Wellington Phoenix FC (A-League Women)

For several years, there have been talks concerning the creation of a professional women's football team in New Zealand so as to boost the level of women's football in New Zealand and Oceania with the cost of traveling to away games a major barrier.[1][2] There were no professional clubs in New Zealand and the National League only featured amateur teams. The talks intensified after New Zealand won the rights to co-host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup and the W-League plans to add three more expansion teams by that time.[3][4]

In September 2021, Phoenix announced they were one of the clubs in consideration under the W-League expansion and later confirmed creating a women's team.[5][6]

On 11 October 2021, Wellington Phoenix announced Gemma Lewis would be the inaugural head coach of the side. They also announced that Natalie Lawrence would be her assistant for the 2021–22 season, making them one of two all-female coaching staffs in the A-League Women.[7] A few days later, they announced former Perth Glory keeper and 2020–21 players’ player of the year, Lily Alfeld as the clubs inaugural signing.[8] Alfeld was later announced as the club's inaugural captain.[9]

Phoenix played their home games at Wollongong with the hope of returning to their home stadium in Wellington later in the season. Wellington Phoenix started their debut season in the A-League in the 2021–22 season with a 0–0 draw against Western Sydney Wanderers at the Wollongong Showgrounds.[10]

Ava Pritchard scored the club's first goal in their second game of the season, in a 1–5 loss to Newcastle Jets.[11]

On 11 February 2022, the Phoenix achieved their first win in A-League Women history in a 3–0 away win against Canberra United.[12]

As of 4 November 2022[13]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  NZL Lily Alfeld (captain) 2 DF  NZL Saskia Vosper 3 DF  NZL Kate Taylor (vice-captain) 4 DF  NZL Mackenzie Barry 5 DF  NZL Marisa van der Meer 6 MF  AUS Isabel Gomez 7 MF  NZL Chloe Knott 8 FW  NZL Grace Wisnewski 9 FW  NZL Ava Pritchard 10 MF  NZL Alyssa Whinham 11 MF  NZL Betsy Hassett 12 GK  NZL Brianna Edwards

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 FW  NZL Paige Satchell 14 MF  NZL Michaela Robertson 15 DF  NZL Zoe McMeeken 16 FW  NZL Emma Rolston 17 DF  AUS Clauda Cicco 18 MF  NZL Te Reremoana Walker (scholarship) 19 DF  NZL Charlotte Lancaster (scholarship) 20 FW  NZL Milly Clegg (amateur) 21 DF  NZL Michaela Foster (scholarship) 22 GK  NZL Georgia Candy (scholarship) 25 MF  NZL Emma Main (injury replacement)

As of 19 October 2022[14][15][16]

Position	Staff
Manager	Natalie Lawrence
Assistant manager	Callum Holmes
Team analyst	Maia Vink
Goalkeeping Coach	Ryan Ego
Strength and conditioning coach	Daniel Gordon
Football operations manager	Eilish Graves
Head physiotherapist	Suzy Falconer
Kit manager	Brooklyn Innes

Last updated 1 April 2023 Competitive, professional matches only. All current players are in bold

	Name	Years	A-League Women	Finals	Total
1	Chloe Knott	2021–	32	0	32
	Ava Prtichard	2021–	32	0	32
3	Mackenzie Barry	2021–	30	0	30
4	Kate Taylor	2021–	25	0	25
	Sakia Vosper	2021–	25	0	25
	Grace Wisnewski	2021–	25	0	25

Last updated 1 April 2023 Competitive, professional matches only, appearances including substitutes appear in brackets.

	Name	Years	A-League Women	Finals	Total	Games per goal
1	Grace Jale	2021–2022	6 (12)	0 (0)	6 (12)	0.5
2	Milly Clegg	2022–	4 (16)	0 (0)	4 (16)	0.25
	Ava Pritchard	2021–	4 (32)	0 (0)	4 (32)	0.13
4	Marisa van der Meer	2022–	3 (17)	0 (0)	3 (17)	0.18
	Chloe Knott	2021–	3 (32)	0 (0)	3 (32)	0.09