Flying Kiwis – May 6
Grace Neville - London City Lionesses (England Championship)
Well, they did it: the London City Lionesses are champions of the Championship and will be playing WSL football next season. They needed to avoid defeat against Birmingham on the final day to achieve that target and that’s exactly what they did. Despite conceding late, they were able to withstand the final push from Birmingham and hang on for a 2-2 draw. It was 0-0 at half-time before goals from Isobel Goodwin (47’) and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah (59’) put the Lionesses in the box seat – Goodwin’s was an incredible strike from range. Emily van Egmond (63’) and Cho So-hyun (86’) brought the Blues back but it wasn’t enough to flip the trophy destination.
The celebrations were kinda weird considering how much owner Michelle Kang involved herself in them. The Americanisation of having the owner pass the trophy to the team and join in the celebrations is distasteful... and let’s be honest with the money that Kang invested into this team they had a WSL-calibre roster (including their coach) that wasn’t exactly on even ground against some of the financial strugglers in this division. But for all of the capitalism, there was also the awesome story of Grace Neville. She’s been playing for this club since day one - this was her seventh season with the club and that includes times when they were barely clinging to existence prior to the Kang takeover. Neville’s been through more than most in order to experience this moment.
She also had a sweet little run of games to end the season. Neville started four of the last five games for LCL (she only made seven league starts in total) including playing the whole thing against Birmingham in the title decider. Great effort from her. With luck she’ll be playing WSL games next season... although this squad will have way more transfer flexibility than the average promoted sides so best to not make assumptions.
We didn’t get any glorious farewells for any of the other kiwi women in the Championship. Sunderland won 2-1 against Sheffield United but Katie Kitching only played the first half as they shared things around in the last game of the season, although she did have one deflected effort that dropped just over the crossbar. On the other side, Olivia Page was an unused sub for Sheffield Utd but Jacqui Hand played most of it and drew a very good save out of the Sunderland goalie with a low shot off her left foot later in the first half.
Also, Durham won 2-0 against Bristol City with Hannah Blake and Mickey Foster both in the starting team. Blake played deeper than usual and lasted 80 minutes. Foz played the full thing. The second goal came from a lovely through ball played by Foster from deep within her own half. Assisting the assist, so to speak. She also only barely missed with a direct free kick attempt towards the end.
London City (Neville) finished first. Durham ended up in fourth (Blake & Foster). Sunderland were seventh (Kitching), and Sheffield United were last with relegation (Hand & Page). In terms of individual stats, it went like this...
Katie Kitching – 19 games (19 starts) | 1527 minutes | 5 goals | 5 assists
Jacqui Hand – 16 games (14 starts) | 1275 minutes | 2 goals | 1 assist
Mickey Foster – 17 games (13 starts) | 1165 minutes | 2 goals | 1 assist
Hannah Blake – 18 games (12 starts) | 1053 minutes | 3 goals | 0 assists
Grace Neville – 16 games (7 starts) | 811 minutes | 1 goal | 1 assist
Olivia Page – 7 games (5 starts) | 459 minutes | 0 goals | 0 assists
As for the Women’s Super League, we would have had the wonderful scenario of CJ Bott vs Indi Riley this week except that neither of them played during Crystal Palace and Leicester City’s 2-2 draw. Bott had already been under an injury cloud, with her coach Amandine Miquel saying during the week: “It's the same with CJ. I'm not sure if she will be back. Many things are difficult with injuries and so we will have to see.” Well, we waited and we saw and she was still injured. Riley’s absence was a new one though. There’s still one more week of games in the WSL so they might yet be back for those. Palace have already been relegated.
Up Next: Party time for Grace Neville... followed by a request for a contract extension
Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)
Sadly, Reading’s final game of the League One campaign was a fizzer as they lost 4-2 against Barnsley. Not that it mattered because Leyton Orient won 4-1 against Huddersfield concurrently so Reading wouldn’t have made the top six unless they won by a dozen clear goals. Therefore they miss out on the playoffs, settling for seventh place with no further chance of promotion. But it was a day of celebration nonetheless because hours earlier it was confirmed that the club finally completed its ownership takeover, thus ending the tumultuous reign of Dai Yongge.
