Dane Sutton

Central Midfielder - Tusker
13 Sep 2028
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Dane Sutton

103 Edition

The Tusker Post

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Dane Sutton keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Tusker may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Brian Opondo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brian Opondo and Tusker agree another 3 years.

Squad

Makan Samabaly 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 Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Ian Simiyu Jr. runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Dennis Oalo 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.

Player ratings

Vincent Owino stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.90 on the card, and the Tusker support went home talking about one name.

In brief

Back issues
77 Edition

The Tusker Post

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Servyl Akouala comes home

The shirt still fits. Servyl Akouala is back at Tusker, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Malick Touré 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 Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Tusker

Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.

Squad

Zidane Afandi out for 64 days

The medical room confirms 64 days on the sidelines for Zidane Afandi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Dane Sutton 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.

Market

Kariobangi Sharks are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Tusker will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

76 Edition

The Tusker Post

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Marco Fenton asks to leave Tusker

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Tusker

Makan Samabaly 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.

Market

Eyes on Brandon Obiero again

The phone has started ringing about Brandon Obiero again, and this time the name on the line is Kariobangi Sharks. Tusker are listening politely and promising nothing.

Market

Kakamega Homeboyz are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Tusker will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Market

The Fidel Origa question follows Tusker around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fidel Origa’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Kgaogelo Monanyane 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.

In brief

72 Edition

The Tusker Post

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Makan Samabaly 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 Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dane Sutton 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.

Market

Still no ink between Tusker and Chris Erambo

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tusker, another week without a signature from Chris Erambo.

In brief

68 Edition

The Tusker Post

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Makan Samabaly 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 Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Dane Sutton

“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.

Market

The Fidel Origa story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fidel Origa signs something — a contract at Tusker or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

64 Edition

The Tusker Post

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Dennis Oalo 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 Tusker this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Fidel Origa in the eights

A performance of 8.76 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Dane Sutton

“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.

In brief

59 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Team Wellington are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

So close: Bill Rufer’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. WaiBOP United moved on, Bill Rufer reports back to Team Wellington, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Squad

Tempers go at Team Wellington

Chris De Vries 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Matt Boxall

“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.

Squad

Joe Nelson 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 Team Wellington, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Dane Sutton leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Dane Sutton leaves Team Wellington the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

47 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Team Wellington up to position 3

20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Team Wellington turn down Auckland City for Dane Sutton

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Liberato Tuiloma 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

27 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Team Wellington up to position 3

20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Deklan Reid 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Noah Garbett

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

In brief

23 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Dane 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 Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Team Wellington up to position 3

16 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Matt Boxall keeps Team Wellington in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Team Wellington

Liberato Tuiloma 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.

Market

James Waine attracts admirers

The name of James Waine has come up in conversations Team Wellington were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chris De Vries

Marked 8.76 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Jai Smith

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jake Sutton

“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.

Match

Team Wellington and Canterbury United take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

19 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Liberato Tuiloma 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 Team Wellington can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Team Wellington up to position 3

12 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Bill McCowatt 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Team Wellington find a way past Waitakere United

Waitakere United made Team Wellington work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Liberato Tuiloma

Marked 8.95 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chris De Vries

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Francis Bell 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.

Squad

Francis Bell named player of the month

The award goes to Francis Bell, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.

Loan watch

Sam Smith wants to come home

“I did not go to Waitakere United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Team Wellington and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.

In brief

15 Edition

The Team Wellington Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Matt Boxall keeps Team Wellington in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Team Wellington

Jake McCowatt 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.

Match

Southern United take the points off Team Wellington

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dane Sutton

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Matt Rufer 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.

Loan watch

Sam Smith wants to come home

“I did not go to Waitakere United to sit and watch. I want to come back to Team Wellington and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

In brief