Wellington Phoenix FC Reserves

Wellington Phoenix Football Club Reserves is a football team based in Wellington, New Zealand. They currently serve as the reserve side of the Wellington Phoenix FC of the A-League and compete in the New Zealand National League.

Wellington Phoenix Reserves
Full nameWellington Phoenix Football Club Reserves
Nickname(s)WeeNix[1]
Founded2014; 10 years ago (2014)
GroundFraser Park
Capacity750
ChairmanRob Morrison
Head CoachChris Greenacre
LeagueCentral League
National League
2024Central League, 5th of 10
Websitehttp://www.wellingtonphoenix.com/
Active teams of Wellington Phoenix
A-League Men
Wellington Phoenix Reserves
(Men's)
A-League Women

History

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Chart of yearly ladder positions for Wellington Phoenix Reserves in NZ 1st division soccer

From 2010 to 2013, a Wellington Phoenix reserve side took part in the ASB Phoenix Challenge competition against ASB Premiership sides, however these games were separate to the main competition.

On 22 August 2014 it was announced that the club had been granted permission to field a reserve side in the 2014–15 ASB Premiership, the highest level of football in New Zealand.[2] The team made their debut in the competition on 1 November 2014 against Team Wellington. Tyler Boyd scored the first goal in the reserves' history, but that could not prevent them losing 1–2.[3]

On 2 October 2015, Wellington Phoenix named a youth squad to take part in the ASB Youth League.[4]

With the restructuring and creation of a new National League made by New Zealand Football for the 2021 season, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Phoenix and Lower Hutt City which saw the team play under in the Central League under the Lower Hutt banner.[5][6] This meant Lower Hutt could not qualify for the Championship phase even if they finish in the top three of the Central League as Wellington Phoenix would then play that part of the competition.[5][7]

This changed again for the 2022 season, with the Phoenix allowed to again play in the national league under their own name and colours.[8]

Players

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Reserves squad

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As of 26 September 2024[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK   NZL Dublin Boon
GK   NZL Matt Foord
GK   NZL Eamonn McCarron
DF   NZL Joe Cornille
DF   NZL Jesper Edwards
DF   NZL Dylan Gardiner
DF   NZL Harry Huxford
DF   NZL Seth Karunaratne
DF   NZL Ryan Lee
DF   NZL Tze-xuan Loke
DF   NZL Nicholas Murphy
DF   NZL Lewis Patridge
DF   NZL Jayden Smith
MF   NZL Lachlan Candy
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   NZL Anaru Cassidy
MF   NZL Raphael Conway
MF   NZL Augustin Coronel
MF   NZL Ryan Hamilton
MF   NZL Fletcher Pratt
MF   NZL Harrison Tisch
MF   NZL Hayden Thomas
MF   NZL Ryan Watson
MF   NZL Louis Wickremesekera
MF   NZL Rio Winkworth
FW   NZL Luke Flowerdew
FW   NZL Fergus Gillion
FW   NZL Daniel Makowem
FW   NZL Nathan Walker

Senior player appearances

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Up to four professional players are eligible to play for the reserves side from this squad. Two under-20 players are also allowed if the reserves side's opposition agrees to their inclusion on match day.[9]

Season by season record

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ISPS Handa Men's Premiership

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Season Division League Top scorer
P W D L F A GD Pts Pos Finals Name Goals
2014–15[10] NZFC 16 7 0 9 37 42 −5 21 6th   Tyler Boyd 10
2015–16[11] 14 2 1 11 24 46 −22 7 7th   James McGarry 5
2016–17[12] 18 6 4 8 25 33 −8 22 7th   Max Mata 5
2017–18[13] 18 4 3 11 27 53 −26 15 9th   Logan Rogerson 5
2018–19[14] 18 3 2 13 22 46 −24 11 10th   Ben Waine 8
2019–20[15] 16 4 6 6 30 32 −2 18 8th   Byron Heath,   Ahmed Othman 5
2020–21[16] 14 2 4 8 18 37 −19 10 8th   Riley Bidois 6

National League

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Season Qualifying league League New Zealand National League Chatham
Cup
Top scorer
P W D L F A GD Pts Pos P W D L F A GD Pts Pos Name Goals
2021 Central League Did not participate[n 1] 5 2 0 3 15 8 +7 6 4th   Luis Toomey 5
2022 18 10 3 5 32 17 +15 33 3rd 9 3 3 3 16 14 +2 12 6th   Josh Rudland 8
2023 18 12 1 5 47 29 +18 37 2nd 9 3 0 6 19 24 −5 9 8th   Joshua Tollervey 17
2024 18 7 3 8 34 40 −6 24 5th Qualified 2R
Champions
Runners-up
Third Place
Last Place
Did not make the Playoff
Top scorer in competition
EF Elimination finals
SF Semi-finals

Notes

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  1. ^ Lower Hutt City cannot qualify for the National League Championship phase due to their MoU with Wellington Phoenix Reserves.

References

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  1. ^ Barnes, Patrick (26 November 2014). "From the Fever Zone". wellingtonphoenix.com. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Wellington Phoenix admitted to ASB Premiership". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Team Wellington 2–1 Wellington Phoenix FC Reserves". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  4. ^ Lange, Kyla (2 October 2015). "Phoenix Name Exciting Young Squad For ASB Youth League". Wellington Phoenix. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "New National League system". New Zealand Football. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Wellington Phoenix Announce Strategic Partnership With Lower Hutt City AFC". Wellington Phoenix. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Who'll join Rangers and Olympic in the National League?". New Zealand Football. 23 July 2021. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  8. ^ a b "New-look reserves ready for 2022 Central League - Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Phoenix Reserve side in a state of flux". TVNZ. One News. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  10. ^ "2014-15 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  11. ^ "2015-16 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  12. ^ "2016-17 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  13. ^ "2017-18 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  14. ^ "2018-19 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  15. ^ "2019–20 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. ^ "2020–21 Premiership – New Zealand". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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