about 2 years ago· edited about 2 years ago· History
Friar Tuck
Apparently he’s a target for Auckland
Sauce?
But yeah it's not really happening for him in Turkey even if it's just half a season to date with his current club. He's got a nice $1M plus payout from his time there. But he's at risk of falling off the AWs radar, stuck in the 2nd tier there. If he wants to have a serious crack at the 2026 WC squad, a move back to ALM is not a silly idea. Every bling club needs a rapper.
From memory he also has whanau in Auckland, and was even based there for a few months during Covid, or when he was clubless or something. His brother also played a bit at Estern Suburbs??
Turkey seems a very hard place for ALM players to have a successful career. Only Jedinak seems to have had sustained success, Boyd did until he made a fateful club switch. Vuka and Smeltz were basically on the plane back as soon as they arrived.
about 2 years ago· edited about 2 years ago· History
RR
Turkey seems a very hard place for ALM players to have a successful career. Only Jedinak seems to have had sustained success, Boyd did until he made a fateful club switch. Vuka and Smeltz were basically on the plane back as soon as they arrived.
Aziz Behich (Turkish Cypriot heritage) was there a long time as well. He had a few seasons with Champness. But yes seems one of the more difficult countries to adjust to, unless you are likely of Turkish or Balkans type heritage. I mean witness the recent incident of the ref being punched.
Edit - no Champness. He hasn't played for Adanaspor since 6th November - over 2 mths ago. His most recent football was 20 mins off the bench against Greece for the AWs.
Turkey seems a very hard place for ALM players to have a successful career. Only Jedinak seems to have had sustained success, Boyd did until he made a fateful club switch. Vuka and Smeltz were basically on the plane back as soon as they arrived.
Aziz Behich (Turkish Cypriot heritage) was there a long time as well. He had a few seasons with Champness. But yes seems one of the more difficult countries to adjust to, unless you are likely of Turkish or Balkans type heritage. I mean witness the recent incident of the ref being punched.
Ufak Talay spent ten years playing in Turkey after he left Marconi Stallins in the NSL but he has Turkish ancestry of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufuk_Talay#Turkey Signed by mighty Galatasaray (28 apps) but mostly out on loan during his seven years on their books. Plenty of players from around Europe seem to find it okay there. Several Dutch internationals have seen out the later stages of their careers there.
Friend of mine saw someone get their throat slit at a football game in Turkey in the late 90s. The crowd then picked the victim up and threw him onto the field for the paramedics. Pretty tough place to play football.
No official word as yet however. Hasn't played for Adanaspor since early November and last got on the pitch for AW's in the 2-0 defeat to Greece.
Guess if it is true, then it likely clears the path for a move to the Auckland Knights. Although in saying that, you probably have to consider if he even wants to even keep on playing given his sporadic footballing journey these past few years.
I reckon he'd be keen to return to ALM with Auckland. He seems to have spent alot of time in the 09 last few years between Covid & contract disputes. Got family there. Appeared on NZ's The Project (there is an Aussie version also).
Surely a chance at going to a football WC is a once in a lifetime thing. Maybe Corica & co will let him do some music on the side. Good for Auckland FC marketing, drag in the millenials. The hip hop (or is it rap) football star. Tap into the Filipino expat community.
about 2 years ago· edited about 2 years ago· History
Niche Cache. His release from Adanaspor to Unattached FC now official. Filling in time, hanging out in an Auckland music studio near you? Or in QLD? I see YH just listed his brother Dan as playing in the QLD NPL with Moreton Bay.
Haven’t heard from JOWIC in ages, though there was a mention of him in our Substack email a few editions ago (always heaps of kiwi footy in those – be sure to sign up), the gist being that he’d been injured since the November international window (seemingly hurt whilst away with the All Whites) and that his Turkish club Adanaspor weren’t really sure if he would be back for the second half of the season.
Now it turns out that he won’t. It’s since been reported in Turkey that he has indeed been given an early release. The Turkish Football Federation website says that his contract was terminated on 29 January. So... yeah. Joe Champness is a free agent. You’d imagine the A-League should be as enticing for him as it’s proved for Marco Rojas and Tommy Smith with mid-season moves but we’ll let things play out in their own time.
