Abstract
Rugby union has been portrayed as the mainstay of male identity in New Zealand. Its masculine appeal coupled with the continued success of the national team has made the sport and its heroes icons for well over a century. A vast array of publications has been devoted to the sport of rugby and how it has defined the national identity of New Zealand, yet it was not the original code of football played. This essay investigates the reasons why one of the other football codes, soccer, was unable to take that place in New Zealand national identity. It will survey current literature on the topic of nineteenth century New Zealand football and develop theories that should provide the reader with a better understanding of how, in that period, the game of soccer developed in New Zealand and how it succumbed to rugby as the country’s national sport.
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