Flying Kiwis – July 5
Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)
Last Friday NZT, Callum McCowatt lined up for FC Helsingør in the first friendly game of their preseason and he scored in a 2-0 win against Lyngby. It was a nice continuation for McCowatt following on from his goal-scoring form across the second half of last season (and also finding the back of the net for the All Whites against Sweden). It was also a fitting way to say farewell because look what just happened...
That’s what we’re talking about. McCowatt had been the last man standing at FC Helsingør after both Elijah Just and Dalton Wilkins left for other opportunities (not to mention Nando Pijnaker and even Liam Jordan). Between McCowatt’s career-best form and FCH missing out on promotion once more, it made sense that it might be time to leave. And that’s how it’s happened with Superliga team Silkeborg scooping up his services with a four-year contract.
CMC still had one more year under contract with Helsingør so there will have been a fee involved in this move. McCowatt will wear the number 17 jersey for his new club and based on the yarns from the club it seems he’ll continue on in the attacking number eight role that he was playing during the promotion rounds with FCH, leading to all those goals. Although the sporting director fella did also acknowledgement McCowatt’s attacking versatility.
SIF sports manager Jesper Stüker: “We are incredibly pleased that we have succeeded in bringing Callum McCowatt to SIF. He is a dynamic player who is good at challenging and can find solutions on his own in front of goals. He has proven in Helsingør, in his home country, and for his national team that he is goal-oriented player who excels in the final third. We believe we can develop Callum's abilities even more here at SIF where we believe he will fit well into our system. He covers many of the offensive positions. In SIF he is initially intended for a role of 8 but we know that he is also skilled as a 10.”
Silkeborg were one of the best clubs in Denmark throughout the 1990s, winning the league in 93-94 and competing in Europe several times. They’ve been relegated five times since the turn of the millennium however they bounced back up at the first attempt after each of the four most recent drops. Bit of a yo-yo team... until they shocked folks more recently with back to back third-placed finishes in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Only finished ninth last season but were comfortably clear of relegation.
So this is different to Eli Just joining newly promoted Horsens and then getting relegated after one year in the top flight. Silkeborg should have sturdier foundations. Also, as it stands, McCowatt is the only non Scandinavian player in the squad.
Callum McCowatt: “I am very happy to be here. It is such a nice club and I have received an incredibly warm welcome. I have been in Denmark for three years and followed Silkeborg IF from a distance. It seems to be a fantastic club that has really evolved well in recent years. I think SIF and I are the perfect match. I am an offensive midfielder who loves to score goals and provide assists. At the same time, I also appreciate a good tackle and do the dirty things. So I'm really looking forward to getting involved and meeting my teammates and coaches and starting to contribute.”
Up Next: Straight into it with the preseason activities
Max Mata & Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Sligo Rovers desperately needed a win as they took on Bohemians. Max Mata also needed a goal having been overtaken in the Golden Boot standings following a six game stretch without finding the back of the net. Nando Pijnaker probably fancied a clean sheet himself. They didn’t get the last one... but they did take care of the other two objectives.
Nothing like a goalkeeping blunder to get back into the swing of things. Mata could hardly have missed as he bunted that thing over the line with his thigh. To be fair, some swirly weather conditions also contributed to the sliced cross and the goalie fumble.
That was the second goal of the day. Sligo Rovers had already scored once though Kailin Barlow, giving them the lead in the 26th minute with a fine strike across the goal after... oh look after Max Mata had slipped him the ball. Make that a goal and an assist for Mata on the day. And also for Barlow since he’s the one who whipped that cross in (although the fumble may mean he doesn’t get credit for it). Ten minutes after the break Stefan Radosavljević whipped in a wicked strike from distance and the Bit’o’Red were running away with it.
Mata was subbed off with a little over ten minutes left, no doubt preserving the legs after the international break. He’d done some fine work even aside from the two goal contributions with that classy hold-up play of his. They did have to play the last thirty with ten men on account of a second yellow for old mate Barlow – eventful day for that bloke. Then also conceded near the end, admittedly a great strike as Pijnaker stretched out in an attempted block. Wasn’t a perfect day at the office... but that’s fine. They still won 3-1 and with that they put an end to a skid that had seen them take just four points from their previous eight games.
There was a rumour floating around prior to that game that Derry City had been considering Mata as an option in their ongoing search for a new striker. Not the first choice but still on the shortlist – albeit with the expectation being that “Sligo Rovers' valuation of Max Mata would rule out a move for the New Zealander”. So don’t expect anything to happen there... although it is evidence that Mata’s performances are being noticed. England’s League One is where Sligo Rovers have sent their last couple of notable transfer prospects. That’s probably more where any serious buzz will come from, if indeed it does.
