Marko Stamenic – Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)

It has been confirmed. For the second time in a month, a New Zealand footballer has signed with an English Premier League club. First it was Alex Paulsen to AFC Bournemouth, now it’s Marko Stamenic to Nottingham Forest. Linking up with the main man Chris Wood... although not not immediately because Stamenic will initially serve a year out on loan with Olympiacos in Greece. He leaves Crvena zvezda for roughly £4.6m just one year after signing on a free contract. He played 35 times for Red Star in all competitions, scoring twice and winning a Serbian SuperLiga and Serbian cup double – his second consecutive league and cup double having also done the same in Denmark with FC København.

This has been quite a trip because two weeks ago it was being reported in Serbia that a move to Coventry City in the English Championship was already done and dusted. However, they did admit that Stamenic had some initial hesitation. He didn’t really want to leave Serbia so soon but if he had to then he preferred a top division club. Then Nottm Forest came along with a vulture deal, slightly outbidding Coventry and usurping the move. Stamenic gets his wish to sign with a Premier League club and in the process becomes the second-most expensive kiwi footballer of all time. This transfer fee is bettered only by Chris Wood (who, to be fair, has been moved for at least triple that price on three separate occasions).

He’s signed with a Premier League club so hopefully he gets to play for a Premier League club. Forest were caught deep in a relegation battle last season after being docked points for financial fair play issues and that’s something to keep in mind on a number of levels with this deal. The fact that it was a cheap move for a promising prospect. The fact that he’s been loaned out in year one. The fact that he’s been given a five-year contract, allowing them to spread the FFP hit out over those fives years (five years is the maximum for transfer fee amortisation, a new-ish rule after Chelsea started giving out eight-year contracts). Then again, this transfer window it seems like Prem clubs with FFP dramas are just cynically teaming up to buy each other’s youth team players for dramatically inflated fees to juke the system. FFP is based on buys vs sales profit margins and youth team players were signed for free so they’re pure profit.

Anyway, he’s being loaned to Olympiacos for year one of that contract, which is a matter of convenience since Nottm Forest and Olympiacos are both owned by Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis (Rio Ave in Portugal are also part of the group – a club that coincidentally had Nando Pijnaker on its books for a while there). This has been a common strategy for Forest. Last season Omar Richards, Giulian Biancone, and Gustavo Scarpa were all on loan at O from NF, although there’s scepticism as to how successful the strategy has been for getting into the Nottm Forest first team long term. The club’s been in a weird place with promotion and financial dramas and trying to stay in the Prem though, so the precedents may not have much relevance.

Next season will be the centenary for Olympiacos Football Club. Their 99th campaign was a disappointment on the domestic front as they only finished third in the league, six points behind winners PAOK, and were bounced in the round of sixteen of the Greek Cup. However they balanced that out with a brilliant run through the Europa Conference League knockouts, beating Ferencváros (2-0 agg), Maccabi Tel Aviv (7-5 agg), Fenerbahçe (3-3 agg, 3-2 on pens), Aston Villa (6-2 agg), and Fiorentina (1-0 aet) to lift the trophy. They also won the UEFA Youth League title. This season they’ll have automatic Europa League league phase entry (it’s a new format with the league phase replacing the group stage... teams playing eight games prior to knockouts instead of six). They’ll expect to be challenging for trophies on the domestic front too so it’s not out of the question that Stamenic could make it three consecutive league and cup doubles in three different countries. Imagine that.

No Champions League appearances will be added to his resume whilst in Greece but the Europa League will do fine in its place. Greece is ranked slightly higher than Serbia on the UEFA coefficients, having nudged ahead on the latest updates (15th vs 19th) thanks largely to Red Star Belgrade not delivering results on the continental front... so it’s not impossible that they drop into the Europa League after UCL qualifying and could be an opponent for Olympiacos. Right now the only other kiwi bloke in line for continental footy next season is Callum McCowatt (Silkeborg – UEL quals) but at the rate this transfer window is going that’s probably not a final count.