All that drama, all the financial struggles, all the fan protests, all the points deductions... those are now a thing of the past. They nearly sold their training ground. Their women’s team had to be voluntarily relegated. This was the first time since 2020-21 that the Royals didn’t have a points deduction. They were even at risk of being booted out of the EFL entirely if the ownership didn’t change. So in that light, who cares about missing the playoffs... the fans have gotten their club back. And those fans deserve it because they know a good thing when they see it, as proved by Tyler Bindon being voted Player of the Season...
Reading FC: “You voted in your thousands, and we can proudly reveal Tyler Bindon has been selected as your official 2024-25 Player of the Season. Of the over 3,000 votes submitted, the 20 year old New Zealand international picked up a third of the vote, seeing him become the latest in a long line of Royals to take the prize since its inception in 1964. Bindon has grown not just mentally but physically throughout the campaign.
Often the scourge for many strikers, his ability to read the game and combine his thoughts with brute strength and energy has proven to be a popular hit with the Royals faithful throughout the campaign. Down the other end of the pitch he had an impact too, scoring the winning goal against Mansfield Town and Wigan Athletic in League One, the former a sensational overhead kick in front of the Eamonn Dolan Stand. Acknowledgement for Tyler has also come away from the club, with our goal stopper in the top three shortlist your EFL Young Player of the Season in League One. He also played an instrumental part in his countries qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Huge congratulations to Tyler from all of our supporters and staff for a magnificent campaign and spell with the Royals, and well done for writing your name into our club history books.”
Yeah that’s right, Tyler Bindon will leave Reading Football Club as the reigning Player of the Year, having helped guide them out of a dark era and into fresh ownership. Put simply, he was one of the best defenders in all of League One. He played the ninth most minutes in all of the division (the youngest player in the top 80) and made the second-most defensive clearances. His goal-line clearances and last-man tackles are already a thing of legend... yet somehow for a bloke who is as combative in the challenge as TB is he only copped three bookings all season. Plus he’s a genuinely humble, hard-working dude and his teammates all love him. Beautiful scenes.
Tyler Bindon: “I'm very proud. To be at this club for two years has been very special, and it's a privilege to win this award after so many good players previously. It's nice to know that they support me, but most importantly they support the team. Look at the attendance today, it's a real honour to know that they came out to support us. This club has given me so much to help me start off my career, and I wanted to give as much as possible back. Without my teammates none of this would have been possible. If you'd said at the start of the season we would have finished seventh, people would have found it hard to believe. To have done that together as a team is a real privilege.”
Now it’s off to Nottingham Forest where, if all goes to plan, he could make the jump from League One footy to UEFA competitions just like that. Who knows?
Up Next: Nottingham awaits
Max Crocombe - Burton Albion (English League One)
The miracle escape is complete and even Harry Houdini just sat up and started applauding from in his grave. Burton Albion had 15 points from 24 games to be sitting in last place, 11 points away from safety. They ended up avoiding relegation with a game to spare. Unbelievable from the Brewers and you already know that Max Crocombe’s been a big part of that with all his saves. And the time-wasting too, when needed. There are some pretty good shot-stoppers around the world but nobody can milk the clock better than Crocs. Check out that clip with your stopwatch handy. Crocombe bends time to his will, turning his allotted six seconds into a whole lot longer. Even his own coach was waving his arms around.
By the way, they’re changing that rule next season from six seconds to eight seconds... but the referee now has to start giving a countdown at five so that the rule can be more properly enforced. We might as well call it the Crocombe Rule... although he’s equally, if not more, adept at summoning convenient cramping injuries through sheer power of the mind. Keep that front and centre while you ponder how Crocombe, as a goalkeeper, has somehow managed to accrue 16 yellow cards over the past two seasons.
The game in question was a 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic. The sheen was spoiled ever-so-slightly by conceding right at the very end to spoil the shutout but one point was all Burton Albion ever needed to be sure of their League One position for another year. They did what they needed to do. Then they lost 3-1 to Charlton a few days later but that didn’t matter. After being benched to begin the season (a shameless way to treat the reigning club player of the season), Crocombe still ended up playing 43/46 games this L1 term, the other absences being due to All Whites duty last October. He kept 12 clean sheets and his 132 saves were second only to Reading’s Joel Pereira.
