Marked for Sam Sutton
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
73 days out for Reece Henderson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The match ball belongs to James Waine, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WaiBOP United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Sam Sutton runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Alberto Delgado 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between WaiBOP United and Waitakere United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
James Waine was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.70. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 3‑3 draw with Waitakere United leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
80 days out for Reece Henderson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Noah Singh 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I watch every WaiBOP 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
WaiBOP United are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Sam Sutton
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Monty Garbett after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
A 3‑6 beating by Hawke's Bay United was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad19 Oct 2026
87 days out for Reece Henderson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A brace, and James Waine takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. James Waine provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Sam Sutton has a hand in both — 7.85
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.85, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alberto Delgado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between WaiBOP United and Hawke's Bay United, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
5 academy graduates step up at WaiBOP United
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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Chris Barbarouses is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market19 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ryan Tuiloma 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
115 days out for Reece Henderson after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. WaiBOP United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Chris Colvey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Noah Singh 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 WaiBOP United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Reece Henderson out for 129 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason WaiBOP United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Sep 2026
Bill Colvey 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
WaiBOP United close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 5 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 targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Waitakere United is saying, and nobody at WaiBOP United is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
James Waine 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 Singh 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Aug 2026
Sam Sutton 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Southern United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market31 Aug 2026
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. WaiBOP United have paid $74.0K for Alex Payne, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Chris Colvey 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.