By the way, there have been a few trailblazing NZers who’ve played in the Greek Super League before. Kris Bright made six appearances for Panserraikos. Kosta Barbarouses got 10 for Panathanaikos. And of course NZ/Greek utility Themi Tzimopoulos spent most of his career there, making 233 combined appearances for Akratitos, Giannina, and Levadiakos. Mostly at Giannina. You’ll be interested to know that Themi was still going strong last season at 38 years of age, playing 20 games for Kozani in the second tier. Seems his contract has now wrapped up though... whether that’s the end of his career or not, we shall see.

Up Next: Olympics begin on July 24, gotta think he’ll be there now that this has all been sorted

Malia Steinmetz – FC Nordsjælland (Danish Kvindeliga)

Say would you look at this...

This is not a replay of last week’s Kvindeliga celebrations. This is a clip from FCN making trophy collection a habit after backing up their league title with a Danish Cup final victory. They beat Brøndby 2-1 to claim the gold medals – the same opponent they drew with four days earlier to ensure they claimed the league gold as well. A domestic double for Malia Steinmetz in her first season in Europe. Champions League qualification entry as a further reward. She regularly played ninety minutes in the midfield and last week we showed you this bit of personal recognition as she was named in the Team of the Season by the main broadcasters...

FCN had only ever won one major trophy prior to this term. That was this same Danish Cup back in 2020. They’ve multiplied that now... with Steinmetz joining a pretty long list of New Zealanders to have won significant trophies this past season...

• Malia Steinmetz (FC Nordsjælland) – Danish Kvindeliga & Danish Cup

• Marko Stamenic (Red Star Belgrade) – Serbian SuperLiga & Serbian Cup

• Victoria Esson (Rangers) – Scottish Cup & League Cup

• Callum McCowatt (Silkeborg) – Danish Cup

• Erin Nayler (Bayern Munich) – German Bundesliga

• Maya Hahn & Suya Haering (Turbine Potsdam) – German Bundesliga 2

• Alex Greive (Dundee United) – Scottish Championship

• Ria Percival (Crystal Palace) – English Championship

• Matt Dibley-Dias (Fulham U21s) – Premier League Cup

• Dalton Wilkins (Sønderjyske) – Danish Division 1

• Oscar Obel-Hall (Esbjerg fB) - Danish Division 2

• Storm Roux (Central Coast Mariners) – Australian A-League Championship, Premiership & AFC Cup

• Andre De Jong (Stellenbosch) – South African Knockout Cup

Annoyingly, the cup final had a different broadcaster who doesn’t want to share the highlights beyond their own subscriber base... but here’s the gist of the game. FCN had some good spells of possession in the first half yet there weren’t too many chances either way as the teams hit the sheds with the same 0-0 scoreline that they’d started with. The second half then brought way more excitement. It was a defensive error playing out from the back that allowed Emilia Asgeirsdottir to give FCN the lead after 59 minutes with that crucial first blow, reflecting a positive start to the half from the league champs. Brøndby had to amp it up after that and they did... though that led to more Nordsjælland chances on the counter attack. Alma Aagard would double the lead on 72’ with a beautiful finish. Julie Tavlo did make it funky when she pulled a goal back for BIF on 78’ but that was all they got. FC Nordsjælland took the 2-1 win.

Both of FCN’s goal scorers are teenagers. This is a squad with an average age of 22 years... making Steinmetz one of the team elders at 25yo. This immediate Danish success is also awesome to see because Steinmetz did not have this experience in the A-League, that’s for sure. She got a wooden spoon in her first season with Perth Glory, then after moving to Western Sydney she only avoided that same fate by goal difference (at the Wellington Phoenix’s expense). She did not personally experience an ALW win until her third season! In 39 games played, she had a 5W / 7D / 27L record. Needless to say there hasn’t been an abundance of wins with the Football Ferns either. Now she’s won a league and cup double as an influential player in that squad. Blessings have been bestowed.

Up Next: Must be an Olympic squad named soon, aye?

Gabi Rennie - Åland United (Finnish Kansallinen Liiga)

We had a cup round in Finland and sadly we’re still in the early stages where a lot of it isn’t televised... or even recorded. That’s unfortunate because, guess what, Gabi Rennie scored two more goals. Away against lower-tiered Apassit, there were zero worries for Åland United in cruising towards an 8-0 victory. They were four up at half-time. Rennie was left on the bench to begin with as part of a rotated eleven but they did chuck her on in the 72nd minute and she proceeded to add to the scoreline with goals in the 78th and 88th minutes. This result sends Åland comfortably into the fifth round. Rennie’s up to six goals in ten matches across both competitions, to go with four assists. That’s a goal contribution every 79 minutes.