Max Mata also made another LOI Team of the Week...
Alas, this didn’t return him to the top of the Golden Boot ranks... but it does keep Mata within reach of Chris Forrester’s 11 goals. Mata remains tied second alongside Patrick Hoban both on 10 goals. All three of them scored once this past week. Probably lucky it was only once because Forrester bagged an early penalty in St Pat’s win against UCD but then didn’t add to that despite his team winning 7-0.
Up Next: Derry City vs Sligo Rovers at 6.45am on Saturday (NZT)
Max Crocombe - Burton Albion (English League One)
Another domino has fallen in the European summer transfer window with free agent goalkeeper Max Crocombe joining Burton Albion, the 29yo jumping up a division off the back of an excellent campaign with Grimsby Town in which he played every minute of every game in every competition (including that famous run all the way to the FA Cup quarter-finals).
Crocombe had also been a big part of Grimsby Town’s promotion playoff run the year before as they rose out of the National League and back into the EFL – beating Wrexham 5-4 in extra time in the semis for those of you with Disney+ subscriptions. Grimsby Town did offer him new terms but the writing was on the wall when he still hadn’t re-signed a month after that offer. Next thing he was confirmed to be leaving and you had to assume he had something good in the works to reject a guaranteed starting spot. Yeah, turns out he did: reuniting with his former Southport FC boss Dino Maamria at the Brewers.
Burton Albion manager Dino Maamria: “I’ve worked with Max before when I was at Southport when he was a young goalie. He showed a huge potential back then and he’s gone on to be an international goalkeeper. He’s a great character. I think he fits in really well with what we’re trying to do as a football club.”
Max Crocombe: “I’m delighted to be here. I’ve worked with Dino Maamria before so that was a big factor knowing how he wants to work. We had a good amount of success when we worked together so I’m really excited to be here. You can tell there’s a lot of really good people at this football club and you can tell that’s the heart and soul of the football club. The last couple of years have gone really well for me and each year has just been a progression from National League to League Two and now League One. I’m excited to get going and prove my worth to the team!”
Burton Albion finished fifteenth in League One last term which was actually pretty impressive considering how they’d only won three of their first 22 games. Luckily they turned it around after the new year to avoid relegation by a comfortable margin. This will be their sixth consecutive season in League One. They did win the division back in 2015-16 and spent two years in the Championship for their highest nudge up the pyramid in the club’s history, though have been pretty entrenched where they are with 16th, 16th, and 15th placed L1 finishes over the past three terms. Grimsby Town actually beat Burton Albion 1-0 in the FA Cup third round last term so there’s another direct connection to Max Crocombe.
Burton didn’t have a single senior goalkeeper on the books prior to announcing Crocombe. They used four goalies in the last league term but one was only on loan, another chose to sign elsewhere, and two more were released. That suggests that Max Crocombe ought to have a free run at the starting gig and his previous link with the manager will do no harm to that cause.
Crocombe will be the second kiwi goalie in League One with Jamie Searle doing squad duties at Barnsley who missed out on promotion in the playoff final. Searle started the latest pre-season game. Bradley Collins remains number one there although last year’s main backup Harvey Isted was only there on loan so hopefully that moves Searle into backup territory. The next month will have a lot to do with that. Ben Waine’s Plymouth Argyle were of course promoted from League One as champions.
Up Next: Preaseason yarns all around the EFL
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Angel City bid a temporary farewell to a bunch of World Cup representatives last week, as well as signing a couple of defenders as replacement players, but for some reason Ali Riley was still around as they took on San Diego Wave in their fourth Challenge Cup fixture on Thursday NZT. Perhaps because the Football Ferns hadn’t actually named their squad at that stage? Alyssa Thompson and Julie Ertz had already left for USA duty while Jun Endo didn’t play this game either thus was feasibly on route to join up with Japan.
It turned out to be a sweet farewell. Angel City matched the same result they’d managed against this team in the league a couple weeks ago: beating them 2-1. Two goals inside the first twenty minutes set things up with the opener arriving inside 90 seconds of kickoff. Angel City won themselves a corner kick right off the bat and Madison Hammond turned it home at close range after a nudge from Paige Nielson. Ali Riley was the only one who could keep up with Hammond in her celebration sprints (Hammond apologised to Riley for the unnecessary yardage in their dual press conference afterwards). It then got even better after 18 mins when Clarisse Le Bihan turned in a low cross to double that lead.
