Anthony David Readings (born 27 October 1975) is a pro licence-qualified English football coach, performance specialist and former player who played for

A.F.C. Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

and

North Shore United North Shore United Association Football Club is an amateur football club based in the North Shore, Auckland. They compete in the Northern League, where they last won the competition in 2019. Their home ground is Allen Hill Stadium, which is loc ...

. He is currently the Director of Football for

Eastern Suburbs AFC Eastern Suburbs Association Football Club is a professional Association football club based in the suburb of Kohimarama in Auckland, New Zealand. The club competes in the Northern League. Club history Eastern Suburbs was formed in 1934 as a ...

and coaches the men's first team in the

New Zealand national league The New Zealand Men's National League is a men's football league at the top of the New Zealand football league system. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand National League is the successor to the New Zealand Football Championship. The league will ...

. From 2011 to 2017, he was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

of the

Football Ferns The New Zealand women's national football team, nicknamed the Football Ferns, is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The New Zealand national team qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, held in China in September 2007, sending the te ...

, New Zealand's national women's football team. He was the longest serving and most successful coach of the New Zealand national women's team, guiding the team to their highest ever

FIFA world ranking The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

(16) and to the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. He remans the only person to coach a New Zealand team to the quarterfinals of a senior FIFA event, and has most international victories for a coach of a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

senior team. He also works as a performance consultant, leadership mentor and executive coach.

Club career

After playing semi-professional football for

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, Readings attended trials on

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...

for the new

club, set up by fans of the defunct

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...

in 2002. He captained the club in its first ever League match; a 2–1 win at

Sandhurst Town Sandhurst Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. Formed in 1910, the club plays at their temporary home ground sharing with Bracknell Town. They play in the . History After the club's ...

and went on to make 26 appearances for the club in all competitions. In January 2003 Readings left to pursue a professional career in New Zealand.

Coaching career

From 2009 to 2012, Readings coached the

New Zealand women's national under-20 football team The New Zealand women's Under-20 Football Team, informally known as the 'Junior Football Ferns', is the representative team for New Zealand in international Under-20 football. History Fixtures and results 2022 Coaching staff C ...

, having been promoted to the role after two years as the assistant coach. During this time, he was also involved in three major campaigns with the

, firstly as a technical analyst at the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

and then as assistant coach at the Beijing Olympics and the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event ...

. Following the departure of then coach

John Herdman John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of the Canada men's national team. Coaching career Early career Herdman began coaching football at a young age in England, while he was a st ...

to take charge of the Canadian national women's team in September 2011, Readings was elevated to the head coach role. At the London Olympics in 2012, Readings guided New Zealand to the quarterfinals after narrow defeats to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and a win over

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

in their group. It was the first time a New Zealand team had progressed past the group stage of a senior FIFA event. In 2013, New Zealand beat

and China to win the 2013 Valais Cup in Switzerland, their first piece of silverware won outside their Oceania Confederation in 38 years. That same year they claimed away draws against reigning world champions Japan and Olympic champions

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

and rose to an all-time high of 16th in the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil national football team, Brazil . The teams of the List of men's national football teams, men's member nations of FIFA, football's w ...

, a mark they would reach again in 2015. New Zealand defended their confederation crown in 2014, winning the

OFC Women's Nations Cup The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams who belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989. ...

which qualified the team for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

in Canada where they drew two of their three matches to record the most points by a New Zealand team at a

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

. In October 2015, Readings committed a four-year contract with

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

, but the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

would prove to be his last campaign in charge as in November 2017, Readings stepped down from his role as head coach of the New Zealand national women's team citing a desire to spend more time with his family. This ended 11 years involvement with the Football Ferns, six of those as head coach. His 75 internationals in charge is the most for any coach of a New Zealand senior team as is his tally of 22 wins in 'A' internationals. On October 10, 2019 he was unveiled as Eastern Suburbs' director of football and the coach of the club's men's first team for the

and

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Coach

International

=
New Zealand Women New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

= *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament The OFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament is an association football tournament held once in four years to decide the only qualification spot of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and representatives at the Olympic Games. The tournament ...

: (2)

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016 *

Women's Olympic Football Tournament Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wo ...

: Quarterfinals:

* Valais Cup: 2013

= New Zealand U-20 Women

= *

OFC U-20 Women's Championship The OFC U-19 Women's Championship (previously the OFC U-20 Women's Championship or OFC Women's Under 20 Qualifying Tournament) is a football tournament held every two years to decide the only qualification spot for the Oceania Football Confederati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Readings, Tony 1975 births AFC Wimbledon players English footballers New Zealand national football team managers English expatriate footballers Living people Wembley F.C. players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Footballers from Greater London English football managers Association football defenders New Zealand women's national football team managers New Zealand Olympic coaches English expatriate football managers English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate association football managers in New Zealand Birkenhead United AFC players