Up Next: Big game away against second-placed KuPS at 4am on Sunday (NZT)

Owen Parker-Price, Dom Woolridge, Harry Moss-Edge & Sean Bright – Torslanda IK (Swedish Ettan Södra)

Also scoring again this week was Owen Parker-Price. It was his 18th minute goal that gave Torslanda the lead against Norrby IF and what a goal it was. Alas, the lads were unable to add to the tally and ended up drawing 1-1. At least that point does mean they climb out of the relegation zone and into the relegation playoff zone with one more match to go until the league takes a month off at the halfway stage.

OPP has 5 goals and 3 assists from 14 games this season, as well as another two goals in his only cup appearance so far. He does take penalties but that doesn’t account for all of them – as the goal above attests to. He’s been going brilliantly for TIK... and his comrades are doing alright too. Moss-Edge, Woolridge, and Bright all joined him in playing ninety minutes in the Norrby draw, with Woolridge picking up a late yellow card.

Up Next: Away to Rosengård on Sunday at 11pm (NZT)

Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)

She’s not going anywhere. After a magnificent run of form and appearances down the stretch of last season, Vic Esson has re-signed with Rangers for a third campaign. Another one-year contract, as to be expected. Esson won two cup trophies with RFC last term and the club only missed out on the league title, and thus a domestic treble, by goal difference due to a late goal in Celtic’s concurrent final day fixture. That still means entry into the Champions League qualifying draw – they’ll join the first round via league path in September.

It was in UCLW qualifiers that Esson first debuted for Rangers, now they’ve returned in that arena after a year away. Throughout her time at the club, she has alternated starting duties with Jenna Fife (herself a Scottish international). It was Fife who got the edge for most of the past league season but then Esson got all the game down the stretch. That suggests a good chance of her getting those Champions League games, although that could be compromised by Esson’s late return after the Olympics. Helpfully, they will have a familiar manager this time in Jo Potter so it should be more of a matter of picking up where everyone left off.

Vic Esson: “I think in the first year there is a lot of unknowns and that is where you learn a lot, whilst also trying to win the league and we had Champions League quite quickly after I arrived. I was hitting the ground running I felt like when I came to Rangers and the girls were fantastic, they have always welcomed me with open arms. Last year obviously I came in late because of the World Cup, again it was quite quick starting into games. This year it is actually going to be a bit of a copy and paste with a similar situation but I know Jo now and know what she expects and I definitely hope to again hit the ground running when I come back in and I am delighted to be joining the girls again. It is a great group of girls and good coaching staff; I am really looking forward to another season at Rangers.”

Rangers will find out their UCLW qualifying draw early next month. It’s been a couple of years since we last had a kiwi in the proper stages of the Women’s Champions League – none since the format changed to a 16-team group stage. As it stands, Esson (Rangers) and Malia Steinmetz (FC Nordsjælland) are the two kiwi contenders for 2024-25, though the transfer window is yet young.

RFC Head Coach, Jo Potter: “Vic has been a hugely influential member of the squad over my time at the club and it is pleasing that she has signed an extension until next summer. She is part of a highly competitive goalkeeping unit at the club who continue to push each other every day, and I believe her character and temperament will be vital to our ambitions ahead of the upcoming season.”

Up Next: Olympics in July/August, UCL qualifiers in September

Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)

Only Abby Erceg this week, no Milly Clegg. MC dropped out of both matchday squads for Louisville after a few injury recoveries knocked her deeper in the queue. That sorta explains why she couldn’t scrap a debut from five previous bench selections... not that there’s anything to panic about there. You don’t just walk into an NWSL team as a teenager. There are only ten players Clegg’s age or younger who’ve featured so far this season and none for Louisville – whose youngest player is Reilyn Turner who is three years older than Clegg. Keep in mind that Clegg was given a three-year contract. If the first year is just for development then that’s still going to advance her career nicely. Meanwhile, here’s an Abby Erceg milestone note from prior to this week’s games...

