A huge payment from FIFA helps financially troubled 6th tier club Braintree Town with their player Tommy Smith at the 2026 World Cup.
Tommy Smith was relegated from the National League to the National League South with Braintree, but despite this, he received a call up to New Zealand’s 2026 World Cup squad. This isn’t his first time at a World Cup either, having played in the 2010 World Cup.
But this call up is massive for Braintree, with boss Steve Pitt saying to BBC Essex that the club would benefit financially from the defender, as the £175,000 “thank you” payment by FIFA will see them lifted out of a transfer embargo.
Tommy Smith on duty in Florida last night! 🇳🇿
📸 @NZ_Football #IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/UZt3a7Dt8K
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) June 3, 2026
In April, Braintree Town said: “The Club’s board of directors have decided that now is the right time to seek fresh and additional investment into the Club to help consolidate and push forward in the future.
“Following the death of former director Kim Cowell last summer and the subsequent resignation of director Alan Stuckey last month, the Club’s Board of Directors are now just two: Lee Harding (who joined the board in 2003) and Vic Dixon (who joined the following year) and, while they continue to work hard and as best they can to support the Club, the workload on the shoulders of these two volunteers is obviously more intense than the six man board that took the Club to the play-offs for promotion to the Football League ten years ago.
“Both Dixon and Harding are happy to remain involved with the Club as directors, sponsors, or just supporters and both look forward to helping the Club build on the progress made in the last 24 years.”
Chairman Lee Harding said: “from the bottom of the Isthmian League to the play-offs for promotion to the Football League, it’s been an exhilarating ride and we look forward to the future with expectation. We’re all disappointed with relegation this season but we’ve been here before and the minimum target for next season will be a play-off spot and we’ve won a few of those!”
With Tommy Smith at the World Cup, Braintree have received a vital payment to help them…
BBC Essex interviewer: What does it mean to Braintree to have a player playing at the World Cup. A huge amount of kudos for the football club.
Steve Pitt: Yeah, I think it’s obviously great for the profile. Mission accomplished from Tommy’s point of view and my point of view in terms of the deal that we did last summer. And yeah, delighted for everybody that we’ve climaxed in terms of the situation we find ourselves in. And Tommy’s out in Florida now. I’m sure thoroughly enjoying himself.
Interviewer: So this was always his goal, presumably, making the World Cup. And when you brought him in, that was the hope that you’d be able to get in there too?
Steve Pitt: Very much so. Yeah, the key objective when Tommy and I first started negotiations last summer, the primary objective was his World Cup selection and him achieving enough game time and being fit enough if selected to obviously be on that plane.
Interviewer: It is an extraordinary achievement, presumably therefore the Braintree fans are going to be donning New Zealand shirts in the next few weeks.
Steve Pitt: And myself of course. It gives an added interest, you know, outside the home nations, it gives an added interest in terms of the competition itself. So yeah, for obvious reasons I’ll be taking a key interest in the Iran game, the Egypt game and the Belgium game.
Interviewer: Braintree have clearly had a difficult season, relegation at the end and we understand the financial troubles too. What does it mean therefore to have a player of the World Cup? Will that help financially?
Steve Pitt: Massively. Absolutely massively. I mean, it’s no secret, the chairman’s gone on record, so I’m not speaking out of turn, the revenue for the group stage, a loan will be 175k. Auckland, who were his previous club, get the same amount of money as well because it’s based from FIFA’s point of view on the last two seasons. But yeah, from our point of view it’s huge. And the added bonus, if they were to make it through the group stage, the revenue stream continues.
Interviewer: What will that money mean for this club?
Steve Pitt: There are financial issues here for all sorts of reasons, the chairman issued a statement, public statement, three or four weeks ago in terms of the backdrop to that. But first and foremost, what it will do is it will pay myself and it will pay the players that are under contract until the end of June. It will wipe the slate clean and it may even provide a little bit of an excess as a platform to go into next season.
Interviewer: Wow, so the money is a godsend.
Steve Pitt: Yeah, it’s, yeah, I mean, the timing um and the level of revenue couldn’t be better. And yeah, I mean, it’s nice. From a disappointing season, I have to say from my own point of view, because obviously Tommy and I negotiated the deal, as I’ve already said last summer, from my own point of view, it’s an absolute godsend. And it’s probably one of the biggest positives to emanate from a difficult season really. So yeah, it’s nice to finish, it’s nice to be in this position and finish on this note in terms of the backdrop to last season.
Interviewer: And looking around, I’m sure you know what saying, it’s sort of humble surroundings, there’s a far cry from the multi-millionaires that will be playing in the Premier League. So at this level, that sort of money is so significant to everyone involved with the club.
Steve Pitt: Yeah, I mean, the irony is that if, for example, you’re Bayern Munich and Harry Kane’s your player, Bayern Munich receive exactly the same money from FIFA that we do. But in comparative terms, obviously we’re light years apart. So, yeah, it’s huge from our point of view. If they were to make it through the group stage, and I personally think they’ve got a good opportunity and a good possibility of doing that, the income stream just gets even better.
View this post on Instagram
Interviewer: And that’s brilliant news. So it presumably puts you on a far better footing for next year.
Steve Pitt: Yeah, I mean, it basically clears the decks, which is absolutely essential because we are under a transfer embargo at this precise moment in time for those reasons. It clears the decks, wipes the site clean. We’ve got another possibility of an income stream as well, but that’s a variable. And again, that would be a legacy from last summer. So fingers crossed maybe that will fall into place. But yeah, I mean, it wipes the slate clean, possibly provides a little bit extra and just gives us a clean slate and a level platform to move forward.
Interviewer: And does the transfer embargo get lifted?
Steve Pitt: Yes.
Interviewer: Fantastic.
Steve Pitt: Yeah, as soon as myself and the players are paid and the other members of staff, the transfer embargo gets lifted. To be fair to the chairman, he is working on that now with the FA and I think will be making inroads into that before this money actually lands because we don’t actually expect this money to land based on the due diligence we’ve done until the tournament ends and the tournament doesn’t end until mid-July so I think realistically we’ll get paid from the central fund probably the end of July but I think the chairman is working on with the FA and certain other income streams to ensure that maybe we make inroads to the debt here and now. So maybe when that money comes through, there will be a residue at the end of it.
Interviewer: And in terms of Tommy’s participation, I mean, he’s 36 now, he has played in the World Cup before, but quite a few years ago, how do you think he’ll get on?
Steve Pitt: Yeah, I mean, I think realistically, and this was always the discussion from the time that he signed until the selection actually occurred when Darren Bazeley called him and told him that you’re in. I think realistically Tommy will be a squad player. But, you know, having said that with his plethora of experience, not just in, you know, because he’s obviously played at English Championship level and obviously played in the A-League and what have you, but, you know, in terms of the way he perceives the game, the way he reads the game, the way he sees the game. And it was the same here, you know, he had a lot of good input off the pitch and I think that will be absolutely vital and I think, I guess that’s one of the reasons why he’s been selected, not only because of he can participate and be involved in games and contribute in games, but it’s also his contribution off the pitch as well, which is invaluable, particularly to a squad that’s relatively young and it was no different here.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login