What are the chances 3 ex-nix players would all wear shirt number 88 at the same time?
Gary Hooper for a lot of his career but most recently at Barnet 23/24 Mandi Sosa wearing 88 as he went on to win the Gibraltar premier league 23/24 Matija Ljujic wearing 88 at Újpest FC for the last two seasons
Considering the connotations of 88 as a symbol, I hope they’ve all picked that shirt number for innocent/positive reasons!
Hooper was born in 1988 at least
Yeah I do remember a point being made of that when he was with us. The other two...who knows
What are the chances 3 ex-nix players would all wear shirt number 88 at the same time?
Gary Hooper for a lot of his career but most recently at Barnet 23/24 Mandi Sosa wearing 88 as he went on to win the Gibraltar premier league 23/24 Matija Ljujic wearing 88 at Újpest FC for the last two seasons
Considering the connotations of 88 as a symbol, I hope they’ve all picked that shirt number for innocent/positive reasons!
Hooper was born in 1988 at least
Yeah I do remember a point being made of that when he was with us. The other two...who knows
The other two were not born in '88, one was born '89 the other '93.
Kraev called up to Bulgaria national squad this window. Great advertisement for the league but definitely adds salt to the wound about us letting him slide.
Gotta wonder what the Welnix team has done to annoy potential investors, annoying that big bucks billionaire has attracted more small time investors yet the Welnix team when asking for investors couldnt get anyone through the door.
I wish Peter Jackson and James Cameron would just decide to join welnix and bring there power influence and money in, imagine sitting down watching a new Jackson or Cameron movie and then boom there’s a cheeky nix emblem snuck into the movie, if Ryan can do it for Wrexham let Jackson do it for the nix
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Rock Hopper
Kraev called up to Bulgaria national squad this window. Great advertisement for the league but definitely adds salt to the wound about us letting him slide.
Named alongside his brother Andrian.
Bulgaria football in a bit of turmoil after a 5-0 loss to Northern Ireland in November, and their FA accussing the national team coach (who has his son in the squad) of trying to bribe local referees
I remember that great Bulgarian team of 94, Borislav Mihaylov was the goalkeeper & captain (he stepped down due to corruption while being head of BFA), Hristo Stoichkov, Yordan Letchkov was a brilliant midfielder and Krasimir Balakov.. Sadly corruption & mismanagement has sent them back a long way coochiee
Rock Hopper
Kraev called up to Bulgaria national squad this window. Great advertisement for the league but definitely adds salt to the wound about us letting him slide.
Named alongside his brother Andrian.
Bulgaria football in a bit of turmoil after a 5-0 loss to Northern Ireland in November, and their FA accussing the national team coach (who has his son in the squad) of trying to bribe local referees
about 1 year ago· edited about 1 year ago· History
Link to article on Sotiro declaring for NC? Not named in their March squad.
Has there really been much growth in OFC players getting contracts overseas? I'm not so sure. Dan Hall is not far off breaking into the Socceroos. I've felt in the past NC have had players in a higher in France than the 4th tier.
The Solomons being football mad, with some past promise (their U17s beating NZ 5-0), still only have Lea'i & an aging Micah Lea'alafa doing much. Both are in the SA NPL. With 800,00 they are only behind us, Fiji & PNG popn wise in OFC.
But that's what the new OFC pro league is all about. Finally giving Island players a pro football pathway at home, that then can hopefully lead to a European move.
