Marked for Ryan Bell
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.47 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Waitakere United will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Chris Colvey 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The step up is real for Ryan Bell
At 17 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets4 Jan 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Jake Cacace
“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.
Looking ahead4 Jan 2027
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Waitakere United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Team Wellington runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bill Stamatelopoulos 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ryan Bell is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chris Colvey 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. Deklan Waine 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
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dane Bell 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. James Lewis 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Noah Lockyer 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Marco Smith gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Callum Kirwan is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dane Reid commits to Waitakere United for another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Waitakere United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bill Stamatelopoulos 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
Steady
Market24 Aug 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hawke's Bay United have kept their man, and Waitakere United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill Stamatelopoulos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ryan Bell 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Ryan Fenton 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Questions about Bill Lockyer on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.