Angel City went on to hit the post and have another shot cleared off the line before first half was done, although San Diego were attacking at pace whenever they could. Fair bit of defending for Riley to do at right back. The Wave eventually banged one in on 63’ after a corner kick fell to Danielle Colaprico... but they didn’t actually create much more after that so all goods. Ninety minutes for Ali Riley as Angel City finally won a Challenge Cup game to creep back into contention to make the next round.
One day later Ali Riley was named in the Football Ferns squad, putting her in line for her fifth World Cup experience. Angel City had a 0-0 draw away to Gotham FC a few days later but by then Riley was already on the way back to Aotearoa.
What’s more is that prior to that Challenge Cup game, Angel City announced that they’d extended Ali Riley’s contract for two more years. The club captain will remain with the team all the way through until the end of the 2025 season. This following on from Abby Erceg extending her deal with Racing Louisville two months back, she’ll be sticking around there until at least the end of 2024. Both NZers in the NWSL are locked in for the forseeable future... now we’ve just gotta add a few more.
Ali Riley: “This is my home. Being at Angel City is more than my job. It is my life. Angel City is me. I identify so much with the club. I feel so privileged and motivated. I get so much energy being a part of this club because this is more than soccer. It is about community, love, belonging, inclusiveness, equity and support—all of these things that mean so much to me. Having a contract extension like this shows the club’s investment in me. To have this kind of security in my life, I can give even more and be able to be home for the foreseeable future. There are so many things that I want to achieve at this club. I want to win a championship. But most importantly, I want us to get to the level where our performances on the field match the support we get from our fans, our supporters, and my family. I now have more time to achieve these dreams and I am so excited and so committed. To have the club committed to me in return, I know in my whole heart that this is where I am meant to be.”
As if that’s not enough Ali Riley content she also popped up on the Snacks podcast talking with hosts and USA internationals Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams. Great chat here about her origins in getting on the Aotearoa football bandwagon...
Here’s the full version of that podcast.
Up Next: Angel City vs North Carolina at midday on Monday (NZT)
Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Don’t have to worry about games missed because of the World Cup here because Abby Erceg is retired from international football so she’ll be able to keep the wahine representation going over the next few weeks at least. Racing Louisville didn’t have a Challenge Cup fixture this week but they did have a timely NWSL clash away to OL Reign catching them right after their internationals all gapped it.
This game was pretty uneventful for most of the way. A handball penalty gave RL the lead on 24’ after Wang Shuang converted. Then nothing really happened for a long time other than Louisville keeping it solid with that narrow lead... until the 76th min when Racing scored for a second time. Strange goal. OL’s defence seemed to stop thinking that the play would halt for a foul only for the ref to allow advantage allowing Paige Monaghan to get a shot away which the keeper wasn’t ready for, fumbling it through her hands.
Problem was they couldn’t hang on. Two goals allowed in the last ten minutes meant that RL had to settle for a spilt of the points from a 2-2 draw. Couldn’t stop an 82nd min cross that Veronica Latsko nodded in and then five mins later a diverted touch from Elyse Bennett ended up in the net as the Reign kept on applying that late pressure.
Erceg had warned everyone prior to the game that the Reign were not to be taken lightly in any way despite the eight World Cup players that were missing and yeah that turned out to be an accurate assessment. Yet another draw that keeps them from clawing back territory in the playoff race and a particularly frustrating one because up until those last ten minutes they’d never really looked like conceding. We did get another assured showing from Erceg, passing at 92% accuracy getting plenty of touches. Abby’s been in great touch lately. Her team just need to turn these draws into wins (and not turning wins into draws as happened here) and they could yet be a factor in the postseason.
Up Next: Midday on Saturday away to Kansas City Current (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
All year it’s felt like Minnesota are on the brink of recapturing the form of past seasons and they keep failing to do so. Attacking struggles have cost them points and then when they do win they can’t back it up. But in the wake of announcing the signing of Finland international Teemu Pukki they produced one of the finest showings of their season so far with a 4-1 win over Portland Timbers.
Pukki’s not ready to feature yet but apparently the rest of the attackers took the hint. Mender Garcia had two great chances in the first half, both headers. The first was saved down low and the second, following up on a save, got nodded wide. But right on 43 minutes he was there lurking in the middle on a counter attack and would have probably put Minny into the lead had a defender not slid in front of him and done so instead with the own goal. Emanuel Reynoso had his footprints all over this game and he scored directly from a corner in stoppage time (goalie mistake at the near post) to put the Loons were 2-0 up at the break.
