The biggest football news to come from offshore in recent days has been the retirement of All Whites legend Shane Smeltz but there has been plenty of other action in many corners of the globe as the overseas-based New Zealanders continue to leave their mark.

Smeltz announced his retirement earlier this week and signs off as one of the most celebrated players in the country’s footballing history. The 36-year-old enjoyed an 18-year career that featured spells in New Zealand, Australia, England, Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as 24 goals in 58 ‘A’ internationals for his country. The most famous of these strikes was undoubtedly his effort in a historic 1-1 draw with defending champions Italy at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in which Smeltz played all three matches as the All Whites went through their campaign undefeated. Smeltz starred for the Wellington Phoenix, Gold Coast United, Perth Glory and Sydney FC in Australia, picking up the Johnny Warren Medal as the A-League’s best player in 2008-09 and becoming the second-highest scorer in the competition’s history with 92 goals in 190 games. He is also second on the All Whites’ all-time goal-scoring list, sharing that mantle with Chris Wood with only Vaughan Coveny (29 goals) ahead. After ending his club career with Borneo FC in Indonesia, Smeltz is now living on the Gold Coast with his wife and two daughters and is planning on embarking on a new career in coaching.

It’s still quiet on the Kiwi front in the English Premier League with Winston Reid and Chris Wood making slow progress in their recoveries from injury and their respective sides experienced contrasting results over the weekend. Burnley continued to miss the goal-scoring threat of Wood in a 1-0 loss to Swansea City but West Ham United managed better in the absence of Reid, keeping a clean sheet without the All Whites captain in a 2-0 win over Watford. It was initially hoped Wood, 26, would miss only two or three weeks of action with his knee problem but he has not played since just before Christmas and is expected to be out for another couple of weeks yet. “Each person will heal in different ways…you can treat two bodies exactly the same and they react differently,” Burnley manager Sean Dyche said. “I was generally expecting it to be three weeks or so, now we’re at five or six weeks, which was unexpected, but they’re humans.” The Clarets have not been the same without their record signing, failing to win in all seven matches he has missed, but remain seventh on the table while West Ham are 12^th. Reid appeared to be edging closer to a first-team return after featuring on the bench in a 3-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion a fortnight ago but was not included in the match day squad for the Watford victory.

There is also little to report from the lower leagues in England with Clayton Lewis not having featured in the squad for Scunthorpe United since being on the bench for a 3-1 loss to Gillingham in League One last month and Steven Old recovering from injury as Morecambe look to stave off relegation from League Two. There was a Kiwi in action in the National League North though with Max Crocombe between the sticks as usual for Salford City but unable to prevent a 1-0 loss to York City. The margin of defeat could have been higher had Crocombe not been in good form, making an outstanding save with just over 20 minutes remaining to keep his side in the game.

The biggest Kiwi presence in England came in the FA Women’s Super League, where the Football Ferns pair of Olivia Chance and Anna Green came up against each other. Chance again earned a berth in the heart of the Everton midfield while Green was given a rare start in Reading’s back four. They had to contend with tricky conditions at Halton Stadium in Widnes with a sprinkling of snow covering the artificial pitch for much of the contest. It was Chance who emerged triumphant in the battle of the Kiwis, helping the Toffees to a 2-1 win. Everton scored two early goals to put themselves in the box seat and Green nearly assisted in providing an equaliser late on but no Reading team mate could manage to make contact with her inviting ball. There was a further Kiwi link when Kirsty Linnett, the partner of All Whites striker Wood, came off the bench for Reading just past the hour mark. Chance had been in great form in the FA Women’s Cup a week earlier, scoring two goals against Bristol City in a 3-1 win.

Outside of the major leagues, Adam Mitchell has recently been enjoying a golden run with the U-23 side at Championship outfit Bolton Wanderers but it finally came to an end at Hull City. The Trotters had put together an 11-game unbeaten stint in the northern section of the Professional Development League but were brought back down to earth with a 3-0 loss to the Tigers. Mitchell again played the full 90 minutes and was made to work hard after Bolton were reduced to 10 men after just over half an hour. Fellow young defender Sam Brotherton could only look on as an unused substitute though as the Sunderland U-23s earned a 1-0 win over West Ham United in a Premier League 2 match which was most notable for the involvement of former England international and Manchester City player Jack Rodwell.

Over in mainland Europe, there was another clash of the Kiwis as Ryan Thomas and Marco Rojas came up against each other in the Dutch top flight. The pair experienced contrasting afternoon’s though with Thomas wearing the captain’s armband and playing the full 90 minutes for PEC Zwolle while Rojas did not see any action as an unused substitute for SC Heerenveen. Thomas also had more to celebrate from a team point of view as Zwolle raced into a three-goal lead before surviving a Heerenveen comeback to triumph 3-2. But their bubble was burst just a few days later with a 2-1 defeat at Utrecht. Zwolle are now fifth on the Eredivisie table while Heerenveen sit ninth.

