# Wellington Phoenix FC (women)

Wellington Phoenix Women's Football Club is a professional women's football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. The Phoenix competes in the Australian premier women's soccer competition A-League Women, under licence from Football Federation Australia and New Zealand Football.

## History
### Establishment

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 travelling to away games a major barrier. 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.
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.

### Inaugural season

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. 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. Alfeld was later announced as the club's inaugural captain.
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.
Ava Pritchard scored the club's first goal in their second game of the season, in a 1–5 loss to Newcastle Jets.
On 11 February 2022, the Phoenix achieved their first win in A-League Women history in a 3–0 away win against Canberra United.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 20 December 2024
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 |
| 2 | DF | NZL | Zoe McMeeken |
| 3 | DF | LBN | Tiana Jaber |
| 4 | DF | NZL | Mackenzie Barry |
| 5 | DF | USA | Alivia Kelly |
| 6 | MF | USA | Maya McCutcheon |
| 7 | FW | NZL | Grace Jale |
| 8 | MF | NZL | Amelia Abbott |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Olivia Fergusson |
| 10 | MF | NZL | Alyssa Whinham |
| 11 | MF | NZL | Manaia Elliott |
| 12 | FW | NZL | Ella McMillan (scholarship) |
| 13 | GK | NZL | Brooke Neary (youth) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Mebae Tanaka |
| 15 | MF | NZL | Daisy Brazendale |
| 16 | MF | NZL | Annalie Longo (captain) |
| 17 | MF | NZL | Ela Jerez (scholarship) |
| 18 | DF | NZL | Ella McCann (scholarship) |
| 19 | MF | NZL | Olivia Ingham |
| 20 | FW | NZL | Emma Main |
| 21 | DF | NZL | Lara Wall (scholarship) |
| 22 | GK | NZL | Aimee Danieli (scholarship) |
| 23 | DF | NZL | Rebecca Lake |
| 39 | GK | POR | Carolina Vilão |

## Management team
### Technical staff

    As of 14 August 2024
| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Paul Temple |
| Assistant manager | Amy Shepherd |
| 2nd Assistant/Team analyst | Tory Schiltgen |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Nick Stanton |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Kieran McMinn |
| Head physiotherapist | Beanie Joyes |
| Team operations & equipment manager | Toni West-Luamanu |

### Captaincy history

| Dates | Name | Honours (as captain) |
| 2021–2023 | Lily Alfeld | Inaugural club captain |
| 2023– | Annalie Longo |

## Records and statistics

* Record Win: 5–0 vs Canberra United, A-League Women, 22 January 2023
* Record Defeat: 0–5 vs Sydney FC, A-League Women, 30 December 2021
* Record High Attendance: 5,532 vs Perth Glory, Mount Smart Stadium, 25 November 2023
* Most Goals by a Player in a Game: 2
** Betsy Hassett vs Canberra United, A-League Women, 22 January 2023
** Milly Clegg vs Adelaide United, A-League Women, 28 March 2023
** Mariana Speckmaier vs Canberra United, A-League Women, 28 January 2024
** Emma Main vs Western Sydney Wanderers, A-League Women, 30 March 2024
* Most Wins in a Row: 3 matches, from 22 October 2023 to 12 November 2023
* Longest Undefeated Streak: 4 matches, from 22 November 2024 to 21 December 2024
* Most Goals In a Regular season: Mariana Speckmaier – 10 goals, 2023–24 A-League Women

### Most appearances

Last updated 17 November 2024 Competitive, professional matches only. All current players are in bold
| | Name | Years | A-League Women | Finals | Total |
| 1 | Mackenzie Barry | 2021– | 53 | 0 | 53 |
| 2 | Kate Taylor | 2021–2024 | 42 | 0 | 42 |
| 3 | Alyssa Whinham | 2021– | 41 | 0 | 41 |
| 4 | Michaela Foster | 2021–2023 | 38 | 0 | 38 |
| 4 | Zoe McMeeken | 2021– | 38 | 0 | 38 |

### Top goalscorers

Last updated 30 March 2024 Competitive, professional matches only, appearances including substitutes appear in brackets.
| | Name | Years | A-League Women | Finals | Total | Games per goal |
| 1 | Mariana Speckmaier | 2023–2024 | 10 (21) | 0 (0) | 10 (21) | 0.48 |
| 2 | Grace Jale | 2021–2022, 2024– | 6 (12) | 0 (0) | 6 (12) | 0.5 |
| 3 | Emma Main | 2023– | 5 (20) | 0 (0) | 5 (20) | 0.25 |
| 3 | Chloe Knott | 2021–2023 | 5 (38) | 0 (0) | 5 (38) | 0.13 |
| 5 | Milly Clegg | 2022–2023 | 4 (16) | 0 (0) | 4 (16) | 0.25 |
| 5 | Michaela Robertson | 2022–2024 | 4 (25) | 0 (0) | 4 (25) | 0.16 |
| 5 | Ava Pritchard | 2021–2023 | 4 (32) | 0 (0) | 4 (32) | 0.13 |
| 5 | Kate Taylor | 2021–2024 | 4 (42) | 0 (0) | 4 (42) | 0.1 |

## Season-by-season record

| Season | Division | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | Top scorer | Top scorer |
| Season | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Pos | Finals | Name | Goals |
| 2021–22 | A-League Women | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 36 | –23 | 7 | 10th | — | Grace Jale | 6 |
| 2022–23 | A-League Women | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 20 | 30 | –10 | 13 | 11th | — | Milly Clegg | 4 |
| 2023–24 | A-League Women | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 36 | 33 | +3 | 28 | 8th | — | Mariana Speckmaier | 10 |
| | Champions |
| | Runners-up |
| | Last place |
| | Did not make the playoff |
| ♦ | Top scorer in competition |
| EF | Elimination finals |
| SF | Semi-finals |