He returned ill from the national team: Adanaspor parted ways with Champness
Our Trendyol 1st League representative, Adanaspor, cut the ticket for Champness, who returned sick from the New Zealand national team and could not even participate in training for a while.
The contract of 26-year-old winger Joe Champness, who returned ill from the international competitions he played with the national jersey and then continued his treatment first in Istanbul and then in his country when the interventions in the city were insufficient, was terminated by Adanaspor.
TFF was informed that the player's contract was terminated.
Having a second pro club in the country is already paying dividends if they can help bring some more nz internationals in from the cold and resurrect some careers
Having a second pro club in the country is already paying dividends if they can help bring some more nz internationals in from the cold and resurrect some careers
Hopefully they can develop some more Woods, Reids, Rufers, Olds too.
Supporter world's best and worst football teams: Waikato/WaiBop, Kingz, Knights, Phoenix, The Argyle, The Whites & the All Whites
He will have someone to share the experience with at least
An Aussie moves to Iran! 🇮🇷🇦🇺✍️
After winning the domestic league and featuring in the ACL2 for Tajik giants FC Istiklol, Australian defender Matthew Millar has signed with Havadar SC in the Iranian top tier!
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Elemenop
To be fair and without much info.... the league probably isn't that far off the a league. So he's landed in an okay place if he can get some mins..
The league is light and day better then A League. If he can play regularly and not get distracted by music (or his ego?), could prove to be a great move for him and us. He'll also have access to the best kebabs in the world too!
And while Iran calls itself a Muslim country, aside from it's dictators is anything but (talking as someone with VERY STRONG Persian connections). It's certainly not Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
Someone above commented on getting behind on pay. I'm not surprised with this one given Iran is one of the very few countries excluded from the international banking system. I wonder if his pay is being put into a UAE, Turkish or maybe even British bank account?
Supporter world's best and worst football teams: Waikato/WaiBop, Kingz, Knights, Phoenix, The Argyle, The Whites & the All Whites
To be fair and without much info.... the league probably isn't that far off the a league. So he's landed in an okay place if he can get some mins..
The league is light and day better then A League. If he can play regularly and not get distracted by music (or his ego?), could prove to be a great move for him and us. He'll also have access to the best kebabs in the world too!
And while Iran calls itself a Muslim country, aside from it's dictators is anything but (talking as someone with VERY STRONG Persian connections). It's certainly not Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
Someone above commented on getting behind on pay. I'm not surprised with this one given Iran is one of the very few countries excluded from the international banking system. I wonder if his pay is being put into a UAE, Turkish or maybe even British bank account?
Is it really 'light and day' better than the A-League though? This website ranks it slightly lower.
To be fair and without much info.... the league probably isn't that far off the a league. So he's landed in an okay place if he can get some mins..
The league is light and day better then A League. If he can play regularly and not get distracted by music (or his ego?), could prove to be a great move for him and us. He'll also have access to the best kebabs in the world too!
And while Iran calls itself a Muslim country, aside from it's dictators is anything but (talking as someone with VERY STRONG Persian connections). It's certainly not Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
Someone above commented on getting behind on pay. I'm not surprised with this one given Iran is one of the very few countries excluded from the international banking system. I wonder if his pay is being put into a UAE, Turkish or maybe even British bank account?
Yeah, it's an interesting place, although it is a Muslim country that practices Shariah law they've had to shut two thirds of their mosques over the last few years because of growing irreligiosity, something like 10% of the country are openly atheist and another 20% are agnostic.
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Talking to the Iranian guy in my building, young liberal urban people are moving away from Islam in droves. The religion is linked to the conservative corrupt ruling elite, and seen as a tool to keep them in power.
Re the merits of the Persian Gulf League verus A League. AFC give Iran 2 automatic spots in the AFC Elite Champions League and Australia one spot.
Iran's biggest club Persepolis (currently 4th in the PGL) were AFC Champions League beaten finalists in 2018 & 2020.
AFC Elite Champions League West Persepolis are currently 6th (of 12 teams), the other Iranian club Esteghlal are 8th. In comparison with AFC Elite Champions League East the Mariners are 12th/last and winless
The ALM ain't rated much at all by AFC, and based on how poorly generally A League teams have gone in the ACL, likely fair enough.
The AFC Club Competitions Ranking ranks its member associations by results in the AFC competitions. Rankings are calculated by AFC. Listed here are the top 30 countries.