Up Next: Crocombe’s contract is up in a month so we’ll see what happens
Ben Waine – Mansfield Town (English League One)
Ben Waine said gimme one more for the road...
That was the third goal in a 3-0 win against Exeter City and didn’t he love it. There were about three celebrations on show there, Waine-o having been saving them up while he was stuck on the bench watching the same jokers starting ahead of him every week without doing much. Mansfield Town only just came out of a horrendous run where they took 11 points from 21 games and barely avoided relegation. When Waine first turned up on loan and was getting minutes every week they were doing okay. But during that 21-game stretch from mid-January up until about a week ago, he played a total of 151 minutes. That’s an average of seven per game.
Then one of the blokes who’d been playing ahead of him got arrested for manslaughter (it’s actually a really sad story, as covered last week) and Waine got a bit more prominence in a 28 minute cameo in a defeat against champions Birmingham. That was the last game of the 21-game dip. Following that, Mansfield avoided the drop thanks to other results and with the pressure off they promptly won their last two games. Waine didn’t play at all in a 4-2 win against Peterborough but he did get 20-odd minutes in this Exeter City victory. With a goal. Nearly got an assist as well. Nice way to say farewell to the fans even if it wasn’t the loan spell he’d have been hoping for.
Therefore Waine finishes up with 2 goals in 25 League One matches for Mansfield Town... although that averages out to roughly 0.39 goals per ninety minutes which is on par with Will Evans who started 35 games up front. As it happens, Mansfield Town had a +7 goal difference across Waine’s 456 minutes and that was the best mark in the entire team. Nobody else in this squad had a better team goal difference per ninety minutes (+1.38) than Ben Waine, discounting the backup keeper who only played one game.
Now the question is whether enough has changed at parent club Plymouth Argyle, who have been relegated back to League One, for them to pick up Waine’s final year contract option. It wasn’t looking likely a few months ago, especially not when decided against recalling him in January after he fell out of favour. But relegation does change things. They might lose some players or they might need to readdress the financials. Remember, it was mostly in the Championship where Waine struggled to score. He’s been pretty prolific in other competitions. Two goals in 916 mins in the Champo (one every 458 minutes). Nine goals in 1276 minutes in League One and the various cup competitions (one every 142 minutes).
Up Next: That’s up to Plymouth Argyle Football Club
Meikayla Moore & Ally Green – Calgary Wild (Canadian Northern Super League)
Oh look she’s done it again...
Another fantastic header from Meikayla Moore getting forward at set piece time and there ya go, that means goals in consecutive games for Mouse. This one proved too little too late, giving Calgary a little bit of hope by cutting the deficit to 2-1 with five minutes remaining but there were no more goals in the game. Still, Moore is already making a name for herself in Canada. She’s clearly the leader of the Wild defence with how she organises things and right now she’s also their equal top scorer (alongside Australia’s Kahli Johnson who got a double last week). Shout out to Ally Green who has also started all three games in that Wild backline. Sweet as... apart from losing the game, of course.
Up Next: Monday at 11am against Ottawa Rapid (NZZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
The Champions League quest took another bump on Friday morning when Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 to Brentford at home. This was the game that they would have played last weekend were it not for the small matter of an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium... and the pressure was on after Manchester City, Newcastle, and Chelsea all won to put points on the board. Forest would have gone back into third place with a win, instead they stayed in sixth.
It was a pretty tight game with not a lot going for either side. The first half featured more yellow cards than shots on target... but the one shot that mattered was a sneaky finish by Kevin Schade just before half-time, taking advantage of some unusually sloppy defence from Nikola Milenkovic and Ola Aina to put Brentford ahead. Forest therefore had to switch plans and get more proactive... and that didn’t work. It rarely does – NFFC’s game-managing style does not lend itself to chasing from a deficit. Of their 18 wins this season, only one has come after conceding first.
