It just heightens the kind of intent you put towards the game.”

The Charity Cup kicks off at 1pm at Martin Luckie Park in Wellington.