The veteran has a burning desire to secure a third Central League winners’ medal and hold aloft the Chatham Cup.
When Stephen Hoyle first lined up for Napier City Rovers, he was a proud Englishman.
Fast forward 13 years and Hoyle is now a bonafide Kiwi, having secured New Zealand citizenship to go along with the two Central League titles he has won with the Bluewater Stadium-based club.
The 32-year-old is into his second season of his second stint with the club; a member of its defensive line and also serving as assistant to the side’s head coach Bill Robertson.
Before Rovers’ fourth-round Central League clash against Wellington side Upper Hutt City Football, Hoyle spoke of his pride in the Kiwi citizenship he secured late last year.
Since arriving in Napier for the 2012 season, he has proudly called New Zealand his home, aside from stints in Canada and Australia.
Napier City Rovers defender and assistant coach Stephen Hoyle (right) and midfielder Sam Lack during a training session. Photo / Neil Reid
“It’s huge for me,” Hoyle told the NZ Herald.
“When I moved to Canada in 2019, I was actually homesick a little bit about New Zealand.
“I’m really grateful to Rovers, who originally gave a chance to a 20-year-old to come out and play football in New Zealand, and then the life that it’s given me. I am like a person who has grown into New Zealand; I’ve got a Kiwi partner and a Kiwi boy.
“There’s a lot of English in me still, but I’m very grateful to New Zealand. I’m proud to be able to have the passport.”
Stephen Hoyle, about to be challenged by teammate Mason Johnson, juggles being both a player and assistant coach for Central League football team Napier City Rovers. Photo / Neil Reid
Hoyle’s signing with Napier City Rovers last year – a season where the side ended up finishing an impressive fourth in the National League – was a full-circle moment for him in the New Zealand section of his playing career.
He arrived in the country in 2012, first linking with Napier City Rovers for Central League action, then for the now-defunct Hawke’s Bay United when the National League set-up featured franchises.
Stephen Hoyle says success for him in his second and final stint with Napier City Rovers means titles and helping younger players. Photo / Neil Reid
Hoyle said Napier City Rovers was the club he would end his first-team career with, mulling over whether to hang up his boots at the end of this season or continuing in 2026.
“I don’t think there’s many better places to play in New Zealand than Bluewater Stadium on a Sunday,” he said.
“Just the game-day experience and what’s put on, you feel like a footballer. I really enjoy playing for Rovers.”
Hoyle had two stints playing in Canada; in 2013 with the Toronto Lynx and then 2019 with Valor FC, the latter in the Canadian Premier League.
He returned to New Zealand in 2019 and signed with Auckland side Eastern Suburbs, who he played for until 2023.
Napier City Rovers head coach Bill Robertson (left) pictured with veteran player and assistant coach Stephen Hoyle. Photo / Neil Reid
Last year, his career in New Zealand came full circle when he returned to Napier City Rovers as a player and assistant coach to Robertson.
A “massive factor” was a desire for him and partner Jill – a Hawke’s Bay local – to raise their young son in the region.
Jim Hoyle recently clocked up his 200th first-team game for the club; becoming just the 15th person in the history of the 52-year history of the club to reach the mark.
“A huge thing for me was obviously playing with Jimbo again before I finished my career for a club that he really loves and a club that first brought me to New Zealand,” Hoyle said.
“It seemed like a fitting end to tie up my playing days.”
Napier City Rovers captain Jim Hoyle – Stephen's younger brother – warms up before a training session. Photo / Neil Reid
Napier City Rovers fans will be hoping there’s still plenty of quality football – and potential success – left in Hoyle before he does retire.
He has previously been a member of Napier City Rovers Central League title-winning sides.
He has also been in sides which have lost semifinals.
Hoyle said he wanted more success in his final stint at the club – success meaning both silverware and playing his part in making the team as good as it could be.
“I’ve got two Central League titles for Napier City Rovers and I’d like to win a third before I stop,” he said.
“And I’d love to get a Chatham Cup. The Chatham Cup’s a special one for me just because of the history of it.
Napier City Rovers defender and assistant coach Stephen Hoyle (back) marks forward Max Chretien during a training session. Photo / Neil Reid
“I also want to leave it [the club] better than I found it. I want to leave the players better than I found them.”
Another full-circle moment for Hoyle – who is also assistant coach of the New Zealand Under-17 women’s team - with his return to Napier has seen him link back up with his former Hawke’s Bay United coach Chris Greatholder.
Hoyle has gone into partnership with Greatholder at Albion Coaching; a footballing academy which runs programmes for players of varying ages, abilities and future aspirations.
Stephen Hoyle and his pink boots are hard to miss on the football pitch for Napier City Rovers. Photo / Neil Reid
Greatholder founded the business in 2017.
“We want to give back to the community, have everybody learning and improving through the game,” Hoyle said.
“We also want to give the elite space – the better kids in Hawke’s Bay football – a real pathway and a chance to get better, improve, become National League players, or have experiences like me where they get to travel the world and play in different places, thanks to the game.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