They gave it a good go. Anthony Elanga had some cool moments. Chris Wood, who’d pushed a header wide at the back post earlier in the match, had a huge chance to tie things up but again he nudged it wide. Nuno Espirito Santo chucked on Taiwo Awoniyi alongside The Woodsman in a rare instance of those two playing together instead of tag-teaming. Still no jackpot. Wood had another snap shot from a scramble but it was blocked by his own teammate. Then Yoane Wissa scored a breakaway second for Brentford. 2-0 final score.
From there it was a short turnaround to face Crystal Palace on Tuesday morning NZT by which time Manchester City, Chelsea, and Aston Villa had all won again while Newcastle drew their game. That meant that even a win wouldn’t lift Forest above sixth... though anything other than a win and they’d begin to lose touch. Once again, both teams wanted to play on the counter attack so it was a wonky old game. Very physical for Wood up top, plenty of grappling and bumping involved. There were a few of those where Wood felt the need to ask the question of the referee and that culminated in a moment late in the first half when a Morgan Gibbs-White cross looked destined for his noggin at the back post only for an arm on the shoulder and a clip of the heels to send him tumbling to the floor instead. But even the video ref wasn’t having it. Seen those given. Unlucky.
Other than an Anthony Elanga shot shortly after that Wood appeal, there wasn’t much going on in the first spell but it all sparked up in the second with Mats Sels making a couple of good smothering saves for Forest and Wood himself seeing an effort deflected wide. Lots of good crosses at both ends requiring even better defensive headers. Bad news arrived when Sels chopped down Tyrick Mitchell, allowing Eberechi Eze to convert from the penalty spot after an hour. 1-0 to Crystal Palace. But Forest struck back quickly when Murillo diverted an effort from Neco Williams into the net for 1-1 on 64’. Alas, Forest couldn’t get on a roll from there. Had to settle for a 1-1 draw (to be honest, the did well enough not to lose). That point keeps Nottingham Forest within reach of Champions League footy but right now they’re on the outside looking in... and Chris Wood is still searching for goal #20 of his career-best campaign. There’s a lot of fatigue in those players right now but they’ve still got three more games to try and earn that UCL spot.
Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Leicester City at 1.15am on Monday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
More good yarns from Joe Bell. This was only a cheeky corner kick assist for the fifth goal of five in a 5-1 win against Haugesund. Nothing too fancy. But he’s racking up the goal contributions with a goal and three assists already – putting him only two shy of his entire goal contribution haul from last season.
Viking played this game on Thursday morning NZT, moving it forward to make room in the schedule for Europa Conference League qualifiers later in the year. Once again, Viking were unstoppable going forward and Zlatko Tripic shone brightest scoring a hat-trick including two penalties. A penalty the other way had the game poised at 1-1 until the game swung in first-half stoppage time with Tripic’s second penalty also leading to a red card for Hausegund’s Oscar Krusnell who’d slapped the ball off the line to prevent a goal. Not gonna get away with that while VAR is available, pal. Tripic would score again after an hour and then in second half stoppages came another couple of goals including the one that Bell assisted for Kristoffer Askildsen.
Viking were the team in the ascendency even before the red card but after it this was one-way traffic. So while the assist from Bellinho was nothing fancy, his overall performance boasted way more than that lone moment. He absolutely ran this show in the midfield. Bell had over twenty touches more than any other player on the pitch and completed 105/112 passes (94%). 16 of those passes were entries into the final third and with 1.26 xA he could easily have had more than just the one assist. He also had three shots getting up around the edge of the area... though they were all blocked.
After yet another crazy game involving Viking FK, who’ve been scoring at a rapid clip but annoyingly also conceding almost as drastically, it was probably in everybody’s best interests that their next match was a 0-0 draw against Sarpsborg. They did have the better of the chances, although the spark was missing for whatever reason. Probably just tired. No shots for Joe Bell but he did get 113 touches of the ball and completed 94% of his passes. Add in four tackles, an interception, a shot blocked, and a heap of ground duels and it was a very potent defensive display from the curly-haired maestro. He’s in superb form right now.
