The WaiBOP United Gazette
Market7 Sep 2026
Alex 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 WaiBOP United can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at WaiBOP United until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tim Smith 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 WaiBOP United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Noah Nelson slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Noah Nelson is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tommy Barbarouses 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Matt Smith
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matt Smith, and the manager let it.
In brief
- Market The market said no: James Reid stays put
- Squad The training reports on Ryan Payne are not good
- The dugout Alex Rufer keeps his manager's vote