Miramar posted last night saying that both Zac Jones and Keegan Smith have both left the club to pursue overseas opportunities. Keegan of course signed in NPL Tasmania a while back, but where's Zac off to?
Love how they don't elaborate on stuff like this, kind of leave out the important bit.
Could be a trial sort of thing, or subject to clearance etc. I got told about a couple NZ U20 kids are overseas trialling, but there hasn’t been any public word about where, so it’s probably par for the course.
Miramar posted last night saying that both Zac Jones and Keegan Smith have both left the club to pursue overseas opportunities. Keegan of course signed in NPL Tasmania a while back, but where's Zac off to?
From Flying Kiwis. Zac Jones has gone to Wales (which yes is part of the UK!).
https://www.haverfordwestcountyafc.com/transfer-news-zac-jones-haverfordwest-county/ "Here’s a funky one. Miramar Rangers keeper and former WeeNix gloveman Zac Jones is heading off to Wales for at least the next few months. His contract with Welsh Premier League club Haverfordwest County AFC is until the end of the current season – Haverfordwest County having three more games to play in the first phase of the competition (they’ve played 19) before the league splits into promotion and relegation rounds for the remainder (32 games in total).
HC are second to last and thus currently in serious danger of relegation... but they’re only two points off safety with a fair way to go. Fingers crossed that Jonesy will see them right. To date they’ve split the goalkeeping duties between Welsh veteran Lee Idzi and American/Polish GK Wojciech Gajda. We’ll see how it goes."
Up Next: Aberstwyth vs Haverfordwest County, Wednesday at 9am (NZT)
19 year old Stephanos Georgiou has just joined TSV Landsberg, who play in the 5th tier Bayernliga Süd in Germany, same league as the II teams of 1860 Munich, Ingolstadt and Jahn Regensburg. He was previously in SC Freiburg’s U16s, and then Freiburger FC, who are also in the 5th tier, but in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg division. Scored on debut a couple days ago in a 1-0 friendly win against 1.FC Sonthofen who play in the tier below.
Story here in German on their website, and 2017 story from Stuff from when he first went to Germany.
Manny Achol starts and plays the full 90 in his debut with new club Auda Kekava in a 1-0 win against Metta. Seemed to have played as a DM. Good start for the team newly promoted to Latvia's top tier
Michael Faber (24 year old Centre Back) of Western Suburbs seems to have found his way over to Finland to join Ben Stroud at FC Jazz.
And they've played their first games for their new club. Ben Stroud wearing the captains armband on his club debut in their Suomen Cup tie. Finishes 2-2 after regular time against MuSa, who then go on to win 3-2 on penalties.
It's hard getting details of these matches, and coverage seems pretty spotty at best, with the clubs website not being updated until well after the match finished, but here's how they lined up.
New Zealand eligible Tyler Bindon - the son of former Football Fern Jenny Bindon - earns an invite to a USA under-19 training camp https://t.co/vYa6FfMRjN
18 year old New Zealand-born Aarun Lim was called up to Cambodia's national U23 squad for the AFF U23 Championship this February (a Southeast Asia-exclusive youth tournament). Born in Hamilton, he's an ex-Melville youngster - made a few appearances in the 2020 NRFL reserve league. He's made a few senior appearances for Boeung Ket, one of the top sides in Cambodia, since signing there in 2020.
Played one game in qualification for the tournament, a late sub in a 4-2 win over Hong Kong. Didn't make an appearance in the tournament sadly as Cambodia crashed out of the group stage in a group with Timor Leste, Philippines and Brunei.
Somewhat of a Finnish takeover from the Kiwi's it seems, as young Oliver van Rijssel joins Micheal Faber and Ben Stroud in Pori, Finland. Linking up with FC Jazz in late April.
Already made his debut against FC Honka II last week, getting 56 minutes in a 3-3 draw.
Jazz currently on the pitch at the moment and leading their Group B Kakkonen fixture against VJS Vantaa 3-2 with 60' on the clock. No information on how the teams have lined up so far, but can be tracked on sofascore.
Wills Gillingham (23) made his first start and second appearance for Central Valley Fuego (Fresno, California) at centreback in the USL League One last week. Played the full 90 in a 1-0 away win vs Forward Madison from Wisconsin. Fuego are 4th of 11 teams through 5 games in the third tier, though no pro/rel to USL Championship of course.
They also managed to beat El Paso Locomotive (7th in USLC Western Conference) 4-1 in the US Open Cup, but were knocked out by Sacramento Republic (5th USLC Western Conf).
Ben Stroud grabs a late winner for FC Jazz in a 2-1 win over Ilves II over the weekend. Jazz returned to the winners circle for the first time since opening day of the season (2W 3D).
Jazz sitting in 5th place (of 13) in Kakkonen Group B, but do have games in hand on a couple of sides above them.
No lineups posted as yet from what I can gather from the poor coverage across social media/official sites.
Oli van Rijssel apparently returned to the squad after missing a couple of games while he was waiting on his German passport according to the pre game article on their website.