On that note, apparently there were scouts from several different countries (Serbia, England, and Denmark) in attendance for the Hausegund game. This Viking squad has quite a few young players getting minutes – there were only three starters in common from the corresponding Hausegund fixture last season, including Bell – so that’s not necessarily got anything to do with the kiwi midfielder. But there does seem to be a growing feeling amongst VFK fans that they might soon need to resign themselves to selling Bellinho for a second time. Could be something to ponder as we near the European summer.
Up Next: Away to Moss in the Norwegian Cup on Thursday at 5am, though that’ll probably be a rotated team... then away to Hausegund in the Eliteserien at 5.15am on Monday (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)
Last week’s edition included cup semi-finals for Chris Wood, Liberato Cacace, and Vic Esson (the two blokes lost but Esson’s Rangers won theirs). It’s clearly that time of the season because this week it was Callum McCowatt’s turn. His Silkeborg team made an incredible run to the Danish Cup title last season and are trying to do so again as they embark on a two-legged semi against Brøndby.
This was almost a perfect underdog performance from Silkeborg. With Callum McCowatt in the starting line-up, as has become the norm, they absolutely rolled to a 3-0 half-time lead away from home against a more favoured opponent. Andreas Paulsen (8’), an own goal (34’), and Tonni Adamsen (45+1’) built up a glorious lead at the quarter-point of the tie. The first goal? Set up by Callum McCowatt threading one through. CM also went close with a driven shot of his own from the right side of the box. They couldn’t have dreamed of a better start.
But Brøndby were the favourites for a reason and they get some amazing home support (as Joe Bell learned when he played there). Not an easy place to play even when you’re three goals up... and once Brøndby starting getting some momentum for a comeback the pressure intensified. To put it briefly, BIF scored three times including goals in the 81st and 83rd minutes to tie things back up again at 3-3. Silkeborg are at home in the second leg though. Having proven they can score goals against these folks they should still be pretty confident.
There’s also still work to be done in the Superliga relegation rounds. Silkeborg are miles clear of any danger but they needed to finish top of the section in order to advance to the European playoffs and they’ve got a battle on their hands for that. Fortunately, Viborg are also in the Danish Cup semis (losing 1-0 to FC Copenhagen in leg one) and since beating Silkeborg 2-1 a few weeks back have now drawn three consecutive Superliga games... allowing Silkeborg to move back ahead of them by a single point. Both of them drew this week. Silkeborg’s was a 1-1 draw against Vejle and look who set up the goal...
More good work from Callum McCowatt. He was eyeing up a goal of his own in the seventh minute when he drilled a low shot wide with his left foot. That was from about five metres beyond the penalty area so you know he’s feeling confident. Then, two minutes later, it was McCowatt’s pressing intercept and nicely-weighted through ball that put his old Helsingor mate Tonni Adamsen in to score.
Silkeborg were messy though. McCowatt fizzed one over the top later in the half, at which stage it was looking like it could be a procession, but then Dimitris Emmanouilidis scored on the counter after 35 mins and from there SIF spent the rest of them game dominating without managing to find a winner. They hit the post. They had 72% of possession and twice as many shots as their opponents. Finally they thought they’d won it with a goal in second half stoppage time only for that to be disallowed for a marginal (but correct) offside flag. 1-1 final score.
McCowatt was subbed after an hour. This was another tidy and impactful performance from him, having well and truly won his way into the first eleven since the relegation rounds began – he’s started the last eight games in a row. He’s also continuing to pop up with goal contributions. This makes it five goals and two assists in his past 11 league matches, not to mention his assist in the cup semi. Excellent haul from a guy mostly playing wide on the right. Silkeborg have three more league games and the third of those is against Viborg. Before that, there’s the significant matter of that other cup semi-final leg.
Up Next: Silkeborg vs Brøndby at 4.30am on Thursday in the Danish Cup semis; then Silkeborg vs Sonderjyske at 0:00am on Monday (NZT)
Maya Hahn & Suya Haering - Turbine Potsdam (German Bundesliga)
Nobody’s surprised that Turbine Potsdam lost 4-0 to second-placed Wolfsburg. They did well to hold on until the 36th minute before finally conceding but were thoroughly dominated throughout... although they did have a few opportunities to grab a consolation goal back. Suya Haering played the full thing at left-back while Maya Hahn was suspended after her red card last week. Nah, the result went as expected so with only one game left, and given how other games ended up this week, it’s now a locked-on certainty that Potsdam will finish last.
