The Team Wellington Gazette
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Monty De Vries runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Chris Smith, 33, rolls back the years — 7.88
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tim Sutton is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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
A late step up for Monty De Vries
At 29 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Graduation day at Team Wellington
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Match17 Oct 2026
Deklan Nelson sends Team Wellington past Waitakere United
It finished 3‑1, and it was Deklan Nelson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Team Wellington.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Chris Smith 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 Team Wellington this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
Team Wellington supporters have found a favourite in Deklan Nelson
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Deklan Nelson has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market19 Oct 2026
Team Wellington promote Noah Lockyer from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Noah Lockyer 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
- Market Team Wellington promote Alex Cacace from within
- Market One of our own: Stefan Fenton joins the Team Wellington first team
- Market One of our own: Callum Waine joins the Team Wellington first team