Racing Lou: “Veteran defender and club vice-captain Abby Erceg surpassed 16,000 career minutes played in Saturday’s game vs. Gotham. In her 10th season in the NWSL, the New Zealand national team legend is zeroing in on third place in the league’s all-time minutes played category. The 34-year-old, who has won three NWSL championships in her career while playing in four Olympics and four World Cups, ranks first in the NWSL this year in blocks per 90 minutes.”

The first of those games was against Ali Riley’s Angel City team... but Ali Riley’s not played since picking up an injury knock with the Football Ferns. Strangely, ACFC haven’t always listed her on the injury report which maybe means she’s been touch-and-go in a few of these games. But she was on the injury report this week with an upper leg complaint. Probably a hamstring. Regardless, she didn’t play as her team won 3-2 against Erceg’s team. Louisville fell 2-0 down inside of 32 minutes but battled back to be on course for a draw until Sydney Leroux scored an 85th minute winner for Angel City. Another late concession. Not great for RL.

But the second game of the week had its merits. They’d have preferred a win against an out-of-form Seattle Reign side but all pregame expectations go out the window when your centre-back gets sent off inside of ten minutes for dragging down an attacker who was through on goal. Penalty and a red card. Arin Wright was the culprit, not Abby Erceg in case you were worried. Bethany Balcer converted the penalty to make it 1-0... but Racing Lou didn’t wilt. They may have conceded a lot of late goals that have cost them points this year, including in that Angel City game, but here it was their turn to experience the other side of that equation. Reilyn Turner equalised in the 90+7th minute of this contest (the rookie’s third goal of the year – all have come after the 87th minute). This 1-1 draw keeps RL just on the right side of the top eight cutoff.

This was an excellent Erceg game. Five clearances. 94% passing success. Three interceptions. One blocked shot. She even had a shot on target too. It’s still true that Erceg leads the NWSL in shots blocked with 21 of them. Her teammate Taylor Flint is third with 16 so maybe, just maybe, this team is allowing too many shots. Erceg’s also seventh in the league for clearances. She’s one of 14 players remaining to have played every minute in 2024 (and one of seven non-goalkeepers). And she’s won 20/24 aerial challenges which is the equal-best success rate in the competition. Standard Abby Erceg stuff, basically.

Up Next: RL vs Bay FC at 8am on Sunday (NZT)

Macey Fraser - Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)

Macey Fraser’s first NWSL start saw Utah Royals snap a long winless streak with a dramatic and cathartic late victory. Based on that performance, and on the selection trends we’ve seen so far, we can pretty much expect Fraser to be a regular starter from this point onwards... but her second NWSL start? Her second NWSL start was a complete shambles.

Individually she was okay away against Orlando Pride but she didn’t get as many touches as she’d have liked and wasn’t nearly as effective off the ball as she had been last week. Then she pulled up holding her hamstring to be subbed off after 72 mins. Didn’t look too bad but no reason to risk it since they were already 3-0 down. The coach did seem to give her some words of encouragement as she walked off though.

Yeah, Orlando Pride gave them a whupping. Three goals wasn’t even the worst of it – Utah conceded three more times after Fraser left the game. It was a 6-0 hiding that reminded the Royals why they’re at the bottom of the ladder, with the added lesson that winning one game does not earn you anything beyond those three points. Gotta start again from scratch each week. Fraser did get some plaudits as one of the more promising players for a Royals team that was otherwise dismantled so that’s something. Marta and Barbra Banda were the stars of the show with two goals each.

Up Next: Sunday at 2pm at home vs Portland Thorns (NZT)

Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)

Ankle injury? What ankle injury? Michael Boxall was subbed off at half-time of Minnesota’s game last week but it was largely precautionary and he was able to recover on a short turnaround to play twice in the seven days since. Thus we ask again: what ankle injury?

Only drama was that they lost both of those games. During the week they were beaten 5-3 by FC Dallas. They had the better of a lot of that game and it was 2-2 after an hour, having twice whipped out equalisers, but instead of a third equaliser they crumbled down the stretch, their third goal coming deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot after it was already too late. Four of the goals were through balls in behind the Loons defence – with their left back specifically responsible for twice playing a bloke onside. Not a good day.