Can’t argue with that after only scoring five goals in 21 games and losing all but one of them (the other being a draw). They’ve been nowhere near good enough... however we can be thankful for them giving Haering her professional start. Probably should have given Hahn a bigger role but so it goes. Not sure what’ll happen with Haering but it has been confirmed that Maya Hahn will be leaving after this season... along with a huge chunk of the rest of the squad. Potsdam said farewell to 14 different players during the Wolfsburg game, their final home match of the term. Again, no surprises there.
Up Next: Last game in the top flight is away to Koln at 0:00am on Monday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
You don’t normally imagine you’ll be setting up a goal when you send a pass up the line to the winger but sometimes that’s what happens. Like right there when Ryan Thomas fed Younes Namli the ball and the Danish brother did the rest. Chalk it up as the second assist of the season for Thommo, who went ninety minute yet again as PEC Zwolle grabbed an excellent 3-1 win away against NAC Breda. Showed them exactly what you get when you embrace your kiwi midfielder.
Not sure if Matt Garbett was in attendance to watch his compatriot in action. He might have been doing U21s things, who knows... Garbett’s otherwise disappeared from all sight at NAC Breda. There was a little buzz amongst the fanbase recently that perhaps his good attitude in training deserved a recall but the coach shot down that idea. Not gonna happen. Therefore NAC Breda deserved to lose this game and they deserved to dip below PEC Zwolle on the standings. Meanwhile, Ryan Thomas has started seven games in a row and played all but two minutes of the last five of those. Zwolle’s only defeats in those seven games were against Ajax and Feyenoord. He’s not just back, he’s making them better.
Up Next: Willem II vs PEC Zwolle at 6am on Thursday (NZT)
Oliver Colloty - Peterhead FC (Scottish League Two)
Sharp work from Oli Colloty there, scoring within seconds of his Peterhead team kicking off after conceding. With the League Two title having been wrapped up and presented last week, Colloty was given a start in the last match of the campaign and did what he often does in those situations by adding to his tally during his hour of action. That’s six goals for the season from 17 appearances... a ratio that gets even more impressive when you realise his numerous substitute appearances mean he’s averaging a goal every 104 minutes for this club. Next season he’ll see if he can crack into the starting team a little more often (he started 6/17 games that he played in L2) and with luck he’ll maintain the conversion rate in the division above. But you could tell Peterhead were already in holiday mode for this game because they ended up losing 6-1 against seventh-placed Clyde FC.
Up Next: The pesky offseason
Grace Wisnewski – Lexington SC (American USL Super League)
You know what, it’s happening far later than it should have but Grace Wisnewski’s starting to get a bit of a run in the starting eleven for Lexington SC. She’s made the walk-on team for the last three games in a row having only made one start all season up until that point. She’s still only at 362 minutes across 11 appearances for LSC but at least that number is rising. Didn’t do much in her hour on the pitch in a 2-0 loss against Spokane Zephyr though. Lexington are the worst team in the competition and they’re currently on a seven-game spell without a win. There are three games left and they’re all at home.
Up Next: Sunday at 11am against Tampa Bay Sun (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Routine victories, we do love them... and central defenders love them most of all. Minnesota United took a 22nd minute lead away against Austin FC via an own goal (although it looked more like Joaquin Pereyra should get the credit). Anthony Markanich then added to that in the 35th which allowed them to sit in and control things the rest of the way... although there was still room for Joaquin Pereyra to knock in a third right at the very end. Michael Boxall only needed to make 35 touches throughout the ninety – although there does seem to be a trend of Minnesota United winning when he sees less of the ball. Probably because they’re very good at defending a lead. Anyway, Boxy made ten defensive clearances doing all that he needed to do for a clean sheet victory that lifts the Loons up to second in the Western Conference.
