Stevens has transferred from Green Island to Miramar Rangers, which leads the Central League, and hopes to push for a place in the Wellington Phoenix youth set-up.
The talented Otago United striker and Junior All Whites triallist is regarded as one of the most promising footballers produced in the province for years. While there will be disappointment he has gone, there will be much interest in his development.
''He's a young player with heaps of potential,'' Green Island coach Craig Doble said.
''If he doesn't make it in Wellington, I would like to arrange an extended professional trial for him in England.''
The young Green Island team will certainly miss Stevens. His aggressive dribbling at pace at opposition defenders created opportunities for himself and his team-mates.
Green Island hosts premier league leader Dunedin Technical in a tasty top-of-the-table clash at Sunnyvale today.
In-form Caversham should have too much power and pace for Mosgiel when the two teams meet at Tonga Park.
Caversham, fresh from a good performance that knocked Roslyn-Wakari out of the Chatham Cup last Saturday, will welcome back Tom Jackson and goalkeeper Liam Little. The Smith brothers are still overseas and will need to work hard upon their return to break into the starting XI.
Roslyn-Wakari, which heads to Invercargill to play Old Boys, will be without key central defenders James Watson and Cam Attwood, who are both serving suspensions.
Coach Colin Thom will otherwise have a full team to select from and will be encouraged by Ajay Cunningham's comeback last Saturday. Cunningham shrugged off his relative lack of match fitness to put in a good performance against Caversham.
Seventh-placed Old Boys will bring in new recruits to cover for the injured Jason McMath and Barry Gardiner and Jeremy Dix, who are both unavailable due to work commitments. Midfielder Kieran Van Loon is out through illness and Barra Toubat is overseas.
Northern will host Queenstown at the Caledonian Ground and will be missing German central defender Norbert Dreyer, who has returned home due to family commitments, and the club's leading scorer, Angus Milne, who is on holiday.
Fifth-placed University plays Grants Braes at the Caledonian in the early game.
The board of the organisation formerly known as Otago United has ratified a name change to Southern United.
Representatives from local football clubs, along with board members of FootballSouth, attended a meeting recently to vote for the name change.
The vote was unanimous, with the belief the rebranding was ''a great leap forward'' in helping the club gain wider support from the Otago, Southland and South Canterbury football communities.
The name change is effective immediately for both the ASB Premiership and national youth league teams.
- Wilson James.
