Marked for Liberato Tuiloma
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Jan 2027
Team Wellington ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad1 Feb 2027
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A move Makai Welch would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Makai Welch is living that version at Southern United, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Ryan Wood, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.67
A mark of 7.67 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Southern United close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makai Welch 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ben De Vries in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jan 2027
$110.0K from Auckland City for Ryan De Vries. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Match25 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Southern United
Position 5 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market25 Jan 2027
Oliver Rufer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ryan De Vries was one of the reasons people came, and $110.0K does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
$230.0K on the table at Canterbury United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
$800.00 on the table at Canterbury United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Canterbury United have kept their man, and Southern United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Rufer 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match28 Dec 2026
Position 5, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ryan De Vries, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.70
A mark of 7.70 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ben De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
Team Wellington next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
What a way to start for Ryan De Vries — 7.92
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.92 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
2 academy players handed senior numbers at Southern United
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match17 Oct 2026
Auckland City left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Southern United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Rufer 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Cameron Smith has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market19 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bill Smith has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody at Southern United saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ben De Vries in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Southern United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jai Colvey is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dane Waine, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Auckland City in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market12 Oct 2026
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Southern United could get for him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The penny has dropped for Jeremy Foo
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Southern United the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Auckland City for Ryan Hughes 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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 Southern United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Canterbury United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ben De Vries commits to Southern United for another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ben De Vries and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Southern United asked and Auckland FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Liberato Tuiloma, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ryan 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Ben De Vries knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Southern United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Ryan Hughes hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Southern United can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ben De Vries and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. San Lorenzo have kept their man, and Southern United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liberato Stamatelopoulos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chris Waine and Southern United agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Auckland City: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Ben De Vries asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market3 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ryan Hughes’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.