The Canterbury United Gazette
Squad28 Dec 2026
8 saves: Joe McCowatt was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match28 Dec 2026
Canterbury United refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 11 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Canterbury United
Noah Just was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tommy De Vries falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match26 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Canterbury United against Southern United
0‑1 to Southern United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
No hiding place for Sam Boxall
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sam Boxall, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Bill Waine faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bill Waine after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Michael Rufer has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Canterbury United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market28 Dec 2026
Talks stall between Canterbury United and Drake Hadeed
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
In brief
- The dugout Jordan Vale knocks on the manager’s door
- Squad Sam Kirwan named player of the week
- Looking ahead Jordan Vale goes back to face Waitakere United