# 2023–24 Wellington Phoenix FC season

The 2023–24 season is the 17th in the history of Wellington Phoenix Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, the club is participating in the Australia Cup for the ninth time.

## Overview
### Pre-season

On 14 April 2023, it was announced that Ufuk Talay would depart the club at the end of the season. The following week, assistant coach Giancarlo Italiano was announced as the next head coach on a 2-year deal.
On 10 May, the Phoenix announced the departures of eight players, including vice-captain Oliver Sail, Clayton Lewis, Steven Ugarkovic and Callan Elliot.
On 11 May, the Phoenix announced their first signing of the off-season in Mohamed Al-Taay on a two-year deal from the Newcastle Jets. On 18 May, it was announced that Nicholas Pennington had signed a one-year contract extension with the club. On 9 June, the Phoenix announced the signing of Jack Duncan on a one-year deal.
On 6 July, the Phoenix signed academy player Lukas Kelly-Heald on a four-year professional contract. On 2 August, it was announced that Reserves midfielder Fin Conchie had signed a three-year professional contract with the club. On 13 September, the club announced the signing of their academy captain Isaac Hughes on a two-year professional deal. On 27 September, the Phoenix announced their final off-season signing in 17-year old Luke Supyk, who had only joined the club's academy 5 months prior, on a three-year deal. Despite initial criticism, these signings came as a result of the club putting greater emphasis on developing young New Zealand players.
The Phoenix would made a positive start to pre-season with a 5–1 win over Western Suburbs in their first friendly. They would then go on to beat Wellington Olympic twice with an aggregate score of 5–1.

### Australia Cup

The Phoenix progressed to the Round of 16 of the Australia Cup after a 2–1 win over NPL side Peninsula Power. However, they would then succumb to a 3–0 loss against Melbourne City in the Round of 16, getting eliminated from the cup campaign in the process.

### A–League Men

The Phoenix kicked off their season on 22 October against the Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | NZL | Finn Surman |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Scott Wootton |
| 5 | MF | NZL | Fin Conchie |
| 6 | DF | NZL | Tim Payne |
| 7 | FW | NZL | Kosta Barbarouses |
| 8 | MF | NZL | Ben Old |
| 9 | FW | POL | Oskar Zawada |
| 10 | FW | ENG | David Ball |
| 11 | MF | BUL | Bozhidar Kraev |
| 12 | MF | IRQ | Mohamed Al-Taay |
| 14 | MF | NZL | Alex Rufer (captain) |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Nicholas Pennington |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | MF | CRC | Youstin Salas (on loan from Deportivo Saprissa) |
| 18 | DF | NZL | Lukas Kelly-Heald |
| 19 | DF | NZL | Sam Sutton |
| 23 | FW | NZL | Luke Supyk (scholarship) |
| 24 | FW | NZL | Oskar van Hattum |
| 25 | GK | AUS | Jack Duncan |
| 26 | DF | NZL | Isaac Hughes |
| 30 | GK | NZL | Alby Kelly-Heald (scholarship) |
| 40 | GK | NZL | Alex Paulsen |
| 43 | DF | NZL | Matthew Sheridan (scholarship) |
| 51 | FW | NZL | Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues (scholarship) |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 12 | MF | Mohamed Al-Taay | Newcastle Jets | Free transfer | 2 years | 11 May 2023 |
| 25 | GK | Jack Duncan | Newcastle Jets | Free transfer | 1 year | 9 June 2023 |
| 17 | MF | Youstin Salas | Deportivo Saprissa | Loan | 5 months | 30 January 2024 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 23 | MF | Clayton Lewis | Unattached | End of contract | 9 May 2023 |
| 5 | MF | Steven Ugarkovic | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |
| 12 | DF | Lucas Mauragis | Newcastle Jets | End of loan | 10 May 2023 |
| 15 | DF | Nikko Boxall | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |
| 17 | DF | Callan Elliot | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |
| 20 | GK | Oliver Sail | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |
| 21 | DF | Joshua Laws | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |
| 31 | MF | Yan Sasse | Unattached | End of contract | 10 May 2023 |

### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 18 | DF | Lukas Kelly-Heald | 18 | 4-year senior contract |
| 5 | MF | Fin Conchie | 19 | 3-year senior contract |
| 26 | DF | Isaac Hughes | 19 | 2-year senior contract |
| 23 | FW | Luke Supyk | 17 | 3-year contract, the first two of which are on scholarship terms. |
| 30 | GK | Alby Kelly-Heald | 18 | 3.5-year scholarship contract |
| 43 | DF | Matthew Sheridan | 19 | 1.5-year scholarship contract |
| 51 | FW | Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues | 16 | 3-year contract, the first two of which are on scholarship terms. |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Player | Position | Duration | Date | Notes |
| 13 | Nicholas Pennington | Central midfielder | 1 year | 18 May 2023 | |
| 40 | Alex Paulsen | Goalkeeper | 3 years | 2 November 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2023–24 until end of 2026–27. |
| 8 | Ben Old | Attacking midfielder | 3 years | 22 November 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2023–24 until end of 2026–27. |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League Men | 22 October 2023 | 27 April 2024 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 055.56 |
| A-League Finals | 10–12 May 2024 | 18 May 2024 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Australia Cup | 4 August 2023 | 27 August 2023 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 31 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 051.61 |
Last updated: 19 May 2024 Source: Soccerway

### A-League Men
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Central Coast Mariners (C) | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 49 | 27 | +22 | 55 | Qualification for AFC Champions League Elite and Finals series |
| 2 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 53 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 43 | 33 | +10 | 42 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Sydney FC | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 41 | Qualification for AFC Champions League Two and Finals series |
| 5 | Macarthur FC | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is part of the Oceania Football Confederation.
* 1 2 The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.
* ↑ Qualified for AFC Champions League Two as the 2023 Australia Cup winners.

#### Results summary

Away figures include Wellington Phoenix's 4–3 win on neutral ground against Perth Glory on 14 January 2024.
| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 27 April 2024. Source: Ultimate A-League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | N | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | D | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | L | W | D | W |
| Position | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Points | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 24 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 33 | 36 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 46 | 49 | 50 | 53 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

#### Finals series
### Australia Cup

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
    As of 18 May 2024
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men Finals | A-League Men Finals | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 3 | DF | | Finn Surman | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Scott Wooton | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | | Fin Conchie | 2+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Tim Payne | 22+1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | | Kosta Barbarouses | 25+1 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 13 |
| 8 | MF | | Ben Old | 15+12 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 |
| 9 | FW | | Oskar Zawada | 5+7 | 6 | 0+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| 10 | FW | | David Ball | 18+6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Bozhidar Kraev | 25+1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 6 |
| 12 | MF | | Mohamed Al-Taay | 17+8 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Alex Rufer | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 3 |
| 15 | MF | | Nicholas Pennington | 20+3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 2 |
| 17 | MF | | Youstin Salas | 6+4 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | | Lukas Kelly-Heald | 18+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | | Sam Sutton | 11+9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | | Luke Supyk | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | | Oskar van Hattum | 3+12 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| 26 | DF | | Isaac Hughes | 4+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | | Alex Paulsen | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 42 | FW | | Fergus Gillion | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | DF | | Matthew Sheridan | 1+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 51 | FW | | Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||||
| 34 | FW | | Josh Rudland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 36 | FW | | Ben Wallace | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 41 | FW | | Kaelin Nguyen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 52 | MF | | Jackson Manuel | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
    As of 18 May 2024
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men Finals | A-League Men Finals | A-League Men Finals | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 14 | MF | | Alex Rufer | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 6 | DF | | Tim Payne | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 15 | MF | | Nicholas Pennington | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 7 | FW | | Kosta Barbarouses | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 9 | FW | | Oskar Zawada | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 17 | MF | | Youstin Salas | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | MF | | Bozhidar Kraev | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 19 | MF | | Sam Sutton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 10 | FW | | David Ball | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 3 | DF | | Finn Surman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 4 | FW | | Scott Wooton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 24 | FW | | Oskar van Hattum | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 40 | GK | | Alex Paulsen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 12 | MF | | Mohamed Al-Taay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 18 | DF | | Lukas Kelly-Heald | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | 26 | DF | | Isaac Hughes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 49 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 2 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.
    As of 18 May 2024
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Goalkeeper | A-League Men | A-League Men Finals | Australia Cup | Total |
| 1 | 40 | | Alex Paulsen | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 |

## Awards
### Players

| No. | Pos. | Player | Award |
| 40 | GK | Alex Paulsen | A-League Men Player of the Month (October/November) |
| 40 | GK | Alex Paulsen | A-League Men Player of the Month (March) |
| 7 | FW | Kosta Barbarouses | A-League Men Player of the Month (December) |
| 7 | FW | Kosta Barbarouses | A-League Men Player of the Month (January) |
| 26 | DF | Isaac Hughes | A-League Men Player of the Month (February) |

### Managers

| Manager | Award | Source |
| Giancarlo Italiano | A-League Men Coach of the Month (October/November) | |