Ben Stroud grabs a late winner for FC Jazz in a 2-1 win over Ilves II over the weekend. Jazz returned to the winners circle for the first time since opening day of the season (2W 3D).
Jazz sitting in 5th place (of 13) in Kakkonen Group B, but do have games in hand on a couple of sides above them.
No lineups posted as yet from what I can gather from the poor coverage across social media/official sites.
Oli van Rijssel apparently returned to the squad after missing a couple of games while he was waiting on his German passport according to the pre game article on their website.
Ex-Western Springs and 2019 U17 World Cup squad member Bradley Wilson’s Doshisha University lost 2-0 to Nagoya Grampus Eight last night in the 2nd Round of the Emperor’s Cup in Japan. Doshisha won two previous matches to get to this stage, beating another university side from another prefecture in the Preliminary Round, and a lower league side in the First Round, while J1 sides had byes into this round. Nagoya sit 10th in J1 through 16 rounds.
Birkenhead youngster Jordan Toy has signed a pro contract with French 5th tier side St Pierre de Milizac. Mainly a bench player this season, got a lot of pace about him. A forward but can play left back IIRC
Former age group rep Kingsley Sinclair has made his way over to Germany, signing with Rot Weiss Oberhausen in the Regionalliga West (4th tier). Last played for Auckland United in the covid shortened Northern Premier League of last season.
Unsure if he deserved his own thread at this stage, but thought I'd link it in here first and let others make that call.
Meanwhile, Stephanos Georgiou, formerly of TSV Landsberg seems to have dropped down to the German 6th tier to ply his trade with FC Teningen. Which is probably more suited to this thread.
Toby Hunt (GK) formerly of Wellington Olympic, appears to have signed on for German 5th tier outfit SV Neuhof 1910.
Neuhof in the Hessenliga section of the Oberliga, which is comprised of 14 regional leagues in total. So in other words, a hell of a dogfight to make the grade and fight for promotion to the 4th tier Regionalliga.
FC Jazz trio of Ben Stroud, Michael Faber, and Oli van Rijssel continue to see good game time for FC Jazz over in Finland.
Faber hasn't missed a minute of Kakkonen Group B action this season. Picking up one yellow card
Ben Stroud who I think is wearing the captains armband this season isn't far behind having only missed 45 minutes of league action. He has one goal and one yellow card on the season.
Oli van Rijssel, who had been in and out of the team to begin the season (from memory he had passport issues and was back and forth between Finland and Germany getting it sorted). Played six times this season (but has played the full 90 in the last four) and has picked up a yellow card for his troubles.
Bit of an upswing in form for Jazz too - winning their past four matches (6 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses) in the league. Currently they're sitting third, in what's proving to be a tight race at the top of the group.
FC Jazz continue their good form overnight with a 3-1 win over MuSA (Musan Salama - the same side that knocked them out of the Suomen Cup earlier in the season) to go top of Kakkonen Group B. Although other teams below them do have games in hand, they are slowly starting to pull away from the chasing pack in a bid to reach the promotion phase of the Kakkonen. Still six games to get through before that however.
Full 90's in this one for Faber and van Rijssel. Stroud came off just after the hour mark, presumably for a more attacking option as it was 1-1 at that stage.
Late Ben Stroud goal keeps FC Jazz top of Kakkonen Group B as they come back from 3-1 down after an hour played, to win it 4-3 in the 5th minute of added time.
Full 90 for the Kiwi contingent by the looks, here's how they lined up.
Yellow cards for both Stroud and van Rijssel early on in the piece, but it's inconsequential for Jazz as they get the 3 points and keep their noses in front on the league ladder right at the death!
7 matches left before the top 4 of each group (A,B,C) fight it out for promotion to the Ykönnen.
Oscar Obel-Hall ('04) came off the bench in the 58th minute for Esbjerg U19s in their first match of the season in the Danish U19 League, a 0-2 home defeat to Lyngby. He came on just after Lyngby scored their second.
There are 14 sides in the league, 11 of whom are from Superliga clubs, as well as Vejle and SønderjyskE who were relegated from the Superliga last season; Esbjerg are the only side who haven't played in the Superliga this year.
Kiwi-Somali winger Mohamed Awad has signed for Maltese club Sliema Wanderers.
One of the biggest and most successful clubs in Maltese history, they suffered a shock relegation from the top flight last year and will be looking to bounce back immediately
Few Kiwi transfers that I tweeted about, but I’m sure the forum would love to know:
Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi has apparently signed for English 7th-tier side Enfield Town. He’s prioritising his commercial career at this point, and I believe moved to England for work, picking up a part-time gig to keep the footy going.
Haris Zeb of Miramar Rangers has joined the youth team of Finnish second-tier side TPS.
Jackson Brady, who most recently played for Christchurch United at club level before a few years solely appearing for Cal Poly University in the states, a couple weeks ago signed a contract until the end of August for USL side Memphis 901. He’s already made two appearances - same level as N Boxall, Kyle Adams, and previously Max Mata. Awesome gig, hopefully leads to more opportunities
Note that in my original tweet, I said Daniel Atkinson (young Ole winger) had signed a professional deal with Dutch 2nd-tier side MVV Maastricht. I’ve been made aware that this is incorrect - sorry about this! However, I do gather that he’s currently in the Netherlands exploring pro opportunities.
Few Kiwi transfers that I tweeted about, but I’m sure the forum would love to know:
Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi has apparently signed for English 7th-tier side Enfield Town. He’s prioritising his commercial career at this point, and I believe moved to England for work, picking up a part-time gig to keep the footy going.
Haris Zeb of Miramar Rangers has joined the youth team of Finnish second-tier side TPS.
Jackson Brady, who most recently played for Christchurch United at club level before a few years solely appearing for Cal Poly University in the states, a couple weeks ago signed a contract until the end of August for USL side Memphis 901. He’s already made two appearances - same level as N Boxall, Kyle Adams, and previously Max Mata. Awesome gig, hopefully leads to more opportunities
Note that in my original tweet, I said Daniel Atkinson (young Ole winger) had signed a professional deal with Dutch 2nd-tier side MVV Maastricht. I’ve been made aware that this is incorrect - sorry about this! However, I do gather that he’s currently in the Netherlands exploring pro opportunities.
Dan Atkinson is now at VV Katwijk, who won the Dutch 3rd tier last year (top level of amateur football), but rejected the opportunity to be promoted to the professional leagues.
Continuing the trend of New Zealanders going over to Finland, Luis Toomey has signed with Pallo-Iirot in Rauma, a town of 40,000 on the southwestern coast. The post on their Instagram says he's signed until the end of the season, so fairly short-term (maybe six games plus playoffs, don't know) at the moment given they play a summer season.
Pallo-Iirot are in the Kolmonen, which is the fourth tier, divided into nine regional leagues based on the various district football associations. So not exactly the highest level, which is a bit surprising because Toomey has looked alright in the bits I've seen in the National League and even spent some time with the Nix first team last season. Pallo-Iirot do sit top of their league, unbeaten and with an 11 point buffer to second, though even winning the league doesn't look to guarantee promotion, as it appears seven teams will go down across the three third tier divisions. Needless to say, hopefully they go up, and if they do they could well end up playing against the NZ contingent at FC Jazz, as the two are just 50km from each other.
TPS 2 are in the same league as Pallo-Iirot, so it's also possible that Toomey could come up against Haris Zeb, as the two teams play each other on the 22nd.
Few more overseas Kiwis I've recently come across:
Fabrizio Tavano has been playing for UPSL side Metro Louisville for the past few months, after leaving secend-tier Russian side Akron Tolyatti following current world events. The UPSL is one of the countless spin-off leagues in the USA, separate from the primary league structure.
16-year-old winger Edy Belingher seems to have joined Romanian side Viitorul Cluj from Christchurch United's youth setup. Viitorul play in Liga III, the third tier of Romanian football, but look to be one of the foremost youth academies in the nation - took a look at their squad and the average age can't be any older than 20.
21-year-old winger Brian Mashingaidze is currently plying his trade for Santa Pola in the Spanish sixth tier. Bounced around a bit from club to club over the past couple of seasons, appearing for fellow 6th tier clubs Benidorm (which, as is somewhat expected, is populated by a vast English contingent) and Alicante, as well as 4th tier Plus Ultra.
Update for the FC Jazz trio of Ollie van Rijssel, Ben Stroud & Michael Faber in Finland.
Well, well, well. What a difference a few weeks makes. Four games ago and they had their destiny in their own hands at the top of Group B. Fast forward up until this weekend just gone...
Final 3 games in the group are against SalPa (2nd), GrIFK (8th), and KaaPo (13th). All winnable games, but they've really got to tighten up at the back, because despite their current position in the table they have the 3rd worst defensive record in the group.
Current stats for the season Ben Stroud - 19 appearances, 2 goals. Michael Faber - 20 appearances, 1 goal. Ollie van Rijssel - 13 appearances, 0 goals.
Hopefully they can push their way into the promotion positions, but as I said earlier, it's now not as straightforward as it previously was, and things are now not completely in their hands.
Lionel von Zitzewitz is eligible, according to Transfermarkt. Plays for HEBC Hamburg in the 5th tier in Germany. Perhaps an option if he could get to 3.Liga.
Lionel von Zitzewitz is eligible, according to Transfermarkt. Plays for HEBC Hamburg in the 5th tier in Germany. Perhaps an option if he could get to 3.Liga.
And Tyler Bindon is a 17yo defender at LAFC.
Samoa have looked into Lionel - certainly one of the highest-profile players they'd have. Not the only Islander in Germany right now - Bruce Bien is at Kohlscheid a few divisions down, represented Cook Islands at youth.
Tyler Bindon was in NZ's preliminary list for the U19 OFC Championship, but I believe wanted to prioritise his club career at LAFC. If we qualify for the U20 WC, he'll likely be in the squad
Lionel von Zitzewitz is eligible, according to Transfermarkt. Plays for HEBC Hamburg in the 5th tier in Germany. Perhaps an option if he could get to 3.Liga.