Speaking of defensive clearances, Finn Surman continues to have made more of those than any other player in MLS (although Boxall is suddenly up into the top ten despite missing a few games for All Whites duty). But Surman’s week went the opposite of Boxall’s. Portland Timbers played away against San Jose Earthquakes and with half an hour on the clock they were already trailing 3-0. They’d end up losing 4-1. The Timbers have been as good as Minnesota early in this season, both have been flirting with club record points hauls after various numbers of games, but they got wasted in this one. Surman got turned for the second goal and couldn’t cut out the low cross for what would have been the fourth except for a convenient VAR offside. It was a stinker but we move on. Here’s Surman doing some more media work before the game...
If you’re wondering, Bill Tuiloma is up to 11 games in a row of unused substitute statuses with Charlotte FC. It’s bordering on a hate crime at this point. Tyler Boyd is still working back from his ACL tear last season with Nashville. There’s some US Open Cup stuff midweek involving all the MLS clubs which seems like something that Boxall and Surman would both be rested for but we shall see... Boxy’s Minnesota United are up against Kyle Adams’ Louisville City. Perhaps Tuiloma will get some minutes there against USL side North Carolina FC. After that, Boxall will potentially get to mark one of the greatest players of all time supposing Lionel Messi can be bothered to make the trip to the Twin Cities.
Up Next: Minnesota vs Inter Miami at 8.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Galway United (League of Ireland Premier Division)
That’s what he does. Moving to Ireland has been the wisest move that Moses Dyer ever made. Galway United lost this game 2-1 (bummer), but Dyer’s goal takes him up to eight for the campaign which is two clear of second place in the Golden Boot race. And oh look here are all the rest of them...
Up Next: Away to Waterford at 6.45am on Saturday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic – Olympiacos (Greek Super League)
Marko Stamenic must be getting used to trophy presentations. He’s experienced them in a bunch of different countries at club level and even internationally too (if you count World Cup qualification... not a trophy but better than a trophy). The Greek Super League title was secured by Olympiacos two weeks ago but they waited until their next (and last) home game for the fireworks and festivities... and by the looks of it they needed that time to plan accordingly. Pretty spectacular scenes.
Those scenes came after a 4-2 win against PAOK in which Olympiacos started slowly (conceding in the first minute) before their class eventually shone through. This was also another instance of Stamenic breaking into the starting eleven. He’d gone well last week and therefore held his spot for another match. Wasn’t as impactful this time around but he put in a decent enough 64 minutes. Fingers crossed this wasn’t the last we see of him for Olympiacos.
There was an opinion piece in one of the Greek outlets recently expressing a bit of sympathy about how Stamenic’s time with the red and whites has unfolded. Basically they said he hasn’t always played to the level that the club desired (part of which being that they’ve asked him to play too deep, sorry for the interjection) but also that this midfield was a tough nut to crack regardless...
“[Stamenic] wasn't as bad as he was made out to be. We're not saying this because of his good performance at Nea Filadelfia a week ago against AEK and because of the serious possibility of seeing him play again against PAOK. He simply took a while to get into the mood and Olympiacos doesn't have much time to wait for new transfers to acclimatize.”
From there, the bloke says that even if Stamenic wasn’t on loan, it’d be unlikely that Olympiacos want him back. The fit just didn’t work. However, there was a note in there about Red Star Belgrade being interested in re-signing him on loan if they can make the stars align with Nottingham Forest. Crvena Zvezda have already cruised to another Serbian league title so they’ll be getting Champions League qualifiers next season and all hands will be required on deck.
Up Next: Panathanaikos vs Olympiacos at 5am on Monday in the last match of the league season (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)
It was worst-case scenario stuff for Saint-Étienne this week as they were beaten 3-1 by Monaco whereas Le Havre won 2-1 against Auxerre. Ben Old did get a solid twenty minutes on the right wing but wasn’t able to affect anything. What that means is that, with two rounds to go, Saint-Étienne are four points away from earning a relegation playoff and five points from automatic safety. If Le Havre win one of their remaining two games then it’s over. ASSE were promoted last season and it’s looking like they’ll be going straight back down. Saint-Étienne do probably have the easiest remaining schedule of the three relevant teams (themselves and the two that they can catch) but it’s still going to take something biblical to save them.
