The WaiBOP United Gazette
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Alex Smith at 20 — 7.80
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alex Smith did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at WaiBOP United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Ross is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The crowd has taken to Alex Smith
At 20 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Alex Smith the difference as WaiBOP United beat Waitakere United
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alex Smith. 1‑0 against Waitakere United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ryan Lewis did the work nobody counts — 6.59
10 combined actions and 6.59. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ben Colvey
“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
- Squad Callum Waine named player of the month
- Squad Ryan Nelson signs a new deal
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Alex Rufer
- Player ratings A defender's afternoon for Jake Stamatelopoulos