Alexander Noah Paulsen (born 4 July 2002) is a New Zealand

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

and the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

national team. Born in Auckland, Paulsen joined the

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

in 2018. Initially playing for their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, Paulsen signed his first professional deal in September 2021 and largely served as second-choice goalkeeper. Following a standout debut season as starting goalkeeper, Paulsen signed for Bournemouth in June 2024. Paulsen represented

at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Olympics.

Early life

Paulsen was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

to a South African father and Namibian mother. He played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

throughout his childhood, and only committed to playing football as a goalkeeper at the age of 13 after beginning as an outfielder. Paulsen initially played in the youth ranks of Onehunga Sports under the tutelage of noted youth development coach Hiroshi Miyazawa. In 2018, aged 15, Paulsen moved to Wellington to join the

academy through their affiliation with Onehunga Sports, following in the footsteps of fellow graduates Sarpreet Singh and

Max Mata Max Andrew Mata (born 10 July 2000) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Shrewsbury Town and the New Zealand national team. Club career New Zealand After shining in New Zealand as the youngest goalscorer in ...

Club career

Wellington Phoenix

Early career

After progressing through the Wellington Phoenix age-grade sides, Paulsen was regularly named as a substitute for Wellington Phoenix Reserves throughout the 2018–19 and 2019–20

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

seasons, but did not make an appearance. During this time, Paulsen played for Wellington Phoenix affiliate clubs

Wellington United Wellington United AFC is an association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand, that competes in Capital 3, the 5th tier of Wellington football. History Wellington Diamond United Wellington Diamond United was the result of the merge ...

and Lower Hutt City in the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

. On 14 November 2020, Paulsen finally made his reserves debut, starting in a 1–0 loss to

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

in the opening game of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Paulsen remained a consistent starter throughout the season, and despite the team finishing last, Paulsen was named the league's Most Valuable Player. His performances for the reserves culminated in his first professional contract, signing for the senior team on a three-year deal alongside fellow reserve standout Ben Old. Paulsen entered the

2021–22 A-League Men The 2021–22 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 45th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 17th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004. Melbourne Cit ...

season as second-choice goalkeeper behind club captain Oliver Sail. On 19 December 2021, following an injury to Sail, Paulsen made his A-League debut as a substitute in a 2–1 loss against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

. Paulsen would remain starter in Sail's absence; in an

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

quarterfinal match against Melbourne City on 5 January 2022, Paulsen made three saves in a 0–0 (4–3)

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

win to secure the Phoenix's maiden semifinal appearance in the competition. Upon Sail's return from injury, however, Paulsen returned to a bench role, and he did not make an appearance the following season.

Breakout season

Sail departed the club to sign with

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

prior to the start of the 2023–24 season. Paulsen became starting goalkeeper under new head coach Giancarlo Italiano, and played every minute as the Wellington Phoenix finished second, achieving their highest ever finish while conceding the lowest number of goals in club history. Paulsen was named the Wellington Phoenix Members' Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Under–23 Player of the Year. He was named A-League Men Goalkeeper of the Year, and shared the Young Footballer of the Year award with

Nestory Irankunda Nestory "Nestor" Irankunda Muza (born 9 February 2006) is a professional association football, soccer player who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Regionalliga Bayern club FC Bayern Munich II, Bayern Munich II. Born in Tanza ...

; this marked the first ever time a Wellington Phoenix player had won the award. He was also named in the A-League Men Team of the Season, receiving the most votes out of any player. Paulsen's season has since been noted as among the best of any A-League goalkeeper in history. On 20 May 2024, Paulsen was called up to the

A-League All Stars The A-Leagues All Star Game is an association football match contested by the A-Leagues All Stars team against an invitee club. The All Stars team is made up of selected A-League Men or A-League Women players. The game is played during the footb ...

for a friendly match against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

; Paulsen started the match as the All Stars won 8–0.

Bournemouth

In June 2024, Paulsen signed for

club

for a reported initial fee of £850,000, rising up to £2 million on a 4 year contract.

