Noah Smith

Central Midfielder - WaiBOP United
10 Dec 2026
Thursday
Process

Marked for Noah Smith

2 Edition

The WaiBOP United Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Waitakere United come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and WaiBOP United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Transfer targets

Alfie Rogers will not be coming to WaiBOP United

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Auckland City is saying, and nobody at WaiBOP United is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Chris Colvey signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chris Colvey and WaiBOP United agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at WaiBOP United

James Waine 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.

Transfer targets

WaiBOP United rebuffed over Jordan Vale

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Auckland City have kept their man, and WaiBOP United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at WaiBOP 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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Alfie Rogers is in the works

WaiBOP United have made the call to Auckland City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

No hiding place for Tommy Payne

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tommy Payne, and the manager let it.

The dugout

James Waine knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and James Waine trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief