Because soccer is a game that rewards possession and structure, players who can consistently steal the ball away from the other team and launch a counter-attack are valued very highly. But not in this case - and it wasn’t the ball that was taken.

Wellington Phoenix players had a surprise loss last Tuesday when they returned to their player-changing rooms at Newtown Park about 11.30am after training since 9am to discover some of their personal items had been stolen. Phoenix defender Tom Doyle had his wallet stolen, while another two players had their very expensive wrist-watches stolen – and naturally, given this is clearly a foul, they would like their property back.

As luck would have it, while the Phoenix players were training they were also filming their training practice and the videographer just happened to film what appears to be a potential suspect or perhaps a witness.

“Police would ideally like to talk to this gentleman to eliminate him from our enquiries” says Constable Fasele Defersha. The man had been seen around the Newtown Park area between 9am and 11.30am. He is described as being of skinny build and about 6ft tall (180cm). He appeared to have dark hair and was wearing grey clothing at the time.

“I thought my personal items would be safe in our changing rooms, but obviously not. I would really like my property back and next time I will be keeping an eye on my gear, says Tom Doyle.



If anyone has any knowledge of the incident or has seen someone fitting the description above in the Newtown area, they should contact Wellington Police on 04 381 2000 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