Loan to Auckland FC

Ahead of the

2024–25 A-League Men The 2024–25 A-League Men, known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 48th season of national level men's soccer in Australia, and the 20th since the establishment of the competition as the A-League in 2004. Central Co ...

season, the

Australian Professional Leagues The Australian Professional Leagues, officially abbreviated to the APL, and sometimes referred to as the A-Leagues, are the governing body for the A-League Men, A-League Women, A-League Youth and E-League. Since their formation, they have been ...

, the governing body for the A-League Men, announced the removal of the

Caceres rule The Caceres rule, also known as the Anthony Caceres rule or Caceres Clause, is a transfer regulation imposed by Football Australia that prevents a player from being registered in an A-League season if said player was purchased by a Holding company ...

; this allowed Paulsen to be loaned to sister club

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 lic ...

. Paulsen played every minute as Auckland won the A-League Premiership in their debut season; this was Paulsen's first team honour at club level.

International career

In September 2018, Paulsen was called up for

to compete in the

2018 OFC U-16 Championship The 2018 OFC U-16 Championship was the 18th edition of the OFC U-16/U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-16/under-17 national teams of ...

. Paulsen made three competition appearances, and was presented the Golden Glove award. In the final against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, Paulsen saved two penalties – one in regular time, one in the penalty shootout – as New Zealand prevailed to win their eighth title, qualifying for the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

in the process. Paulsen played in all three of New Zealand's games in the

, being eliminated in the group stage. Despite making a high-profile error in a 3–0 loss to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Paulsen recovered to keep a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Aged just 17, Paulsen was called up by

Des Buckingham Des Buckingham (born 7 February 1985) is an English professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of club Oxford United. Buckingham became the youngest head coach in the history of the A-League during the 2016–17 A- ...

to the New Zealand under-23 squad for the 2019 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Paulsen made one appearance, as a late substitute in a 6–1 win over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, as New Zealand won the title and qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Danny Hay Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional footballer who formerly managed the New Zealand men's national football team, New Zealand U-23, and New Zealand U-20. Hay played as a central defender for Premier Leagu ...

named Paulsen as a traveling reserve for the tournament, with Michael Woud and Jamie Searle preferred in the main squad; Paulsen did not make an appearance as New Zealand reached the quarter-finals. In September 2022, Paulsen was first called up to the senior national team for a two-game friendly series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, but did not play in either match. He was later called up for friendlies against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in November 2023, and then in March 2024 for two FIFA Series matches against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, but again did not play ahead of incumbent Max Crocombe. On 18 June 2024, Paulsen finally made his senior international debut, keeping a clean sheet against the

in a 3−0

2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup The 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup was the 11th edition of the OFC Men's Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's Association football, football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was ...

win. Crocombe started all subsequent tournament games as New Zealand eventually claimed the trophy.

Personal life

Paulsen attended St Heliers School and Selwyn College in Auckland, before moving to Scots College in Wellington after joining the Wellington Phoenix academy in 2018. Paulsen's brother, Adam, represents the

New Zealand national futsal team The New Zealand national futsal team, nicknamed the Futsal Whites, is the representative side for New Zealand in international futsal and is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The nickname is a reference to the New Zealand national football ...

. The brothers played

regularly growing up, and Paulsen attributes this as a major influence on his ball-playing ability as a goalkeeper.

Career statistics

Honours

Auckland FC * A-League Premiership: 2024–25 New Zealand * OFC U-16 Championship:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

Individual * A-League Men Player of the Month: October/November 2023, March 2024 * PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2023–24 *

Harry Kewell Medal The PFA Harry Kewell Medal is an annual award given for outstanding performance by an under-23 player playing in the A-League or overseas-based Australian. The award has been presented since 2008–09, and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst t ...

: 2023–24 * A-League Goalkeeper of the Year: 2023–24 * A-Leagues All Stars:

References

External links

Alex Paulsen
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulsen, Alex Living people 2002 births A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Wellington Phoenix FC players AFC Bournemouth players Auckland FC players New Zealand men's association footballers Men's association football goalkeepers New Zealand men's international footballers Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for New Zealand 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup players New Zealand people of South African descent New Zealand people of Namibian descent People educated at Selwyn College, Auckland People educated at Scots College, Wellington OFC Nations Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England