Chris Simpson

Left Forward - Auckland FC U18
6 Jul 2030
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Marked for Chris Simpson

139 Edition

The Auckland FC Sentinel

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad26 Mar 2029

Chris Simpson damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match21 Mar 2029

The cup run ends for Auckland FC

0‑1 against Sydney FC, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Match26 Mar 2029

Auckland FC finish in position 1

42 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

The dugout26 Mar 2029

Frans Deli keeps the receipts

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

Squad26 Mar 2029

Hiroki Sakai 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 Auckland FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad26 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Auckland FC

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesse Randall was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout26 Mar 2029

The manager makes an example of Sam Cosgrove

“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.

Squad26 Mar 2029

Auckland FC are still strangers to each other

9 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.

The dugout26 Mar 2029

No place for Matthew Millar on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Auckland FC pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

Back issues
138 Edition

The Auckland FC Sentinel

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad19 Mar 2029

Chris Simpson damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match17 Mar 2029

Still nobody has beaten Auckland FC

The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad19 Mar 2029

A one-man rearguard from Michael Woud

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.

Squad19 Mar 2029

A falling-out at Auckland FC

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

Match17 Mar 2029

Auckland FC get the job done against Sydney FC

A 1‑0 win over Sydney FC, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad19 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Auckland FC

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chris Donnell was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout19 Mar 2029

Mustapha Bundu 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 ratings19 Mar 2029

Jesse Randall was the difference for Auckland FC

Marked 7.92. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Player ratings19 Mar 2029

Lachlan Brook was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

137 Edition

The Auckland FC Sentinel

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad12 Mar 2029

A knee injury of the worst kind for Chris Simpson

32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Auckland FC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match12 Mar 2029

The view from the top for Auckland FC

38 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Match10 Mar 2029

Whatever happens, Auckland FC do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad12 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Auckland FC

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesse Randall was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match10 Mar 2029

Auckland FC see off Adelaide United

Three points for Auckland FC, 3‑1 the final word against Adelaide United in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad12 Mar 2029

Tempers go at Auckland FC

Mustapha Bundu 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 ratings12 Mar 2029

Lucas Mauragis in the eights

A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings12 Mar 2029

Prosper Obiora Nwachukwu in the eights

A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad12 Mar 2029

Time is catching up with Ryan Thomas

Everybody at Auckland FC saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.

In brief

136 Edition

The Auckland FC Sentinel

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad5 Mar 2029

The knee: Chris Simpson out for 39 days

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

Market5 Mar 2029

Jonty Bidois is on his way

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

Match3 Mar 2029

Whatever happens, Auckland FC do not lose

8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad5 Mar 2029

Lachlan Brook signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lachlan Brook and Auckland FC agree another 4 years.

Squad5 Mar 2029

Tempers go at Auckland FC

Hiroki Sakai 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 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Auckland FC

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesse Randall was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match3 Mar 2029

The run is over for Auckland FC

5 matches without defeat, and then Western Sydney Wanderers. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

Looking ahead5 Mar 2029

The big one: Adelaide United come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Auckland FC will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

The dugout5 Mar 2029

The manager makes an example of Matthew Millar

“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