New Caledonia squad Goalkeepers Rocky Nyikéïne (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Thomas Schmidt (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Mickaël Ulikle (AS Magenta, New Caledonia)
Defenders Joseph Athalé (Olympique Saint Quentinois, France) Emile Béaruné (Horizon Patho, New Caledonia) Florian Gope (AS Magenta, New Caledonia) Djibril Tufele (AS Lossi, New Caledonia) Fonzy Ranchain (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Joris Kenon (US Saint-Philbert, France) Bernard Iwa (AS Lōssi, New Caledonia)
Midfielders Yoan Bearune (Horizon Patho, New Caledonia) Pierre Bako (USSA Vertou, France) Jekob Jeno (Beitar Jerusalem, Israel) Pierre Iekawa (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Morgan Mathelon (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Didier Simane (ASPTT Dijon, France) Nathaël Ouka (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Mickaël Paretodikromo (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Shene Welepane (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) César Zéoula (US Chavigny, France) Jules Omei (AS Montdore, New Caledonia)
Forwards Lues Waia (USSA Vertou, France) George Gope-Fenepej (Saint Pryvé-Saint Hilaire, France) Germain Haewegene (AS Magenta, New Caledonia) Jean-Jacques Katrawa (Sud FC, France) Titouan Richard (Salaise Rhodia, France) Gérard Waia (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia)
Link to article on Sotiro declaring for NC? Not named in their March squad.
Has there really been much growth in OFC getting contracts overseas? I'm not so sure. Dan Hall is not far off breaking into the Socceroos.
I've felt in the past NC have had players in a higher in France than the 4th tier.
But that's what the new OFC pro league is all about. Finally giving Island players a pro football pathway at home, that then can hopefully lead to a European move.
New Caledonia squad Goalkeepers Rocky Nyikéïne (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Thomas Schmidt (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Mickaël Ulikle (AS Magenta, New Caledonia)
Defenders Joseph Athalé (Olympique Saint Quentinois, France) Emile Béaruné (Horizon Patho, New Caledonia) Florian Gope (AS Magenta, New Caledonia) Djibril Tufele (AS Lossi, New Caledonia) Fonzy Ranchain (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Joris Kenon (US Saint-Philbert, France) Bernard Iwa (AS Lōssi, New Caledonia)
Midfielders Yoan Bearune (Horizon Patho, New Caledonia) Pierre Bako (USSA Vertou, France) Jekob Jeno (Beitar Jerusalem, Israel) Pierre Iekawa (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Morgan Mathelon (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Didier Simane (ASPTT Dijon, France) Nathaël Ouka (ASC Gaïca, New Caledonia) Mickaël Paretodikromo (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) Shene Welepane (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia) César Zéoula (US Chavigny, France) Jules Omei (AS Montdore, New Caledonia)
Forwards Lues Waia (USSA Vertou, France) George Gope-Fenepej (Saint Pryvé-Saint Hilaire, France) Germain Haewegene (AS Magenta, New Caledonia) Jean-Jacques Katrawa (Sud FC, France) Titouan Richard (Salaise Rhodia, France) Gérard Waia (Tiga Sport, New Caledonia)
Huge news per the FIFA Change of Association Platform!
Jaushua Sotirio (Sydney FC 🇦🇺) 🇦🇺 > 🇳🇨 George Hirst (Ipswich Town 🏴) 🏴 > 🏴 Stefan Gatenmann (Ferencváros 🇭🇺) 🇩🇰 > 🇨🇭
— The International Window (@windowintlpod) March 13, 2025
Cheers. Left it late. Wonder if he can still play in these March qualifiers?
If not and New Caledonia beat Taihiti in their semi, he will still have that 6 nation inter confederation FIFA WC qualifying tourney to play in. That's unless NC did mission impossible at Eden Park
Fiji - Krishna (India) - Hall (hopefully) (A-League) - Laqeretabua (League One) - Wara (Eng National League)
Vanuatu - Kaltak (A-League)
Solomon Islands - Lea’i (Aus Championship soon)
Tonga - Inia (Thai League 2)
It's unlikely Dan Hall ever plays for Fiji, they don't seem to want to issue him a passport. Seems the government is reluctant to give them out to the overseas born diaspora.
From memory David Browne (where is he now?) had similar issues with PNG.