There was some more great stuff in the second stanza although they had a scare on the hour when Portland pulled one back with a break through the middle. However Bongo Hlongwane scored a lightning counter attacking goal on 74’ and then set up Reynoso for a fourth only minutes later. That was that. Really nice win. If they do the same next week they should be back in the playoff spots... granted they will have to do so without Michael Boxall who will be suspended for that game after reaching the yellow card limit.
Minnesota Utd also previously played against FC Kaiserslauten in a midweek friendly as part of the German club’s preseason work. It was a strong starting line-up named by the Loons which included Boxall at the heart of defence – probably part of the agreement to ensure a decent level of footy for FCK’s preparations – although they changed pretty much everything at half-time. Minnesota won 2-1. The weekend’s result was the one that mattered though.
Up Next: Sunday at 12.30pm against Austin FC (NZT)
Logan Rogerson & Ollie Whyte - FC Haka (Finnish Veikkausliiga)
HJK was the club that Logan Rogerson started at in Finland. Never got there with the first team but found his feet once he went out on loan now he’s a regular for FC Haka lining up some Europa Conference League qualifiers in a few weeks. Worked out nicely... but you still want to make a point against any former team so a 1-1 draw vs HJK on a Tuesday afternoon will go down swell.
Remember that HJK are the dominant club in Finland whereas Haka’s been bang average so far this year. They needed a statement result and this was a pretty good one. Particularly Santeri Hostikka slammed in the eighth minute opening goal for the opponents that nearly tore through the net. But Haka rallied back with a couple good chances straight after and had limited the damage to just that single goal in the moments before the first half ended... when HJK’s Joona Toivio lunged into a nasty tackle and earned himself a red card.
Chuck in an excellent sliding tackle from a defender to keep it at ones early second half and they were able to level things up on 56’ as Ryan Mahuta scored after a sweet short corner routine. Slight deflection in there. Rogerson tried to add another with twenty to go but couldn’t quite flick his header going from another corner. He was also flagged offside as he tried to lob a cross over for a possible winner – by which time Ollie Whyte had also been subbed on. Another header from Rog off a corner went astray with a couple mins left, back post this time, probably shoulda left it for his teammate but he wasn’t to know.
A 1-1 draw was still a great result. Very good second half against ten men, causing HJK to drop to second place – they’ve only lost once in 14 games but six draws are slowing them down. Haka have plenty of work to do to get up into the top six but this should help. Catch some highlights.
Annoyingly, it was back to the bad ways on the weekend when Haka were popped 3-0 away to FC Oulu. Rogerson started while Whyte played off the bench, which has been standard practice lately. This one got away from them early. They survived a couple sloppy defensive moments but fell behind after 18 minutes as Oulu scored from the penalty spot after a ricochet handball. Three minutes later it was 2-0 following some less than efficient penalty area defending. And in the 25th minute it was 3-0 as a set piece was headed home.
Haka needed a quick response and they didn’t get it, unable to take advantage of a couple openings caused by width and a high press. Into the second half a great through ball on the counter from Rogerson almost split the defence but the striker’s touch wasn’t good enough and the defence closed the gap. Nah, this one wasn’t it. Highlights if you dare.
Over in the women’s comp in Finland, Åland United had to do without Jacqui Hand for their game against HJK Helsinki. Hand’s been released to join the New Zealand national team and will therefore miss at least a couple more games where this one came from. This was by far the most consequential of those matches: a meeting away against one of the only two teams ahead of them on the ladder. With Hand having been one of their very best players this year that was a serious blow... and yet it didn’t even matter. Åland United won 4-1 to leapfrog HJK into second on the ladder via goal difference, only three points behind leaders KuPS. Massive.
Up Next: Haka vs Inter Turku at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic - FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbian SuperLiga)
Another friendly game and another start for Marko Stamenic, who played sixty minutes in the midfield against Borac of Belarus doing all the same things as he did last week. A midfield role but with licence to push forward all the way into the penalty area – he almost bagged the first goal lurking in the six yard box only it crossed the line before he got there. Red Star went on to win it 2-0. It was only a practice match but important to see Marko getting genuine first team minutes.
And you know what? He started this one against Zenit St Petersburg as well. Zenit are hosting the Pari Premier Cup in Russia (we’ll ignore the political aspect of that), with Crvena Zvezda also joined by Fenerbache (Turkey) and Neftci (Azerbaijan). Red Star are probably the strongest of those four teams and they showed that with a 2-1 victory against Zenit.