Not far away in France, Erin Nayler was meanwhile warming up for the Football Ferns’ upcoming matches against Scotland with a clean sheet for Bordeaux in a 1-0 win over ASPTT Albi in the Division 1 Féminine. It was the first shut-out for Nayler since before the winter break and she will be looking to take that form into her last game before joining up with the Ferns – a grudge match against her old club, Olympique Lyonnais. Also having an individual achievement to celebrate was Tyler Boyd, who marked just his third league start of the season – and his first 90-minute shift since the opening day – with a goal for CD Tondela in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Tondela were already 1-0 up when Boyd pounced in the 36^th minute, darting into the six-yard box to meet a cross at the near post with a powerful diving header. Boyd’s side were put under plenty of pressure when reduced to 10 men on the hour but held on to claim a 2-0 victory that puts them tenth and provides some breathing space between themselves and the relegation-threatened sides below. The goal was Boyd’s second in recent times for Tondela after also earning a consolation strike in a loss to Benfica just before the winter break.

Across the Atlantic, the Kiwi contingent in Major League Soccer (MLS) are all hard at work in pre-season for their respective clubs, although the Vancouver Whitecaps pair of Stefan Marinovic and Myer Bevan did get the chance to enjoy some sun and sand on tour in Hawaii. The Whitecaps squad took to the beach for some training sessions but also spent plenty of time on the pitch and the form of goalkeeper Marinovic was a highlight. The 26-year-old gloveman played the first half in each of Vancouver’s three matches in Hawaii and was called into action on plenty of occasions but did not concede a single goal. Bevan also earned some game time when featuring in the second half of the first match but Cory Brown, picked up in the MLS SuperDraft in January, was not included in the tour party. It was a relatively successful trip for Vancouver, who won two of their friendly matches and lost the other.

The Anthony Hudson-led revolution is meanwhile continuing at the Colorado Rapids, for whom Tommy Smith pulled on the shirt for the first time soon after arriving from Ipswich Town. The defender was included in the starting line-up for a pre-season friendly against amateur outfit Sporting Arizona and helped keep a clean sheet in a massive 9-0 win. Deklan Wynne was introduced to the fray after an hour but the pair’s fellow Colorado-based All White, Kip Colvey, did not feature. The fullback has already made an impact at his new club however, winning the beep test during fitness testing, just as he did at the San Jose Earthquakes last season. Over at the Portland Timbers, the Kiwi trio of Jake Gleeson, Bill Tuiloma and Stuart Holthusen are all looking to impress new coach Giovanni Savarese and, like Vancouver, the Timbers have been on the move. An eight-day spell in their Oregon home has been sandwiched between trips to Tucson, Arizona for a couple of bouts of pre-season training. Michael Boxall and James Musa are likewise deep into their preparations with Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City respectively as the MLS kick-off looms large in early March.

The National Women’s Soccer League gets underway soon after at the beginning of April and there has recently been several pieces of news involving the New Zealanders taking part in the United States’ leading female competition. Three Kiwis are set to line up for new sides with Katie Bowen having just joined the Utah Royals, following swiftly on the back of transfers for both Rebekah Stott and Rosie White. The latter was forced to move after the folding of the Boston Breakers but was immediately picked up by the Chicago Red Stars while Stott has swapped Seattle Reign for Sky Blue FC. Bowen spent last season with FC Kansas City, for whom she played 34 times in total and scored two goals. There was also an exciting development for Abby Erceg, the former Football Ferns captain making herself available for Football Ferns selection again and being included in the squad to face Scotland. Likewise returning to the fold is Sarah Gregorius while former youth international Emma Rolston was also called up and is line to make her debut. Before joining up with their Ferns team mates though, both Rolston and Stott have some significant business to attend to in the form of the Australian W-League grand final. Stott is certain to be heavily involved as she has been a mainstay of the Melbourne City line-up and took full part in a 2-0 semi-final win over Brisbane Roar. Sydney FC earned their berth after a thrilling 3-2 extra-time triumph against the Newcastle Jets but Rolston did not feature. The grand final will take place this Sunday at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

Staying in Australia, All Whites fullback Storm Roux is on the verge of a personal milestone as he approaching his 100^th match for the Central Coast Mariners. Roux is still only 25 but, despite his relatively tender years, will achieve the mark if he plays as expected against Adelaide United on Saturday. He and his Mariners team mates will look to get back to winning ways after falling to a 2-1 defeat to the Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend. A pair of Kiwis have meanwhile been featuring in the AFC Champions League as Melbourne Victory drew 3-3 with South Korean side Ulsan FC. Kosta Barbarouses started the match and was booked just after half-time before being replaced late on while Jai Ingham was an unused substitute. Barbarouses had been in action just a few days earlier in the A-League, taking full part in a 2-1 loss to Brisbane Roar while Ingham was again not needed. His brother Dane Ingham also had a watching brief from the bench for Brisbane. In contrast, fellow youngster Liberato Cacace earned plenty of game time but might have wished he wasn’t on the pitch as the Wellington Phoenix fell to a 4-0 loss away at the Wanderers. Andrew Durante, Matt Ridenton and Michael McGlinchey all also started while new signing Monty Patterson, Sarpreet Singh and Keegan Smith were on the bench. Cacace made way for All Whites striker Patterson to make his debut with around 20 minutes remaining.

In South Africa, Jeremy Brockie has yet to open his account for new club the Mamelodi Sundowns and drew a blank again in a 1-0 win over CT All Stars in the Nedbank Cup. But he has featured in only four matches so far – coming off the bench in two of those – and is confident the goals will soon start flowing. “When you get to a new club‚ you always want to find your feet and put the ball in the back of the net,” he says. “I’m slowly getting closer and I’m sure once that first one comes there will be no pressure on me, whether from the technical team or players. They know that it will happen when it happens. Once that first one is off my back‚ it will start flowing from there.”