The Canterbury United Gazette
Squad19 Oct 2026
Marco De Vries is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Late improvement for Alex Bell
At 30 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 4 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alex Bell 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 Canterbury United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Canterbury United
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Canterbury United
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Callum Barbarouses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market19 Oct 2026
Cameron Garbett steps up from the Canterbury United academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cameron Garbett 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Deklan Singh
“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 watch19 Oct 2026
Ryan Reid has seen enough of Team Wellington
“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 Canterbury United, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
No investment in the facilities at Canterbury United
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
In brief
- The dugout Tim Lockyer knocks on the manager's door
- Looking ahead Looking ahead: the trip to WaiBOP United
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Tim McCowatt