Marked for Dane Lockyer
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Aug 2028
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.
Market21 Aug 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. WaiBOP United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Owen Colvey, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joe Colvey commits to WaiBOP United for another 4 years.
Market21 Aug 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Corey Hollman leaves WaiBOP United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jul 2028
115 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Oliver 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Dane Lockyer 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Owen Colvey may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at WaiBOP United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match19 Jun 2028
Position 7, 5 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kosta Stamatelopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WaiBOP United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Oliver 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Corey Hollman signs something — a contract at WaiBOP United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Alex Tuiloma 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The offer from Auckland City for Corey Hollman was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market5 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Oliver 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tommy Singh and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Jun 2028
A conversation is coming this week. WaiBOP United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market5 Jun 2028
Deklan Fenton is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at WaiBOP United has been clear about where Deklan Fenton stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dane Lockyer, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
$1.0M taken back off the WaiBOP United table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 May 2028
Corey Hollman 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.
Squad15 May 2028
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 May 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 May 2028
Dane Lockyer 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.
Squad1 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Travis Sullivan and WaiBOP United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Squad1 May 2028
The medical room confirms 121 days on the sidelines for Deklan Waine, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Dane Lockyer
“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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
A squad written off a fortnight ago has closed ranks. Whatever was said behind that door, it has held so far.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tommy Singh: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” WaiBOP United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Feb 2028
Oliver 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Winston Lockyer and WaiBOP United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Canterbury United to sit and watch. I want to come back to WaiBOP United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market7 Feb 2028
Chris Nelson 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Feb 2028
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 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Travis Sullivan, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Corey Hollman 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 Corey Hollman trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jan 2028
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match26 Jan 2028
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match26 Jan 2028
Auckland City go through and WaiBOP United go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at WaiBOP United
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market31 Jan 2028
Tommy Bell 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kosta Stamatelopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around WaiBOP United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Corey Hollman 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“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.
Market24 Jan 2028
The name of Corey Hollman keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WaiBOP United say nothing, which says plenty.
Market24 Jan 2028
WaiBOP United have let the market know Corey Hollman can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“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
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2028
Chris Nelson 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.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer from Canterbury United for Chris Nelson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match8 Jan 2028
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Market10 Jan 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. WaiBOP United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tommy Singh, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 Jan 2028
Point won or two lost for WaiBOP United?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Southern United? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The room hears from Ben Payne
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the WaiBOP United squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for WaiBOP United
Position 7 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Alex Tuiloma 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at WaiBOP United is running low.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” WaiBOP United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and WaiBOP United have had the benefit of it.
Market3 Jan 2028
Tommy Bell 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
Loan watch3 Jan 2028
“I watch every WaiBOP United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bhayangkara Presisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Oliver 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Dane Lockyer
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Alex Tuiloma 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Oliver 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Dane Lockyer
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Sep 2027
Chris Nelson 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at WaiBOP United, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at WaiBOP United is running low.
Match16 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for WaiBOP United
Position 7 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chris Nelson, and the manager let it.
Market16 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Liberato Barbarouses 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Dane Lockyer 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 Dane Lockyer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market9 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Clayton Just leaves WaiBOP United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Market9 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Dale Marshall leaves WaiBOP United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Market9 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Monty Cacace leaves WaiBOP United the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 2027
Oliver 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Dane Lockyer 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Corey Hollman signs something — a contract at WaiBOP United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at WaiBOP United is running low.
Match21 Jun 2027
Position 7, 3 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 98 days on the sidelines for Clayton Just, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad3 May 2027
Liberato Barbarouses 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Winston Lockyer, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$191.6K taken back off the WaiBOP United table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market3 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Corey Hollman signs something — a contract at WaiBOP United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad3 May 2027
Dane Lockyer 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Zach Clough 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Clayton Taylor, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Lachlan Rose 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Alex Tuiloma 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Jai Cacace 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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at WaiBOP United, and 0 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Rufer, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
WaiBOP United pull $191.6K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market5 Apr 2027
The name of Corey Hollman keeps appearing in other people's back pages. WaiBOP United say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at WaiBOP United is running low.
Match29 Mar 2027
Position 7, 3 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jai Cacace 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Monty Fenton
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the WaiBOP United boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match1 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for WaiBOP United
Position 7 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market1 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Liberato Barbarouses 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Corey Hollman
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for WaiBOP United
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around WaiBOP United are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Jai Cacace 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Bill Payne, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Monty Fenton
“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.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
“I watch every WaiBOP United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Newcastle Jets runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Team Wellington, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad23 Nov 2026
Oliver 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Nov 2026
Southern United left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Corey Hollman, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Newcastle Jets to sit and watch. I want to come back to WaiBOP United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A costly moment from Jake Reid
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at WaiBOP United, and it is a cruel one.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
At 16 years old, Deklan Nelson became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from Jai Cacace
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jai Cacace 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oliver McCowatt, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at WaiBOP United, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Oliver 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Oliver McCowatt
“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.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Newcastle Jets to sit and watch. I want to come back to WaiBOP United and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.