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 license 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 license under its chosen owner Bill Foley in November 2023, as part of the third tranche competition expansion. The club achieved early success by claiming the Premiership in the 2024–25 regular season, becoming only the second expansion side to win that title in their debut season, after Western Sydney Wanderers in 2012–13.

The club's main rivals are fellow New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix with which they contest the New Zealand Derby. All three clashes between the two sides in Auckland FC’s debut season went the way of the expansion side, the most notable being a 6–1 drubbing played in front of a domestic regular-season record crowd of 27,009 at Go Media Stadium.

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 license was confirmed to be Bill Foley, with the license 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. Auckland would then go on to win their next 5 games and go undefeated for their first seven league matches. One of these wins was a 2-0 win in the first New Zealand derby at Sky Stadium against Wellington Phoenix, thanks to a late brace from Jake Brimmer. Auckland's first loss of the season would come in a surprise 4-0 loss at home against Western United. Auckland would finish the 2024/25 season as A-League Men Premiers, becoming the first New Zealand-based club to win any A-League silverware. Auckland could not qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite however, due to rules about being based in New Zealand, a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). By finishing in the top 2, the club qualified automatically for the semi-final stage of the Finals Series. Auckland defeated opponents Melbourne Victory 1-0 in a tight affair in the first leg at AAMI Park but were eventually defeated 2-0 in the second leg at Go Media Stadium in front of another record crowd of 29,148, which saw them eliminated after losing 2-1 on aggregate, ending their dream of a Championship in their maiden season.

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

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 North Harbour Stadium and Eden Park. The club played their last match in Auckland on 16 March 2024 against Sydney FC 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 also played at North Harbour. The Knights folded in the 2006–07 A-League season after the club's license was removed from the Football Federation Australia (FFA) due to insolvency.

On 20 March 2025 it was confirmed Auckland FC were pursuing a stadium development at Western Springs Stadium. Plans include a new 12,500-15,000 seat, stadium, community sports facilities, hospitality and medical services.

Supporters and rivalries

The Port are an independent 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. The rivalry has quickly blossomed, due to the inter-city rivalry already established and especially since the controversial signing of former Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen on loan from AFC Bournemouth also owned by Auckland FC owner Bill Foley. Despite the disparity in on-field performance in the matches between the two clubs and their respective seasons, all three matches between the two rivals were highly attended by A-League standards, all having crowds of over 26,000, and each successive match breaking the previous domestic regular-season record in New Zealand.

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 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 men's reserve side will compete in the Northern League from 2025.

Coaching staff

Technical officials

Management

Players

First-team squad

Other players with first-team appearances

Captaincy history

Player records

Most goals

* Does not include friendly matches.

Honours

Domestic

* A-League Men Premiership
** Winners (1): 2024–25

See also

* Expansion of the A-League
* List of association football clubs in New Zealand
* Association football in New Zealand

References

External links

Official website

{{Sport in Auckland

2024 establishments in New Zealand
Association football clubs established in 2024
Association football clubs in Auckland
A-League Men clubs
Expansion of the A-League Men
Sport in New Zealand
Auckland FC
Expatriated football clubs