The winning goal was scored after Stamenic had been subbed off. Stam lasted 78 minutes this time as he continues to up those tallies with each subsequent friendly. Red Star subbed off everybody except their goalkeeper over the course of the game and Stamenic was the second-to-last man to duck out. He also picked up a first half yellow card for dragging a bloke back and almost got cleaned out by a referee elbow as the card was presented. Plus while he didn’t score the opening goal, his late run into the area was very much part of the move with Mirko Ivanic heading home just in front of him. Stamenic is passing every test so far.
Up Next: Next Pari Cup game is against Neftci Baku at 4.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Myer Bevan - Cavalry FC (Canadian Premier League)
There he goes again, Myer Bevan getting Cavalry underway in the sixth minute. They’d go on to beat Valour 2-0 with the second goal not arriving until right at the very end. A valuable win for fourth-placed Cavalry... who can rise to second if they win their games in hand. Also a valuable goal for Myer Bevan personally as he goes clear first on the Golden Boot standings with seven. One ahead of Valour’s Shaan Singh Hundal who was blanked in that game, while former Team Wellington forward Ollie Bassett is next with five. Two ex-NNZ National League players in the top three? Right on.
Up Next: Sunday at 1pm away to Pacific (NZT)
Moses Dyer - FC Tulsa (American USL Championship)
Great cross. Go on. Moses Dyer setting up the equalising goal in the 82nd minute as Tulsa went on to score a winner soon after in a 3-2 come-from-behind victory against Detroit City.
This was a healthy reward for Dyer, his third assist of the season to go with two goals for one of the rare kiwis playing big minutes in the USL Championship this year. Deklan Wynne (Charleston) and Kyle Adams (San Diego) are deadset key players for their teams while Elliot Collier alternates between starts and the bench alongside Adams but does usually feature in some capacity. Trevor Zwetsloot tends only to be a sub for Pittsburg at the moment, while James Musa (Colorado) and Jesse Randall (Charleston) haven’t really gotten going yet at all. Randall because he’s young and a new signing. Musa because of injuries, although he did made his first start for two months on the weekend logging a full ninety at CB in a 2-0 win.
Up Next: Indy Eleven vs FC Tulsa, 11am on Sunday (NZT)
Jay Herdman - Vancouver Whitecaps II (American MLS NEXT Pro)
Well that sucks. Herdman had been getting some solid game time for the Whitecaps reserves and following on from an impressive U20s World Cup there was some hope that maybe he’d be pushing for an MLS debut before the year was over. By the sounds of that update he’ll be pushing simply to take the field again. Not sure on the specific diagnosis but your coach doesn’t call you a fighter after a sneaky two-week strain or anything. This sounds like a long-term thing for the 18 year old forward, sadly. But he’ll be back.
Up Next: Depends on what those scans show up with
Grace Neville - London City Lionesses (England Championship)
Those offseason days are mostly about transfers and contracts and while new moves may have to wait until after the World Cup, it’s been good to see that most/all of the NZers in top two divisions in England appear to be staying put. Rebekah Stott (Brighton), Ria Percival (Spurs), and Anna Leat (Aston Villa) are all definitely are while CJ Bott (Leicester City) wasn’t included on any release lists so if she’s not under contract then she soon will be following an excellent season with the Foxes. Down a tier, Ashleigh Ward didn’t play much for Southampton but has been retained for next term.
Not entirely sure about Grace Neville though. She just had her best season for a couple of years with London City Lionesses, having signed on for her fourth season with the club a year ago. She’s now off contract now although she’s hardly alone in that regard with reports suggesting that only four players are currently signed for the 2023-24 campaign. LCL seem to have some rather serious financial issues with news emerging last week that a letter to club ownership signed by all 20 players (last season’s squad) asked them to ‘seek new investors’ in order to remain financially viable.
The Lionesses are a fascinating club because they used to be the Millwall women’s team but split off due to a lack of internal support, thus founding their own stand-alone club which is rare that high up the pyramid. Of the 12 WSL clubs next term, all have affiliated men’s teams and 10/12 of those are Premier League clubs (the exceptions being Leicester City whose men’s team just got relegated and newly promoted Bristol City). The Championship has Lewes and Durham to keep London City company but while the autonomy of that independent status is useful, the challenges are also extreme.
London City lost manager Melissa Phillips to Brighton back in January and they still haven’t hired a replacement (though curiously they did hire Aussie Nicola Williams as a first team assistant recently... despite not having anyone to assist as things stand). The Lionesses were third last term, only three points off top. The club has been advertising for new sponsors and recently moved into a new training ground. Good intentions aren’t lacking... so fingers crossed for a satisfying solution. Or, if not, then a Grace Neville transfer to a WSL club would be fine.
Up Next: That remains to be seen
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