The WaiBOP United Gazette
Match7 Nov 2026
A hiding for WaiBOP United
Beaten 0‑7 by Auckland City, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match9 Nov 2026
WaiBOP United sink to position 5
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market9 Nov 2026
Monty De Vries puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at WaiBOP United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Nov 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about WaiBOP United and Auckland City in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at WaiBOP United
Owen Boxall 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A long afternoon for Sam Van Hattum
Beaten 7 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jake Wood 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near James Colvey
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the WaiBOP United dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
In brief
- Squad Michael Cacace signs a new deal
- Player ratings Cameron Lockyer's mistake decides it