¡Hola! to my million or so fellow Payniacs.
All Whites and Wellington Phoenix defender Tim Payne has gained over a million Instagram followers this week after being singled out by an Argentinean football influencer as the “least-known” player at the Fifa World Cup. At the time Valen Scarsini aka @elscarso posted his first video, Payne had under 5,000 Instagram followers – today that number passed a million, making him the second most followed player in the A-Leagues after Melbourne Victory’s Juan Mata.
To all his new fans, hola. Here are cinco things you might not know about your new football god.
He has a Club World Cup bronze medal
Tim Payne played for Auckland City FC – who experienced a similar kind of overnight virality last year as the underdog of the Club World Cup – during their giant-killing run at the 2014 tournament in Morocco. He started in the midfield for City and took successful spot kicks in penalty shootout wins over Moroccan champions Moghreb Tétouan and Mexican champions Cruz Azul in the third-place playoff (he was also awarded man of the match for this game). City’s only loss of this tournament came against Argentinean champions San Lorenzo, who required extra time to see off the amateur New Zealand club.
He is not Tim Paine
Would you believe this is not Tim Payne’s first brush with international social media fame. In 2021 he was the victim of mistaken identity when Indian cricket fans sent him abusive messages intended for Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine after he called opponent Ravichandran Ashwin a “dickhead”. “It was a pretty funny ordeal,” Payne-with-a-Y told Stuff. “I woke up one morning to my Instagram going off.”
He once got drunk and stole a golf cart
During Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 Tim Payne and Wellington Phoenix teammate Oli Sail were reprimanded by Australian police for taking a “drunken joyride” on a golf cart when they were supposed to be in quarantine. Payne was charged with drink driving (the golf cart was being driven on a public road) and fined AU$700. Goalkeeper Sail, who was in the passenger seat, was not charged.
He already had more followers than a bunch of other All Whites
When Scarsini made his first video encouraging everybody to follow Tim Payne, the All White had 4,715 followers. That number may be low by international football standards, but several of his All Whites teammates have just as low or even lower follower counts. Jesse Randall, who has signed to play for Dundee United after the World Cup, has 4,041 followers. Payne’s competition for the starting right back spot, Callan Elliot, has 4,795. Denmark-based striker Callum McCowatt has 3,702. Backup goalkeeper Michael Woud has just 1,727, etc. But none of these players are Tim Payne.
He is contracted to the Wellington Phoenix until 2028
Tim Payne is arguably the most important player on the Wellington Phoenix roster – his absence with a shoulder injury during the middle of the 2025-26 season coincided with a run of poor results for the struggling A-League club. Having said that, they would probably come to the table should a multimillion dollar offer be put forward by Newell’s Old Boys, Vélez Sarsfield or any other Primera División club in need of a hardworking utility player with over a million followers.
