Note across the ALM season 2024/25, players under 21 accounted for 18% of total match minutes
AFC defintely an outlier, with almost nil mins going to players U21. But those U21 mins should increase going forward.
U21 A-League Debutants This Season: Oli Middleton, Bailey Ferguson, James Mitchell, Ryan McKay, Luka Vicelich, Van Fitzharris
AFC U21s Minutes in Year One: 64 mins (0.25%) - McKenlay (47), Bidois (9), Coulibaly (8)
AFC U21s Minutes in Year Two: 343 (1.15%) - Vicelich (143), Bidois (111), Fitzharris (48), Ferguson (19), Mitchell (11), Middleton (7), Mackay (4)
Auckland FC won the A-League and then celebrated it like you’re supposed to. There was a parade down Queen Street and everything. Glorious stuff. Then a handful of their players dusted themselves off and jumped on a plane to link up with the All Whites in Florida ahead of the World Cup and attention moved elsewhere. AFC fell short in their first finals run then channelled that into success the next time around. What do you do when you’ve reached the top of the mountain? You go climb it again.
There are some complications though. Most of the contracts they handed out in year one – when the team was brand new and players were effectively taking a leap into the unknown – were two year contracts. Those deals are now ending which leaves AFC with a huge chunk of their squad as impending free agents at a time when the A-League is coincidentally shifting to a hard cap without concessions or exemptions beyond being allowed to sign exactly one marquee player who sits outside the AU$3million limit.
As has been publicised, Auckland were given extra exemptions as an expansion club that are now coming to an end... though that stuff often seems to get misinterpreted. The exemptions they were given, same as every other recent expansion team in recent years, were to compensate for being not being able to access other exemptions like loyalty or homegrown player discounts (seeing as an expansion team by definition cannot have loyalty or homegrown players yet). They were compensations not advantages. RNZ did claim that “it's believed Auckland FC have spent nearly twice as much as the Wellington Phoenix on their squad over the past two seasons” but, like, about 30% of the Nix squad last season were academy grads aged 22 or younger so they weren’t exactly busting the banks over there (although mid-season additions would have helped close the gap – Tuiloma, Singh, Kartum).
Not sure if Hiroki Sakai counts as a marquee player or not, either way he gave everyone at the club a boost back in April when he signed a one-year extension to stick around until he’s 37 years old (at least). That’s one import sorted. Other than that it’s a pretty bare cupboard, to be honest. Logan Rogerson signed a two-year extension before this season so he’s got another. Luke Vicelich was given a three-year scholarship deal in January. Jake Brimmer (two years), Nando Pijnaker (one year), Callan Elliot (one year), and Michael Woud (one year) all have time remaining on their original deals which is fair reward for being the keen beans who jumped on multi-year deals from the outset. Cam Howieson has signed an extension since the season ended. So has Woud even though he was already contracted. Everyone else is up for grabs.
Contracted: Logan Rogerson, Jake Brimmer, Nando Pijnaker, Hiroki Sakai, Callan Elliot, Michael Woud, Luka Vicelich, Cam Howieson
Off Contract: Oli Sail, Francis de Vries, Guillermo May, Louis Verstraete, Felipe Gallegos, Jesse Randall, Marlee Francois, Dan Hall, Lachlan Brook, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Sam Cosgrove, James Hilton, Liam Gillion
We already know that Jesse Randall has signed with Dundee United on a free transfer and will be linking up with them after the World Cup. Jake Girdwood-Reich was only at the club on loan from St Louis City where he has one more year remaining. They might be able to do something there but it’d take some manoeuvring. At the time of writing, there have also been reports linking both Dan Hall and Liam Gillion to situations elsewhere. However it has been strongly reported that AFC are in prime position to scoop up Lachlan Bayliss after he departed the Newcastle Jets following his breakthrough season. His brother James already plays for the AFC Pro League team.
All of their non-Vicelich scholars are off contract too... with Adama Coulibaly and Finn McKenlay confirmed to be leaving. Both played A-League in their first year but weren’t really in the frame this time around although McKenlay did get onto the bench for four of the last six games when injuries struck their midfield (including the first two finals games). Coulibaly’s problem is that he’s so versatile that it’s been hard to nail down a position even as he’s mostly stuck to left-back and centre-back within the AFC system. He did get some OPL appearances late in that campaign but perhaps lacks the size for a Steve Corica backline. McKenlay doesn’t lack size and was arguably the best player for the Reserves in National League... bit of a shame to see him leave, though perhaps he just didn’t want to stick competing for a seat on the bench for another year. Hard to say until we see where they end up. James Hilton was also released in the same announcement, less of a surprise given that he was only a mid-season injury replacement.
U21 A-League Debutants This Season: Oli Middleton, Bailey Ferguson, James Mitchell, Ryan McKay, Luka Vicelich, Van Fitzharris
AFC U21s Minutes in Year One: 64 mins (0.25%) - McKenlay (47), Bidois (9), Coulibaly (8)
AFC U21s Minutes in Year Two: 343 (1.15%) - Vicelich (143), Bidois (111), Fitzharris (48), Ferguson (19), Mitchell (11), Middleton (7), Mackay (4)