Havelock North Wanderers achieve CSP accreditation

Havelock North Wanderers AFC, the largest football club in the Central Federation with over 1,000 registered playing members, has successfully completed the Xero Together Stronger Club Support Programme (CSP) — a milestone that reflects the club's ongoing commitment to excellence both on and off the pitch.

Based at Guthrie Park in Havelock North, the Wanderers are a cornerstone of football in Hawke's Bay. Their decision to take on the CSP in 2025 wasn't driven by a need to fix what was broken, but by a desire to test themselves against a national best-practice standard.

"The Club Support Programme sets a best-practice governance standard to clubs. Although we were confident that many of the requirements of accreditation were already in place, in 2025 we set ourselves a challenge to test those processes against the CSP standards." — Andrew Clark, General Manager, Havelock North Wanderers

What they found:

The process revealed a mix of strengths and areas for growth. HNW had recently updated their club constitution and moved member voting to an online platform — moves that put them ahead of several CSP requirements. But in other areas, the programme prompted meaningful improvements.

A key outcome was the formalisation of member-facing policies. The CSP requires clubs to publish policies that actively protect their membership, and to name the people responsible for upholding them.

"We now have a Privacy Policy that speaks to how we protect the information of our members, and we have a Privacy Officer who is responsible for the enforcement of that policy — those roles and policies must be available to the membership on our website." — Andrew Clark, General Manager, Havelock North Wanderers

The CSP provides clubs with a comprehensive library of templates and guides covering everything from governance and finance to safeguarding and community engagement meaning clubs don't need to start from scratch. HNW were able to pick and choose what best suited them, updating what they already had rather than rebuilding from the ground up.

The programme also prompted HNW to formalise their approach to diversity, equity, and football pathways ensuring structures are in place to create opportunities for coaches and referees across the club.

A standard worth earning

For Andrew Clark, the value of accreditation lies not just in the process but in what it signals to the world outside the club.

"We are now able to represent ourselves to our members and stakeholders with that CSP accreditation standard, and they can trust that the achievement of that standard means that the club is well-run and has strong governance processes in place." 

A message to other clubs

Andrew's encouragement to other clubs is straightforward:

"We found that many of the requirements were in place, but not all. We also found that some things we did have needed to be updated or managed in a more consistent way. The outcome was that we were able to achieve accreditation with some organised effort from the team in the off-season." 

"Congratulations to everyone at Havelock North Wanderers on achieving CSP accreditation. It's a fantastic achievement and a real testament to the dedication of Andrew and the team who put in the work to get there. HNW are a hugely important club in our federation and seeing them set this standard is something we're really proud of." — Shane McKenzie, Community Engagement Manager, Central Football

Central Football Community Engagement Manager Shane McKenzie says the programme is open to all clubs across the region, whatever their size or starting point.

"The Club Support Programme is designed for clubs of all shapes and sizes across our federation. To achieve accreditation, clubs work through 24 criteria across five areas — inclusive leadership and administration, planning and financing for the future, safely leading your club, delivering football for all, and engaging with your community. It sounds like a lot, but most clubs will find they already have much of this in place. The programme, the resources, and our team are here to support you every step of the way. If a club is curious about what's involved or want to talk through whether it's right for your club, I'd love to hear from you — feel free to get in touch with me directly." 

To find out more about the Xero Together Stronger Club Support Programme and how your club can get involved, visit centralfootball.co.nz or contact Shane McKenzie directly at shanem@centralfootball.co.nz 

Central Football would like to extend a huge congratulations to Havelock North Wanderers, to Andrew Clark and everyone at the club who contributed to achieving this accreditation. This achievement is a fitting reflection of the hard work and dedication that goes into running a club of their size and standing.

Well done, Wanderers!

Article added: Tuesday 12 May 2026