AUCKLAND CITY ANNOUNCE SQUAD FOR 2009/10

Auckland City FC is proud to announce itï¿½s 30-player squad for the upcoming 2009/10 season.

In what promises to be a very exciting year, the club will compete in three separate competitions ï¿½ the New Zealand Football Championship, Oceania Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009.

Experienced defender Ivan Vicelich - who along with goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley is part of the NZ All Whites squad currently preparing for the World Cup qualifying tie against Bahrain - will once again lead the side.

New faces joining the club this season are: Defender Ian Hogg (formerly of Hawkes Bay United), goalkeepers Paul Gothard (Warkworth FC) & Greg Walters (Waikato FC), midfielders Jason Hayne (Youngheart Manawatu), Ricardo Monardez (CD Villarejo, Spain), Pat Polistina (Redlands City Devils, Australia) & Jacob Mathews (Waitakere United) along with striker Daniel Koprivcic (Waitakere United).

Along with Mathews, six other players included in the squad are still eligible for Auckland Cityï¿½s Academy side: Kris Carpenter, Adam Thomas, Daniel Morgan, Rory Kelly, Thomas Spragg & Aaron Bawdekar.

Head Coach Paul Posa is very happy with the final make up of his squad.

ï¿½The core of the team is made up of the players who performed so well for the club last season while the new players that we have added have increased our quality right across the pitch.ï¿½

ï¿½We have a nice mix of youth and experience and good depth, which we will definitely need to call upon over the course of what promises to be a very exciting and challenging season.ï¿½

Pre-season training has gone well as the team eyes their first competitive encounter ï¿½ at home on 17 October against AS Manu Ura (Tahiti) in the opening match of the O-League.

ï¿½The attitude and commitment from all of the squad over the past month has been first class.ï¿½ said Posa.

ï¿½The players have set their own standards extremely high and are pushing each other hard to maintain them.ï¿½

ï¿½All of the guys are really looking forward to our opening match against Manu Ura in front of our home supporters, at Kiwitea Street. The spirit in the camp is great...we canï¿½t wait for the season to begin!ï¿½

Auckland Cityï¿½s backroom staff remains largely unchanged from last season with Simon Eaddy joining the technical team as goalkeeping coach and former Fulham FC club doctor, Craig Panther joining the squad for his second FIFA Club World Cup campaign with Auckland City.

1 Jacob SPOONLEY (GK)

2 Kris CARPENTER (A)

3 Ian HOGG

4 Sam CAMPBELL

5 Matt WILLIAMS

6 Ki-Hyung LEE

7 James PRITCHETT

8 Chad COOMBES

9 Paul URLOVIC

10 Grant YOUNG

11 Daniel KOPRIVCIC

12 Greg WALTERS (GK)

13 Alex FENERIDIS

14 Keryn JORDAN

15 Ivan VICELICH (C)

16 Jason HAYNE

17 Adam McGEORGE

18 Paul GOTHARD (GK)

19 Jacob MATHEWS (A)

20 Greg UHLMANN

21 Riki VAN STEEDEN

22 Adam DICKINSON

23 Ricardo MONARDEZ

24 Pat POLISTINA

25 Milosh NIKOLIC

26 Adam THOMAS (A)

27 Thomas SPRAGG (A)

28 Daniel MORGAN (A)

29 Rory KELLY (A)

30 Aaron BAWDEKAR (A)

A = Eligible for Academy Team

Head Coach - Paul POSA

Asst Coach - Ramon TRIBULIETX

Asst Coach - Stipe SARIC

GK Coach - Simon EADDY

Physio - Katherine LUDBROOK

Physio - Andrew NEWMARCH

Logistics Manager - David STRINGER

Property Steward - Arthur EGAN

Club Doctor - Craig PANTHER

Club Doctor - Jake PEARSON