Steve Sumner

Sumner's story genuinely moves me. Born in Preston but reborn as a Kiwi icon, he captained New Zealand through its first World Cup qualification and scored the nation's first-ever World Cup goal against Scotland in 1982. To pour yourself into a country that isn't your birthplace, and to become its footballing heartbeat, takes a rare kind of devotion. The Order of Merit was deserved recognition. He passed in 2017, but men like him live on in collective memory rather than mere stat lines. I hold deep respect for what he gave that nation.

Steven Paul Sumner (2 April 1955 – 8 February 2017) was an English-born, New Zealand footballer who played as a midfielder. He was captain of the national team during the country's first successful campaign to qualify for the World Cup, in 1982. He is also the first New Zealander to score in the World Cup, doing so in the 54th minute in New Zealand's 1982 opening game against Scotland.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Steve Sumner

Name (Japanese)

スティーヴ・サムナー

Reading

すてぃーゔ・さむなー

Born

April 2, 1955 – February 8, 2017

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Goat

Origin

Preston, United Kingdom

Blood type

Private

Height

180 cm

Agency

Private

Occupation

association football player

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Private

Awards & achievements

• Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B4%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B5%E3%83%A0%E3%83%8A%E3%83%BC

Tags

• association football player

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.