# Auckland FC

Auckland Football Club, commonly known as Auckland FC, is a professional football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the A-League Men, the top flight of Australian soccer. Established on 14 March 2024, the club is under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues. The club's home ground is the Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as the Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, in Penrose.
Auckland was given an A-League licence under its chosen owner Bill Foley in November 2023, as part of the third tranche competition expansion.
The club's main rivals are Wellington Phoenix. The Derby between the two clubs is called the Kiwi Clásico.

## History

In March 2023, the Australian Professional Leagues confirmed plans for the next two expansion clubs to be based in Canberra and Auckland ahead of the 2024–25 season. In October 2023, the preferred bidder as owner of the new Auckland licence was confirmed to be Bill Foley, with the licence officially awarded on 21 November. Speaking at the time of the license awarding in November 2023, Foley stated there "was a lot of work to do" to determine the name and logo for the club and that he was "not wedded to any name at this point", despite expressing a personal preference for "Black Knights".
On 14 March 2024, the club officially announced its name, logo and inaugural home kit at its headquarters in Auckland. The name was announced as Auckland FC and a stripe kit that featured electric blue and black as its main colours. The kit was manufactured by New Balance. The nickname was unveiled to be "Black Knights," which is associated with several clubs that Foley owns and refers to the nickname of the sports teams at his alma mater, the United States Military Academy. On the same day of the announcement, the club revealed Terry McFlynn as its director of football, and Steve Corica as its inaugural head coach. Auckland FC announced four player signings, the first before the 2024–25 season, in May.
On 19 October 2024, Auckland played their inaugural A-League Men's fixture at the Mount Smart Stadium against Brisbane Roar. In front of a sell-out crowd of 24,492, the club secured a 2–0 win.

## Club badge and colours

The club colours are electric blue and black, associated with the traditional royal blue of Auckland. The crest features an A in its centre to symbolise the city, representing Rangitoto Island and the Sky Tower. The black knight visor and stripes represent the club's owner Black Knight Sports & Entertainment. The club's short name AFC is displayed on the crest.

## Sponsorship

| Period | Kit supplier | Shirt sponsor (chest) | Shirt sponsor (sleeve) | Shirt sponsor (back) | Short sponsor (front) | Short sponsor (back) |
| 2024–0000 | New Balance | Anchor / Go Media | McDonald's / Alvarium | ANZ / Liberty | Cupra | Barfoot & Thompson / Ebury |

## Stadium

Auckland play their home matches at the Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as the Go Media Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, a 25,000-seat capacity venue located in the suburb of Penrose, approximately 10 kilometers south of Auckland's city centre. The club's owner, Bill Foley, has stated that the ground will be used for a "few years" before a new 20,000-seat stadium is developed on the Auckland waterfront. Due to scheduling conflicts with National Rugby League side New Zealand Warriors, the club uses the North Harbour Stadium as its training ground.
Before the establishment of the club, Wellington Phoenix held matches as the home side in Auckland, playing matches at the North Harbour Stadium and Eden Park. The club played their last match in Auckland on 16 March 2024 against Sydney at Eden Park. Football Kingz, the first Auckland club to play in Australia, also named North Harbour Stadium and Mount Smart Stadium as their home grounds before dissolving in 2004 due to financial reasons. The New Zealand Knights replaced Football Kingz in the 2005–06 season of the A-League and played at the same ground. The Knights folded in the 2006–07 A-League season after the club's licence was removed from the Football Federation Australia (FFA) due to insolvency.

## Supporters and rivalries

The Port are a supporters' group associated with the Black Knights. The club also have a supporters' pub located at Tyler Street Sport, a bar in the Auckland CBD.
As the third Auckland-based club to compete in the top flight of Australia, succeeding from Football Kingz and New Zealand Knights, Auckland share a rivalry with Wellington Phoenix, who have been the only New Zealand club in the A-League Men since the 2007–08 season.
In the first match between the sides on 2 November 2024, Auckland beat the Phoenix 2–0 away at the Wellington Regional Stadium, currently known as the Sky Stadium for sponsorship reasons, courtesy of two late goals from Jake Brimmer.

## Ownership

The owner of Auckland, Bill Foley, is a businessman and general partner of Black Knight Football and Entertainment. Under Black Knight, Foley also owns Premier League side AFC Bournemouth and the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League in the United States. He holds a minor stake in Ligue 2 club FC Lorient and Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.
After the unveiling of Auckland FC on 14 March 2024, Ali Williams and Anna Mowbray, co-founder of Zuru, were announced as co-owners of the club. Williams is a former professional rugby union player and represented the New Zealand national team as a lock. In June 2024, Tim Bezbatchenko was appointed president of Black Knight.

## Auckland FC Women and Academy teams

Auckland FC announced on 14 March 2024 that a women's football team will enter the 2025–26 season of the A-League Women, as well as youth teams to act as the academy sides for both then men and women's squads. As director of football, Terry McFlynn will manage player and coach recruitment for both sides. The mens reserve side will compete in the Northern League from 2025.

## Coaching staff
### Technical officials

| Position | Name |
| Head Coach | Steve Corica |
| Assistant Coach | Luke Casserly |
| Assistant Coach | Danny Hay |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Jonathan Gould |
| Head of Recruitment | Doug Kors |
| Team Manager | Cam Kilgour |
| Head of Medical & Performance | Elias Bourkarim |

### Management

| Position | Name |
| Chairman | Bill Foley |
| Chief Executive Officer | Nick Becker |
| Chief Commercial Officer | Mike Higgins |
| Head of Football | Terry McFlynn |
| Head of Consumer Business | Rafael Turnbull |

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 18 January 2025
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 | Cameron 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 AFC Bournemouth) |
| 14 | FW | NZL | Liam Gillion (scholarship) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | NZL | Francis de Vries |
| 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 | Luis Felipe Gallegos |
| 30 | GK | NZL | Joseph Knowles (scholarship) |
| 35 | FW | NZL | Jonty Bidois (scholarship) |

### Other players with first-team appearances

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 |
| 34 | DF | NZL | Codey Phoenix |

### Captaincy history

| Dates | Name | Honours (as captain) |
| 2024–0000 | Hiroki Sakai | Inaugural club captain |

## Player records
### Most goals

    As of 16 March 2025
* Does not include friendly matches.
| # | Name | Goals |
| 1 | Guillermo May | 8 |
| 2 | Neyder Moreno | 7 |
| 2 | Logan Rogerson | 7 |
| 4 | Jake Brimmer | 3 |
| 4 | Nando Pijnaker | 3 |
| 6 | Max Mata | 2 |
| 6 | Hiroki Sakai | 2 |
| 6 | Jesse Randall | 2 |
| 9 | Francis de Vries | 1 |
| 9 | Louis Verstraete | 1 |
| 9 | Callan Elliot | 1 |