# 2020–21 Wellington Phoenix FC season

The 2020–21 season was the Wellington Phoenix's 14th season since its establishment in 2007. The club participated in the A-League for the 14th time.

## Pre-season

On 27 August 2020, it was announced that Liberato Cacace had signed with Belgian club Sint-Truidense after they had paid a transfer fee of $2,100,000. On 6 September, the Phoenix announced that Callum McCowatt signed with Danish club Helsingør following the conclusion of his contract. On 12 September, it was announced that Gary Hooper had departed the club following the conclusion of his contract. On 14 September, the Phoenix announced the shock departure of captain Steven Taylor after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract. Both players joined the Indian Super League, signing with Kerala Blasters and Odisha, respectively. On 24 September, Phoenix youngster Callan Elliot signed a deal with Xanthi. On 18 October, it was reported that Matti Steinmann had signed with Indian club East Bengal despite no announcement from the Phoenix. On 19 October, it was announced that Brandon Wilson would be parting ways with the Phoenix. A week later, it was confirmed that Walter Scott would not extend his contract with the club, after he played as a trialist for Macarthur FC in a pre-season match.
On 15 October, it was announced that the 2020–21 A-League season would commence on 27 December. On 27 October, the Phoenix confirmed that their squad will move to Australia for the start of the new campaign. On 28 October 2020, the Phoenix announced the dual signings of All Whites Clayton Lewis and James McGarry on one-year deals. On 30 October, it was announced Joshua Laws had signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix. On 6 November, it was announced that Matthew Ridenton had returned to the Phoenix on a one-year deal. On 10 November, the Phoenix announced the signing of Mirza Muratovic on a one-year deal. On 30 November, the Phoenix announced the signing of Israeli International Tomer Hemed, as its marquee player on a one-year contract.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NZL | Stefan Marinovic |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Liam McGing |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Luke DeVere |
| 4 | DF | NZL | Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi |
| 5 | MF | NZL | James McGarry |
| 6 | MF | NZL | Tim Payne |
| 7 | FW | AUS | Reno Piscopo |
| 8 | MF | AUS | Cameron Devlin |
| 9 | FW | ENG | David Ball |
| 10 | MF | MEX | Ulises Dávila (captain) |
| 11 | MF | AUS | Jaushua Sotirio |
| 12 | MF | NZL | Matthew Ridenton |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | FW | AUS | Charles Lokolingoy |
| 14 | MF | NZL | Alex Rufer (vice-captain) |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Mirza Muratovic |
| 16 | DF | NZL | Louis Fenton |
| 17 | FW | ISR | Tomer Hemed |
| 18 | FW | NZL | Ben Waine |
| 19 | MF | NZL | Sam Sutton |
| 20 | GK | NZL | Oliver Sail |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Joshua Laws |
| 23 | MF | NZL | Clayton Lewis |
| 27 | DF | ENG | Steven Taylor |

## Transfers
### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 19 | MF | | Sam Sutton | 18 | 3-year senior contract |

### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 23 | MF | Clayton Lewis | Auckland City | Free transfer | 1 year | 28 October 2020 |
| 5 | DF | James McGarry | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 28 October 2020 |
| 21 | MF | Joshua Laws | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 30 October 2020 |
| 12 | MF | Matthew Ridenton | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 6 November 2020 |
| 15 | FW | Mirza Muratovic | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 10 November 2020 |
| 17 | FW | Tomer Hemed | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 30 November 2020 |
| 13 | FW | Charles Lokolingoy | Unattached | Free transfer | 4 months | 17 February 2021 |
| 27 | DF | Steven Taylor | Odisha | Free transfer | 3 months | 5 March 2021 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 13 | DF | Liberato Cacace | Sint-Truidense | $2,100,000 | 27 August 2020 |
| 21 | FW | Callum McCowatt | Helsingør | End of contract | 6 September 2020 |
| 88 | FW | Gary Hooper | Kerala Blasters | End of contract | 12 September 2020 |
| 27 | DF | Steven Taylor | Odisha | Mutual contract termination | 14 September 2020 |
| 17 | DF | Callan Elliot | Xanthi | End of contract | 24 September 2020 |
| 5 | MF | Matti Steinmann | East Bengal | End of contract | 18 October 2020 |
| 12 | MF | Brandon Wilson | Perth Glory | Mutual contract termination | 19 October 2020 |
| 23 | DF | Walter Scott | Unattached | End of contract | 25 October 2020 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date |
| 9 | David Ball | Striker | 2 years | 27 October 2020 |
| 4 | Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi | Defender | 2 years | 29 October 2020 |
| 2 | Liam McGing | Centre-back | 1 year | 2 November 2020 |
| 3 | Luke DeVere | Centre-back | 1 year | 6 November 2020 |
| 23 | Clayton Lewis | Attacking midfielder | 2 years | 18 May 2021 |
| 20 | Oliver Sail | Goalkeeper | 2 years | 19 May 2021 |
| 18 | Ben Waine | Forward | 3 years | 20 May 2021 |
| 27 | Steven Taylor | Defender | 1 year | 4 June 2021 |
| 16 | Louis Fenton | Full-back | 1 year | 10 June 2021 |

## Technical staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Ufuk Talay |
| Assistant coach | Chris Greenacre |
| Assistant coach/Head analyst | Giancarlo Italiano |
| Goalkeeping coach | Paul Gothard |
| Head physiotherapist | Ben Venn |
| Strength & conditioning coach | Aidan Wivell |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 25 April 2021
| No. | Pos. | Player | A-League | A-League | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Stefan Marinovic | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Liam McGing | 6(1) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Luke DeVere | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi | 0(4) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | James McGarry | 15(3) | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Tim Payne | 19 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | Reno Piscopo | 8(1) | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | Cameron Devlin | 11(6) | 1 | 17 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | David Ball | 17 | 4 | 17 | 4 |
| 10 | MF | Ulises Dávila | 18(1) | 7 | 19 | 7 |
| 11 | FW | Jaushua Sotirio | 6(7) | 3 | 13 | 3 |
| 12 | MF | Matthew Ridenton | 2(6) | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Charles Lokolingoy | 0(7) | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Alex Rufer | 15(1) | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Mirza Muratovic | 3(5) | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| 16 | DF | Louis Fenton | 12(5) | 2 | 17 | 2 |
| 17 | FW | Tomer Hemed | 9(5) | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| 18 | FW | Ben Waine | 9(6) | 6 | 15 | 5 |
| 19 | MF | Sam Sutton | 3(2) | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | Oliver Sail | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Joshua Laws | 10(2) | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Clayton Lewis | 17(2) | 1 | 19 | 1 |
| 27 | DF | Steven Taylor | 3(2) | 0 | 5 | 0 |

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| A-League | — | 7th | 29 December 2020 | 4 June 2021 |
| A-League Finals | DNQ | DNQ | | |

### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 038.46 |
| Total | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 038.46 |
Updated to match played future (December 2020) Source: Competitions

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Adelaide United | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 6 | Macarthur FC | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 39 | Qualification for finals series |
| 7 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 44 | 34 | +10 | 38 | |
| 8 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 35 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 34 | Qualification for 2021 FFA Cup play-offs |
* ↑ The top two teams entered the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth entered the finals series at the elimination-finals.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.
* ↑ The top 8 teams qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: ultimatealeague.com

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss