Chris Smith

Central Midfielder - WaiBOP United
20 Nov 2027
Saturday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 3 Transfers Relations Events 79 Awards Matches History

Marked for Chris Smith

62 Edition

The WaiBOP United Gazette

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad4 Oct 2027

The knee: Alex Stamatelopoulos out for 26 days

26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match4 Oct 2027

WaiBOP United are in real trouble now

Position 6, 9 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.

Boardroom4 Oct 2027

Cameron Lockyer has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at WaiBOP United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Boardroom4 Oct 2027

The WaiBOP United board call everybody in

Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.

Market4 Oct 2027

Chris Wood asks to leave WaiBOP United

“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.

Squad4 Oct 2027

Chris Smith signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chris Smith and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years.

Squad4 Oct 2027

Words exchanged at WaiBOP United

Oliver Garbett 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 Oct 2027

Chris Wood 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 dugout4 Oct 2027

Jai Wood 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 Jai Wood trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

Back issues
61 Edition

The WaiBOP United Gazette

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad27 Sep 2027

The knee: Alex Stamatelopoulos out for 33 days

33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. WaiBOP United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market27 Sep 2027

Ben Barbarouses is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at WaiBOP United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad27 Sep 2027

A falling-out at WaiBOP United

Nathan Lobo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad27 Sep 2027

Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Clayton Just 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 dugout27 Sep 2027

Jai Wood has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at WaiBOP United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout27 Sep 2027

Liberato Van Hattum 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.

In brief

12 Edition

The WaiBOP United Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom19 Oct 2026

4 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.

Squad19 Oct 2026

Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Lewis 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

WaiBOP United promote Oliver Tuiloma from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oliver 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.

Market19 Oct 2026

James Rufer steps up from the WaiBOP United academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. James Rufer 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

WaiBOP United promote Michael Smith from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michael 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

WaiBOP United promote Sam Sutton from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sam Sutton 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.

Match17 Oct 2026

A bad afternoon for WaiBOP United against Hawke's Bay United

0‑1 to Hawke's Bay United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad19 Oct 2026

A falling-out at WaiBOP United

Clayton Just and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout19 Oct 2026

No hiding place for Chris Smith

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

In brief