Six Melville United players, from youth to females to seniors, have earned Lotto boot sponsorships which have been facilitated by Hamilton’s new central city retail outlet, Soccer United Football Supplies

Soccer United, situated at 137 Alexandra St (www.soccerunited.co.nz) and Lotto are represented by the following players for 2022: Ella MacMillan (now with Wellington Phoenix), Stevie Lee Tiller, Fatima Hussain Ali, John Oakman, Carlos Ranui and Aaron Scott.
Soccer United stocks a large range of Lotto footwear and apparel and co-proprietor Brooke Macdonald said when they opened the store late last year they wanted to offer the football community not only boots and footballs but also a connection beyond retail.
“If you only watched the Premier League, you would think the game was only played by athletic male millionaires in their 20s,” Macdonald said.
“But football in the Waikato is played and enjoyed by such a diverse range of society and we wanted to show that there is multicultural aspect to our sport, and this is represented at Melville.”
Lotto, historically a major brand with football boots and apparel, were keen to support this approach and, together with Soccer United, they have brought together a cross-section of players who are contributing to the game at beyond practice and playing at a variety of levels.
Fatima Hussain-Ali is an Afghanistan-born 15-year-old who also plays for Waikato in futsal.
Carlos Ranui, 15, is an academy player tipped as being a possible first team debutant later this year.
Stevie-Lee Tiller, 15, is one of Melville rising young female stars.
Ella McMillan has thrived at the Melville academy and recently joined the Wellington Phoenix FC Women's Development Academy programme.
John Oakman, a first team defender, has joined Melville this year after previously being with Nomads in Christchurch.
Meanwhile Aaron Scott is first team squad player some people may have heard of, who is always looking to make 1 per cent improvements in his game.
“Having the right boots is part of that,” Scott says.
Lotto are contributing boots and clothing as part of the inaugural campaign with the goal of raising awareness of their brand and products. At the same time they are joining Soccer United with its approach of celebrating diversity within the beautiful game.