Noah Smith

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Waitakere United U20
30 Mar 2027
Tuesday
Process

Marked for Noah Smith

31 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Joe Nelson 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Noah Smith out for 28 days

The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Noah Smith, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Owen Smith 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.

In brief

Back issues
19 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Chris Nelson breaks a bone — 61 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Waitakere United's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Waitakere United has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Noah Smith asks to leave Waitakere 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.

Squad

Joe Nelson 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 Waitakere United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Owen Smith signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Owen Smith and Waitakere United agree another 1 years.

Match

The goals have deserted Waitakere United

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Waitakere United can tell you which week it ends in.

Loan watch

Bill Garbett 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 Waitakere United, and 1 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Stefan Lewis

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

A row about effort at Waitakere United

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

In brief

16 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Chris Nelson breaks a bone — 82 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Waitakere United

Joe Nelson 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

A row about effort at Waitakere United

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

The dugout

Jordan Vale 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 Payne counts the days

“I watch every Waitakere United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Team Wellington runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Looking ahead

A test against the best for Waitakere United

The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Auckland City.

Looking ahead

Jordan Vale goes back to face Auckland City

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jordan Vale’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Waitakere United needing him to play as if none of it matters.

The dugout

The manager makes Liberato Reid a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Waitakere United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

The dugout

Matt Boxall 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

12 Edition

The Waitakere United Sentinel

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Chris Nelson out for 110 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Waitakere United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Monty Rufer stands alone

8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Stefan Fenton delivers — 7.72

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Stefan Fenton scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Market

Noah Smith asks to leave Waitakere 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Tommy Smith at Waitakere United

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tommy Smith is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A late step up for Stefan Fenton

At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Waitakere 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.

Market

Monty Rufer steps up from the Waitakere United academy

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

Market

Waitakere United promote Francis Waine from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Francis Waine 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.

In brief