# 2024–25 Auckland FC season

The 2024–25 Auckland Football Club season is the club's first season in existence and their inaugural season in the A-League Men, the top flight of Australian soccer. The season will cover the period from 1 June 2024 until 30 June 2025.

## Notable events
### The Kiwi Clásico

The rivalry between Auckland and Wellington Phoenix FC – dubbed the 'Kiwi Clásico' by media, in allusion to El Clásico – saw its first match end in victory for Auckland on November 2, 2024. The game occurred at Sky Stadium. Alex Paulsen, who starred in goal for Wellington the season prior, kept a clean sheet for his new Auckland side. However, it was the Wellington goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi who caught headlines. His mistimed pass in the dying minutes only found the feet of Jake Brimmer, who slotted it past to take Auckland into a late lead. Brimmer then scored his double in the 97th minute; a tap-in on the receiving end of a mazy Luis Toomey run.
The reverse fixture took place at Mount Smart Stadium, on a sunny December 7th afternoon. The build-up had been fiery: fuelled by comments from Wellington manager Giancarlo Italiano delegating Auckland's early success to luck. Steve Corica used this discourse, which he referred to as 'disrespectful', as motivation for his players. Auckland got ahead by two goals; courtesy of an unfortunate Isaac Hughes header into his own net and a Nando Pijnaker set-piece nod. Kosta Barbarouses scored late to give the travelling Wellington crowd hope, but the final whistle blew at 2–1.
Finally, the last derby of the regular season got underway - again at Mount Smart Stadium - on the 22nd of February. While the former matches were somewhat tightly contested, the third was a massacre and masterclass by Auckland. Two goals for Neyder Moreno, one for Jesse Randall, and a hat-trick for Logan Rogerson led to a six-goal magnum opus by the Auckland forwards. Whilst youngster Luke Brooke-Smith was able to score his first goal for Wellington, it turned out to be a mere consolation for the visiting capital side. This result led to Auckland triumphing over Wellington for the third time in the season, with a total aggregate score-line of 10–2.

## 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 | Michael Woud |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Hiroki Sakai (captain) |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Scott Galloway |
| 4 | DF | NZL | Nando Pijnaker |
| 5 | DF | NZL | Tommy Smith (vice-captain) |
| 6 | MF | BEL | Louis Verstraete |
| 7 | MF | NZL | Cam Howieson |
| 8 | MF | NZL | Luis Toomey (scholarship) |
| 9 | FW | NZL | Max Mata (on loan from Shrewsbury Town) |
| 10 | FW | URU | Guillermo May |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Marlee Francois |
| 12 | GK | NZL | Alex Paulsen (on loan from Bournemouth) |
| 14 | FW | NZL | Liam Gillion (scholarship) |
| 15 | DF | NZL | Francis de Vries |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | NZL | Adama Coulibaly (scholarship) |
| 17 | DF | NZL | Callan Elliot |
| 18 | MF | NZL | Finn McKenlay (scholarship) |
| 19 | MF | NZL | Oliver Middleton (scholarship) |
| 21 | FW | NZL | Jesse Randall |
| 22 | MF | AUS | Jake Brimmer (vice-captain) |
| 23 | DF | FIJ | Dan Hall |
| 25 | FW | COL | Neyder Moreno |
| 27 | FW | NZL | Logan Rogerson |
| 28 | MF | CHI | Felipe Gallegos |
| 30 | GK | NZL | Joseph Knowles (scholarship) |
| 35 | FW | NZL | Jonty Bidois (scholarship) |

## Transfers

Note: Transfers' in/out date may refer to the date of announcement and not the date of signing from the mentioned players.

### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Name | From | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 1 | GK | Michael Woud | Unattached | Free transfer | 3 years | 30 May 2024 |
| 15 | DF | Francis de Vries | Eastern Suburbs | Free transfer | 2 years | 30 May 2024 |
| 7 | MF | Cameron Howieson | Auckland City | Free transfer | 2 years | 30 May 2024 |
| 21 | FW | Jesse Randall | Wellington Olympic | Free transfer | 2 years | 30 May 2024 |
| 5 | DF | Tommy Smith | Macarthur FC | Free transfer | 1 year | 3 June 2024 |
| 9 | FW | Max Mata | Shrewsbury Town | Loan | 1 year | 3 June 2024 |
| 8 | MF | Luis Toomey | Eastern Suburbs | Free transfer | 1 year (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 14 | FW | Liam Gillion | Auckland City | Free transfer | 2 years (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 18 | MF | Finn McKenlay | Eastern Suburbs | Free transfer | 2 years (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 16 | MF | Adama Coulibaly | Western Springs | Free transfer | 2 years (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 19 | MF | Oliver Middleton | Auckland United | Free transfer | 2 years (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 35 | FW | Jonty Bidois | Tauranga City | Free transfer | 2 years (scholarship) | 20 June 2024 |
| 23 | DF | Dan Hall | Central Coast Mariners | Free transfer | 2 years | 2 July 2024 |
| 11 | FW | Joe Champness | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 3 July 2024 |
| 17 | DF | Callan Elliot | Unattached | Free transfer | 3 years | 3 July 2024 |
| 3 | DF | Scott Galloway | Melbourne City | Free transfer | 2 years | 3 July 2024 |
| 22 | MF | Jake Brimmer | Unattached | Free transfer | 4 years | 9 July 2024 |
| 2 | DF | Hiroki Sakai | Urawa Red Diamonds | Free transfer | 1 year | 25 July 2024 |
| 27 | FW | Logan Rogerson | Noah | Free transfer | 1 year | 29 July 2024 |
| 30 | GK | Joseph Knowles | Eastern Suburbs | Free transfer | 1 year (scholarship) | 29 July 2024 |
| 12 | GK | Alex Paulsen | Bournemouth | Loan | 1 year | 9 August 2024 |
| 4 | DF | Nando Pijnaker | Sligo Rovers | Free transfer | 3 years | 3 September 2024 |
| 28 | MF | Felipe Gallegos | OFI Crete | Free transfer | 2 years | 17 September 2024 |
| 10 | FW | Guillermo May | Newell's Old Boys | Free transfer | 1 year | 17 September 2024 |
| 6 | MF | Louis Verstraete | Beveren | Free transfer | 2 years | 17 September 2024 |
| 25 | FW | Neyder Moreno | Atlético Nacional | Free transfer | 1 year | 14 October 2024 |
| 11 | FW | Marlee Francois | Unattached | Free transfer | | 9 January 2025 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date | Ref. |
| 11 | FW | Joe Champness | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 23 December 2024 | |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Position | Player | Duration | Date | Notes | Ref |
| 2 | Right-back | Hiroki Sakai | 1 year | 18 February 2025 | Contract extended from end of 2024–25 to end of 2025–26. | |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League Men | 19 October 2024 | 3 May 2025 | Matchday 1 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 060.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 060.00 |
Last updated: 17 March 2025 Source: Competitions

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Auckland FC | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 42 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 2 | Western United | 21 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 30 | +16 | 38 | Qualification for AFC Champions League Elite and Finals series |
| 3 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne City | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 34 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 27 | +6 | 33 | Qualification for Finals series |
* ↑ Auckland FC and 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.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 16 March 2025. Source: Ultimate A-League Away figures include Auckland FC's 1–0 win on neutral ground in Unite Round against Macarthur FC on 24 November 2024.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| Ground | H | H | A | B | N | H | H | A | H | A | H | B | A | H | A | A | H | B | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | X | W | W | W | D | L | W | D | X | L | W | D | W | W | X | W | W | D | D | D | | | | | | |
| Position | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |
| Points | 3 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | | | | | | |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
    As of 16 March 2025
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | A-League Men | A-League Men |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| 12 | GK | NZL | Alex Paulsen | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| 2 | DF | JPN | Hiroki Sakai | 17 | 2 | 17 | 2 |
| 3 | DF | AUS | Scott Galloway | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | NZL | Nando Pijnaker | 19 | 3 | 19 | 3 |
| 5 | DF | NZL | Tommy Smith | 17 | 0 | 10+7 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | NZL | Francis de Vries | 20 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| 17 | DF | NZL | Callan Elliot | 13 | 1 | 5+8 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | FIJ | Dan Hall | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| 6 | MF | BEL | Louis Verstraete | 17 | 1 | 14+3 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | NZL | Cameron Howieson | 14 | 0 | 2+12 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | NZL | Luis Toomey | 7 | 0 | 0+7 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | NZL | Adama Coulibaly | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | NZL | Finn McKenlay | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | AUS | Jake Brimmer | 19 | 3 | 16+3 | 3 |
| 25 | MF | COL | Neyder Moreno | 18 | 7 | 10+8 | 7 |
| 28 | MF | CHI | Felipe Gallegos | 20 | 0 | 18+2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| 9 | FW | NZL | Max Mata | 15 | 2 | 7+8 | 2 |
| 10 | FW | URU | Guillermo May | 20 | 8 | 20 | 8 |
| 11 | FW | NZL | Marlee Francois | 8 | 0 | 0+8 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | NZL | Liam Gillion | 12 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | NZL | Jesse Randall | 14 | 2 | 5+9 | 2 |
| 27 | FW | NZL | Logan Rogerson | 20 | 7 | 16+4 | 7 |
| 35 | FW | NZL | Jonty Bidois | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 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 16 March 2025
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men | Total | Total | Total |
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | 1 | 6 | MF | | Louis Verstraete | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 16 | MF | | Adama Coulibaly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 4 | DF | | Nando Pijnaker | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 7 | MF | | Cameron Howieson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 28 | MF | | Felipe Gallegos | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 9 | FW | | Max Mata | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 27 | FW | | Logan Rogerson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 5 | DF | | Tommy Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 15 | DF | | Francis de Vries | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 17 | DF | | Callan Elliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 18 | MF | | Finn McKenlay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 21 | FW | | Jesse Randall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 22 | MF | | Jake Brimmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 23 | DF | | Dan Hall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 25 | MF | | Neyder Moreno | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 31 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 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 16 March 2025
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Goalkeeper | A-League Men | Total |
| 1 | 12 | | Alex Paulsen | 9 | 9 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 9 | 9 |