For almost two months we didn’t see Libby Cacace in action at all. Even before that he was in and out of the team amidst recurring muscle injuries – the first time in his entire career that he’d been stuck with injuries, probably in part due to his lack of a preseason.
There aren’t many All Whites (or Football Ferns either, for that matter), who can claim to have had a better 2025 than Elijah Just. In fact, you can stretch that out to the last 18 months... and there’s no end in sight.
Less than six minutes into the match and Tyler Bindon had scored his first Championship goal. Leapt about three metres into the air to whallop home a header from a corner kick. Superb stuff.
After 56 games of Men’s National League football, one of the most unpredictable campaigns we’ve ever seen ended in the most predictable manner: with Auckland City lifting the trophy
Both the Women’s and Men’s National Leagues were wide open in their latter weeks only for the defending champs to swoop through and win it again. Funny how that goes.
Three weeks ago, Ben Waine was in the footballing wilderness. He was so far out of the frame at Port Vale that he hadn’t even made a matchday squad since late-August, with the exception of getting unused-subbed in an early FA Cup tie against non-league Maldon/Tiptree
Just like in the Women’s National League, the two most recent champions made it to the Men’s National League grand final. There had been wobbles along the way for both Wellington Olympic and Auckland City but…
Five losses in a row for Swansea City meant they more from anyone who could spare it, so more was what Marko Stamenic provided...
As the final round of the Men’s National League began, there were four clubs still in with a mathematical chance of qualifying for the grand final. These two clubs were at the forefront of those convos…
The Football Ferns are at a crossroads right now... in fact they’ve been stuck there for a wee while. Ever since the World Cup in 2023, they’ve been trying to figure out where they’re going having previously given absolute focus to that co-hosted tournament
There were some sweaty moments for Viking FK down the home stretch of this title challenge but when it came to the final round, needing simply to win to claim the club’s first Norwegian championship since 1991, it was never in doubt.
It’s an incredible situation that we’ve got ourselves into where four separate teams held their grand final fates in their own hands ahead of the penultimate weekend. Any combination of Western Springs, Auckland City, Wellington Olympic, or Miramar Rangers could end up in the top two
Despite the reputation that Auckland United bring with them, making them favourites everywhere they go, there was actually nothing between them and Eastern Suburbs during the National League regular season
Joe Bell’s international break came and went without damage, in fact he was even rested for New Zealand’s game against Ecuador to keep him fresh. Now the business of winning the Norwegian Eliteserien could resume.
The blokes still have another fortnight to go. That means that there wasn’t quite the same desperate jostling for spots in the top two... although there will be soon because this whole round was bonkers.
Sorry to say this but we’ve come to the end of the Women’s National League. This was the final round of the regular season (with just the grand final next week to follow)
We got what we should have expected from these games. The All Whites were competitive enough to hang around against two of South America’s current best, but not good enough – especially with half their starting eleven out injured – to withstand them the whole way through
The last time we beat Australia was in 1994 when Wendy Sharpe scored a double in Port Moresby for a 2-1 victory. There are only two players in the current squad who were even born when that happened (Esson and Longo).
On Friday night at Fred Taylor Park we witnessed one of the most consequential games of the entire season. Eastern Suburbs were five games unbeaten. West Coast Rangers had won five of their last six.
While it does seem like Western Springs and Wellington Olympic are headed towards a grand final showdown, having pulled away from the chasing pack, there’s still time for that to change