Tagged with: A-League
They were hoping to rebound from a rotten campaign last time by getting back into the playoffs, instead they were flirting with a wooden spoon for a while there, and in the end they settled for eighth place.
Auckland FC’s instant success upon their entry into the A-League caught plenty of people by surprise but it didn’t happen by accident. They hired a champion coach from within the league. They gave him some highly pedigreed assistants…
These are fascinating times for the Wellington Phoenix Academy. Having gone deep into their Development Club mindset a few seasons back, they immediately experienced the best-case-scenario of how that can work…
The results may not have been very balanced but tell ya what there’s never been a boring NZ Derby. All six of these games have been bursting with fascination and intrigue and filled with crazy moments.
After four seasons without ever making the A-League finals, an unlikely set of circumstances contrived to present the Wellington Phoenix Women with an Olympic Games gold medallist as their new head coach.
We’re three games into the new A-League Men’s season and both New Zealand teams remain undefeated. Auckland FC are a little higher up on the ladder, in as much as the standings are even worth bothering with this early on…
Auckland FC didn’t carry any baggage or trauma into their second leg semi-final against Melbourne Victory. They were home at Mt Smart Stadium with more than 29,000 fans packed in – their biggest crowd of the season.
This was supposed to be the year that the Wellington Phoenix Women made the finals. Actually, last year was supposed to be the year until they missed out by five points. So this year was definitely supposed to be the year. Except they didn’t even get close.
Clearly, this season was one challenge too much for the Wellington Phoenix. In hindsight, there’s no reason to think a team that lost half of its starting line-up, and then struggled with injuries on top of that, should have any hope whatsoever of reclaiming a semi-finals berth
For the third time out of three, Auckland FC emerged from the NZ Derby with three points... but this win was not like the others. This win was a dismantling
Auckland FC took a risk with how they put this squad together by banking on the quality of players in Aotearoa’s domestic stuff. They only used three local spots on Australians and one of them is currently injured while another has barely even played
Every year the aim has been finals footy for the Wellington Phoenix women. For the first couple years, that turned out to be an unrealistic target and they ended up with a couple of wooden spoons instead. But in year three the dream wasn’t so far-fetched
The last few weeks have been rough for the Wellington Phoenix blokes, beginning with the derby defeat away to Auckland FC. You don’t often need to pay attention to what the Aussie commentators say about the kiwi clubs but…
There was scrap, there was niggle, and there were flashes of high-quality A-League football for all to see. Nothing silly, just good competitive fun. The appetite was there and the meal has been served accordingly.
What we witnessed on Saturday afternoon at Mt Smart Stadium was a capital-e Event... but it was also just another game of football. Auckland FC versus Brisbane Roar. Three points on offer.
It’s starting to become real. Auckland FC are signing players, they’re initiating league-wide rule changes, and they’ve even popped over to Australia for a few preseason games
It has been two months since the Wellington Phoenix men’s team ended their season with a semi-final exit against Melbourne Victory. It has been three-and-a-half months since the Wellington Phoenix women’s team wrapped up their campaign with a 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers
It didn’t feel real until they started announcing players. In late May, a quartet of kiwi footballers were unveiled wearing Auckland FC gear and waving scarves around for the cameras. Since then there’s been a steady flow of further announcements
There were mere seconds remaining when Sam Sutton lumped a hopeful ball forward. The allotted added-time had already been expended and it was up to the referee’s discretion how much longer this game would last.
Most people who’ve been following the Wellington Phoenix throughout this season, especially those who’ve watched the three previous meetings with Melbourne Victory this season, would have probably have predicted this nil-all draw ahead of time