Not sure where he is now. He was released by HJK Helsinki at the end of 2022. The latest I could find online was that the PNG FA tried to contact him without any response to play for PNG in friendlies in 2023. His passport issues had been resolved in 2022 and he was again eligible for PNG. Browne did pretty well playing for top Finnish club HJK Helsinki, including an exciting run in the Europa League which included two matches vs. AS Roma. Won the Finnish title three times in a row 2020-22. 49 league appearances for them over three seasons. "Browne made history, becoming the first Papua New Guinean-born player to score a goal in a UEFA competition, and the third Pacific Islander to score a goal in UEFA competitions after Pascal Vahirua and Marama Vahirua – Browne scored a beautiful goal against Maribor to help HJK advance. In the next round he scored again in HJK’s crucial win over Silkeborg IF, that helped HJK reach the group stage of the Europa League.
In the group stage Browne collected good performances against Roma, Betis and Ludogorets even scoring against Roma – a goal later overturned due to VAR interference and also almost scoring against Roma at Olympic Stadium."
"In January 2020 Browne returned to Europe to trial with Finnish club HJK Helsinki.[49][50] On 18 January he appeared in a 2–1 friendly victory over Latvian club FK RFS. He assisted on the team's first goal by Tim Väyrynen before nearly scoring himself, including on a shot that struck the inside of the goal post.[51] He scored his first goal for the club one week later in a 3–0 2020 Finnish Cup victory over Veikkausliiga club TPS.[52] After appearing in the team's next cup match, the team officially announced on 3 February 2020 that they had signed Browne to a one-year contract with a club option for an additional two seasons.[53] During the 2022 season, Browne played mainly as a right wing back.[54] Browne appeared in 22 of 27 league matches for the club, recording 1304 minutes, two goals and one assist, including a goal against FC Haka, which secured HJK the title.[55][56] Browne also started in all eight European qualifiers, four Champions League Qualifiers and four Europa League Qualifiers. He recorded two goals in Europa League Qualifying, one against NK Maribor in a 0–2 third round away win,[57] and the only goal as HJK defeated Silkeborg IF 1–0 in the first leg of the Europa League Play-Off round.[58] After drawing the second leg, HJK qualified for the Europa League, where Browne has started all five matches, including two against AS Roma.[59] In the second meeting in Helsinki, Browne scored a wonder strike in the 79th minute which would have tied the match at 2–2, but was disallowed after a VAR check due to a foul committed in the box.[60] His contract with HJK expired at the end of the 2022 season.[61]" David Browne playing against Roma at the Olympic Stadium, Rome:
Read that his English born dad (now deceased) was a very prominent cartoonist in PNG.
Maybe he's got some artistic talent from is papa and moved into that area? And/or making use of that UK passport hanging out in London. Shame though he seems to have disappeared from football.
When at ACFC, often on the spouted list of 'guys Nix should sign'.
Talay's Sydney just knocked out of the AFC 2 cup wonder if he'll get sacked now or if they'll let him see out the season to secure top 6. 3 games left with 2 of them against 2nd and 3rd is going to be tricky for them.
Talay's Sydney just knocked out of the AFC 2 cup wonder if he'll get sacked now or if they'll let him see out the season to secure top 6. 3 games left with 2 of them against 2nd and 3rd is going to be tricky for them.
He’s probably getting sacked at the end of the season, and definitely will be if he misses top 6.
RKC Waalwijk striker Oskar Zawada has attracted interest from several 🏴 clubs (Blackburn Rovers, Oxford United, QPR) as well as 🇩🇪 clubs (FC Kaiserslautern and Hannover 96)
So far this season, Zawada has scored 11 goals for Waalwijk, with whom he is under contract until 2026 pic.twitter.com/YxuE2Dtakv
— Polski Transfers 🇵🇱 (@polskitransfers) April 9, 2025
I miss this big bugger up top.
Very happy to see he's continued on his form over in the Netherlands though, even if it is for a likely relegation bound club.
Hopefully something works out for him from this rumoured interest.
