“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Tommy Stamatelopoulos has come out of that comparison in the side, and WaiBOP United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The loan was meant to give him football. 1 games and 0 goals later he is back at WaiBOP United no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Team Wellington have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Liberato Boxall. The answer from WaiBOP United has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Noah Boxall reports back to WaiBOP United with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thapelo Ngcongo is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marco De Vries and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
SquadWords at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WaiBOP United can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Auckland City for Ryan Waine was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Liberato Kirwan from Waitakere United for $54.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what WaiBOP United can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kwanele Msomi has just signed for WaiBOP United, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer from Newcastle Jets for Liberato Boxall was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sanele Mhlangu and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francis De Vries is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.