Bill Poni Tuiloma (born 27 March 1995) is a New Zealand professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a centre-back or

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

for

Charlotte FC Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...

in Major League Soccer. Tuiloma has represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

internationally since 2013, and was the first New Zealander to play in Ligue 1, the highest division of French football.

Early life

Born in Beach Haven, New Zealand, Tuiloma is of Samoan descent. He attended Birkenhead College and Lincoln High School. He was part of the first intake of players to be invited to the Asia Pacific Football Academy which worked with Chelsea FC.

Club career

Marseille

Following trials with LA Galaxy and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, Tuiloma signed a deal with French side Olympique de Marseille in July 2013. In a 2013 interview, he was questioned about his journey from relative football obscurity to his eventual move to Marseille. He also admitted that Queens Park Rangers and

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

were also interested in signing him if the Marseille deal fell through. Tuiloma made his first-team debut for the club on 7 February 2015, when he came on as a late substitute for Florian Thauvin in a 2–2 draw with Rennes. Upon making his debut he became the first New Zealander ever to play in Ligue 1. It was one of only two senior appearances he made, however, before signing on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for Strasbourg for the 2015–16 season, and then permanently for Portland Timbers in 2017.

Portland Timbers

On 25 July 2017, Tuiloma officially signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Portland Timbers. He made three appearances with

Portland Timbers 2 Portland Timbers 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. The team, often referred to as "T2", serves as the reserve squad for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team was a member of the USL Champio ...

in 2017, and made his first-team debut on 24 March 2018, in a 1–1 draw with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. The Timbers resigned Tuiloma on 24 January 2018.

International career

Tuiloma represented New Zealand under-17 at the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1991. It was held in Mexico with games ...

and New Zealand under-20, for whom he was also the captain, at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

s. He made his senior international debut for

on 15 October 2013, at the age of 18, when he came on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in Port of Spain.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Waitakere United * New Zealand Football Championship: 2011–12 Strasbourg *

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, ...

: 2015–16 Portland Timbers *

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

New Zealand *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

OFC U-20 Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, ...

OFC U-17 Championship The OFC U-16 Championship is a biennial football tournament for players under the age of 16. The tournament decides the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, w ...

: 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuiloma, Bill 1995 births Living people Samoan men's footballers Men's association football defenders New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand men's under-20 international footballers Olympique de Marseille players People educated at Lincoln High School, New Zealand Charlotte FC players Portland Timbers 2 players Portland Timbers players USL Championship players Waitakere United players 2016 OFC Nations Cup players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Ligue 1 players Major League Soccer players Birkenhead United AFC players Association footballers from Auckland RC Strasbourg Alsace players People from North Shore, New Zealand New Zealand men's under-23 international footballers