Defensively they were much better against FC Austin a few days later... yet the attack was also much worse as they lost 1-0 to a Diego Rubio goal after 31 minutes – although it was the red card to Hasani Dotson after 26 mins that was the real turning point. Collected the ball in the midfield from a Boxall pass, then lost it to a heavy touch and dragged his bloke down to prevent a counter. But he’d just been booked moments earlier. Pretty dumb. Minnesota United only had one shot on target all match. The one they conceded came from a bad punch from their keeper, with Boxall almost saving it on the goal-line but a deflection sent it past him. Three defeats in a row and four games without a win. Let’s leave it at that.

Up Next: Sunday at 2.30pm away to Portland Timbers (NZT)

Tyler Boyd - Nashville SC (American Major League Soccer)

Must be time for a check-in with our favourite NZ/USA dual international. Avert your eyes if you’re easily offended by a bloke missing the target completely with an open goal in front of him...

Yikes. Boyd took too long to shoot which drew in a few covering defenders and closed his angle but to miss the target entirely there is shocking, especially after such a superbly weighted through ball from Hany Mukhtar. This was ninety seconds into the game too. The kind of miss that’ll haunt you the rest of the way. Or at least until you make amends...

Now that’s more like it. This ended up being the winning goal in a 1-0 result against New York City FC. Tyler Boyd doing the business with his first goal for Nashville SC since being traded there from LA Galaxy in between seasons. Get him back in that USA team pronto, mate.

Tyler Boyd: “It was really hot out there tonight and obviously the third game in a week. It takes a lot of heart to put in a performance like that.”

NSC interim coach Rumba Munthali: “I think Tyler from start to finish, since he's gotten here, has been someone who affects the game positively and somebody who's dangerous and is very dynamic and hard to cover. I think the more he gets to play with Hany (Mukhtar) and Sam and Teal (Bunbury) and those guys, he'll become even more and more effective.”

Up Next: Nashville vs Inter Miami at 12.30pm on Sunday (NZT)

Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC (American Major League Soccer)

This is the most recent Bill Tuiloma highlight...

A pretty good highlight, to be fair, just not a footballing one. We’re only a few weeks away from the one-year anniversary of his appearance in a 2-0 defeat against Montreal, a game that’s notable because he has only played in two club games since.

Those two appearances came earlier this year when Charlotte were missing a centre-back or two therefore Tuiloma stepped up for a 3-2 win vs Toronto and a 3-0 loss vs Minnesota. Five goals conceded in 180 minutes wasn’t really where it was at so he swiftly returned to the bench. He’s a back-up CB in this team and they don’t ever sub their CBs. He’s only playing if there’s an injury or suspension. But on the bright side his team has taken 21 points from their last 10 matches to currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Up Next: In between barbecues there’s a Houston vs Charlotte game at 12.30pm on Sunday (NZT)

Jay Herdman & Finn Linder - Vancouver Whitecaps II (American MLS NEXT Pro)

Ah yes, Jay Herdman has scored another goal. He does this quite often. He’s up to four goals and three assists in MLS Next Pro during 2024 with most of that mahi coming in the past six weeks. Dude’s in fantastic form for a Caps team that has now won five matches in a row. He spent a little time training with the Whitecaps first team during the week too, so don’t think it’s going unnoticed.

Up Next: Whitecaps 2 vs St Louis 2, Monday at 11am (NZT)

Riley Bidois – Loudon United (American USL Championship)

Jay Herdman isn’t the only Olympic squad hopeful making a case for himself. Riley Bidois scored the equalising goal in a 2-2 draw for Loudon United away against Miami FC. Mint header. His second goal of the USL season... and coming in the first game since his brother Jonty was announced as a scholarship player for Auckland FC. It’s been a good week for the Bidois whanau.

The USL Championship’s not been much fun lately but Bidois is doing his thing, at least. Loudon are sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference. Top of those standings is Kyle Adams’ Louisville City even after they had a shocker 5-2 loss vs Rhode Island. They’re the two blokes doing the most. Elliot Collier is chipping away off the bench for Indy Eleven. James Musa appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth for Colorado Springs though, not being sighted since early April. Got to imagine he’s injured. Trevor Zwetsloot did make one league appearance alongside Bidois at Loudon but he was only there on a short term deal and hasn’t been sighted again since.

Up Next: Sunday at 11.30am vs Tampa Bay Rowdies (NZT)

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