15th – Nantes (32pts/-16 GD):
Auxerre (A - 10th) & Montpellier (H - 18th)
16th – Le Havre (31pts/-30 GD):
Marseille (H - 2nd) & Strasbourg (A - 6th)
17th – ASSE (27pts/-39 GD):
Reims (A - 13th) & Toulouse (H - 12th)
Up Next: Reims vs ASSE at 7am on Sunday (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli FC (Italian Serie A)
Empoli also lost this weekend. They went down 1-0 at home against Lazio, conceding after 54 seconds and trailing the entire rest of the way. Didn’t help when they got served a red card late in the first half after Lorenzo Colombo’s elbow did some dangerous things. Lazio also got a red but not until the last fifteen by which time Empoli had run out of gas. Cacace was in his left-attacker spot again.
One difference between Empoli and Saint-Étienne is that the other results were kinder to them. Empoli did fall a point below Venezia, who drew 1-1 with Torino, but every other club in the bottom eight lost this week hence Empoli didn’t lose any ground. They only lost an opportunity to make ground. With three matches remaining, the Azzurri are two points from safety. Monza have already been relegated, same as Montpellier in France. Empoli are second-to-last, same as Saint-Étienne in France. There are two teams ledt that they can feasibly catch...
17th – Lecce (27pts/-33 GD):
Verona (A - 15th), Torino (H - 11th), Lazio (A - 6th)
18th – Venezia (26pts/-21 GD):
Fiorentina (H - 8th), Cagliari (A - 14th), Juventus (H - 4th)
19th – Empoli (25pts/-28 GD):
Parma (H - 16th), Monza (A – 20th), Verona (H - 15th)
In this case there’s no doubt that Empoli have the best remaining fixtures, although their absolute inability to score goals will probably still condemn them. Then again, it’s not impossible that they stay up by simply drawing three games in a row. But of course the main difference between Ben Old and Libby Cacace is that Old was new to ASSE this year and has a longer contract with no wider profile in Europe. He’ll probably be stuck with them after relegation (and that may not be a bad thing). Cacace, on the other hand, is far more established with transfer rumours always floating around his name. He only has one more year on his current deal so if Empoli get relegated, he’ll probably just leave. It might be time for that move regardless.
Up Next: Empoli vs Parma at 6.45am on Sunday (NZT)
Rebekah Trewhitt - Union 10 FC (American Professional Soccer League)
Here’s one from off the beaten track. Palmerston North’s own Rebekah Trewhitt, fresh from a couple years with the Wellington Phoenix Academy (she was one of their best during the 2024 National League) has made the switch to the United States of America where she’s signed with Union 10 FC. Her new club also operate with an academy style set-up that offers local development programmes throughout the ages. But, like the Wellington Phoenix, they also have competitive senior teams. The men play in the Gulf Coast Premier League, same as their women’s team used to... until an announcement in January that they’d been accepted as an expansion team for the WPSL.
The American soccer scene gets very confusing below the NWSL. For example, Grace Wisnewski’s team plays in the USL Super League which was designed as a second tier league but didn’t get the right accreditation and thus ended up becoming a separate/rival entity. There’s also the United Women’s Soccer competition which is an entirely different competition with second tier status. Then there’s the whole amateur college system (and it’s even more chaotic on the men’s side).
The WPSL also has second tier status, whatever that’s supposed to mean, and is comprised of 150 clubs spread out across four regional splits with four conferences within each region (so sixteen separate league tables). Union 10 are one of 31 new/returning clubs for 2025. Dunno what that means as far as competitive balance goes but it definitely doesn’t help with any logical balance. Being based in South Alabama, U10FC will be playing in the Third Coast Division of the Gulf Coast Division – predominantly up against clubs from Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Good luck to Rebekah Trewhitt though, hopefully she’ll boss it over there.
Up Next: Union 10 have a bye in week one so they begin away against TLH Reckoning at 7am on Monday 19 May (NZT)
You can support our work over on Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee if you appreciate the yarns... we’re just out here trying to serve kiwi sports so it’s all hugely appreciated
Also helps to whack an ad, do those shares/retweet things, and tell your mates about us