Benjamin Craig Old (born 13 August 2002) is a New Zealand professional

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

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

and the New Zealand national team.

Early life

Old began his sports career as a golfer; he was given his first

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

when he was two. Old was considered a former child golf prodigy, playing in his first international golf tournament at the age of seven. He had travelled to the United States to play against other child prodigies from around the world in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Pinehurst and

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Club career

Wellington Phoenix

Old originally lived in Auckland before he moved to Wellington and joined the Wellington Phoenix Football Academy in 2018. While not an official member of Wellington Phoenix's senior squad, Old had trained with the team before they went to Australia. Old joined the team again for training when they returned, making his debut as a substitute in the Phoenix's 3–0 win over

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regional ci ...

and nutmegging his defender with his first touch. Old scored his first goal for the Wellington Phoenix during a 3–0 victory over the

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

on 30 March 2022.

Saint-Étienne

On 9 July 2024, Old signed for

club

on a four-year contract with an option for a fifth year. On 17 August 2024, Old played his first game with Saint-Étienne, a 0-1 defeat against

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

in the first day of the

2024–25 Ligue 1 The 2024–25 Ligue 1, also known as Ligue 1 McDonald’s for sponsorship reasons, was the 87th season of the Ligue 1, France's premier football competition. It began on 16 August 2024 and concluded on 17 May 2025. The relegation play-off was pla ...

, becoming the first New Zealander to start a game in

, and the second to even play. On 13 September 2024, he played his third Ligue 1 game, a 1-0 win against

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, beating Bill Tuiloma’s tally of two games and setting a new record for a New Zealander in Ligue 1.

International career

New Zealand U-17s

Old was part of the New Zealand U-17 team that won 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 ...

and qualified for

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 Brazil. Old played in two games at the World Cup, first coming on as a sub in New Zealand's opening 1–2 loss to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

before getting a start in the team's 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 ...

Olympic Games

On 25 June 2021, he was named in

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 ...

reserve squad for the 2020 Olympics. Though he was actually travelled to Japan, he didn't play any game.

New Zealand

Old was named in the 30-man

squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Oceania qualifiers. He subsequently made his international debut on 19 March 2022, coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute during New Zealand's 1–0 victory against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in the group stage.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

New Zealand *

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 ...

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 ...

Individual * A-Leagues All Star:

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Old, Ben 2002 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers Wellington Phoenix FC players AS Saint-Étienne players New Zealand Football Championship players Men's association football midfielders A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Ligue 1 players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for New Zealand 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Expatriate men's footballers in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen