There had been links to AC Milan, there had been links to Saudi Arabia, there had been links to Major League Soccer... but those were all mere bargaining as Chris Wood and his agent haggled over an inevitable new deal with Nottingham Forest
The quickest and most accessible path to the pros for a young kiwi footballer these days is the Wellington Phoenix Academy. It’s been steadily brewing for a few years and we’ve now reached the point where every national age grade side, male and female, is saturated with WeeNixers
Chris Wood scored 14 goals last season with Nottm Forest and also in 2019-20 with Burnley so this is the third time he’s reached this mark. It’s also the sixth season in which he’s passed double-figures.
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
Libby Cacace had played 103 league games in Europe prior to this season, split between Belgium and Italy, and from all that he’d mustered zero goals and three assists. Happily, goal contributions have not been a problem for him in the 2024-25 campaign.
Two Sarpreet Singh goals, both stemming from making those good supporting runs into the penalty area. The first was a bit fortunate with the ball ricocheting off his face but hey he was in the right spot at the right time, what can you say?
This was already Tyler Bindon’s favourite time of the year but he probably loves it even more after scoring a bicycle kick winning goal for Reading against Mansfield Town
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…
We just had one of the most open, competitive, and unpredictable Men’s National League seasons we’ve ever witnessed and would you believe it the damn thing ended with Auckland City as champions
After another thrilling season of National League football... the expected outcome prevailed for Auckland United to complete their quadruple and make it through the entire calendar year undefeated
A couple of weeks ago, CJ Bott and Liberato Cacace were each nominated for the FIFA Best Awards. Cacace followed that honour up by scoring his first goal for Empoli. Then, a few days later, CJ Bott did the same thing for Leicester City
It’s been a long time since Liberato Cacace last scored a goal at club level. He did score an important one for the All Whites in 2022 when he bagged the winner in the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament semi-final against Tahiti
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.
It has been a slow and steady build for Sarpreet Singh since he joined União de Leiria. They had to make sure he was at 100% fitness before letting him loose, meaning Singh had only got a couple of substitute appearances prior to the last international break
The Men’s Grand Final didn’t have the same clearly defined champ and challenger dynamic as the Women’s one did. For starters, the defending champs were Wellington Olympic and they didn’t even come close to qualifying this time
The stage was set at North Harbour Stadium, with Auckland United one game away from an absolutely unprecedented achievement. Not only were they on the brink of a quadruple but they were also ninety minutes (maybe more) away from going through the entire calendar year undefeated
Kate Taylor has always had the ability to score goals. She scored in each of her three seasons with the Wellington Phoenix and already has a couple of goals for the Football Ferns
The Men’s NL had four teams still with hopes of qualifying for the final as week nine began and none of them were playing each other so almost all of the games had ramifications. The WNL did not have such consequences
Right around the same time that the Cashmere-Birkenhead game reached it’s midpoint, this one was kicking off. Last year’s champions Wellington Olympic were at their Martin Luckie Park home trying to finish the season on a high
After scoring 16 goals across 180 minutes during this past window, the All Whites are only two further wins away from qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for just the third time in their history