Auckland Pride - Make Auckland Great Again

Last game of the regular season, been a long one for the newcomers, nothing to play for as the premier's plate is in the trophy cabinet, and it showed.
They only lost 3 games all year, fantastic result, set the standard.

On to the championship, and their next game in the final series at Go Media stadium, will be packed

A league final.jpeg 318.96 KB

Saw on insta they're planning a semi-final tifo. Reckon they should do their own rendition of Hail __ the Chief

The sad thing for Auckland is, is that with their very respectable attendances and probably even bigger for the finals series, is that they will not see a bean of the gate takings. This is which every club would like to receive. 

I think all finals games should see the "Home" side receive 40%, the "Away" side receive 30% (To help off set travel costs) & the A League receive 30% (To pay for the Toilet seat). Not the current standard of the A League receive 100%. It's unfair and could help set a club up financially for the next season.

One of the T-AFC guys has folks in Albany and they regularly see Guillermo May down at the Pak'n'Save

Great player, works his ass off pressing and seems a very nice guy. Glad he got MVP.

On the pod it appears he had an offer from Sydney before joining AFC. Am sure he doesn’t regret that decision. 

3 All Whites

A-Leagues

 

Would love to see a bit more love for Gallegos - played 25 of the 26 games, started 23 of them. Bit of an unsung hero in midfield.

Auckland functioned alright without Verstraete* (who was fighting for his place after the Red Card) but Gallegos spot has never been question.

*to be clear, I rate Verstraete highly as well

Guillermo May was the big winner from Auckland FC's awards night!

MVP & Golden Boot winner - Guillermo May

Players' Player of the Season - Alex Paulsen

Members' Player of the Season - Francis De Vries

Goal of the Season - Neyder Moreno

Congratulations to all the recipients

Goodness knows how Sydney got two players in there and Goodwin or May should have been there ahead of Costa.

If Botic doesn’t go to Europe, he would be one heck of a signing for an A league club as he is off contract.

coochiee

3 All Whites

A-Leagues

Douglas Costa headlines Vince Rugari’s STACKED Isuzu UTE A-League Team of the Season

 

Not gonna lie but I think that’s a weak goal of the season winner. It’s not even Moreno’s best goal, let alone the clubs best.

May v Melb C or May v Western would be my 1 and 2.

AucklandPhoenix

Goodness knows how Sydney got two players in there and Goodwin or May should have been there ahead of Costa.

If Botic doesn’t go to Europe, he would be one heck of a signing for an A league club as he is off contract.

coochiee

3 All Whites

A-Leagues

Douglas Costa headlines Vince Rugari’s STACKED Isuzu UTE A-League Team of the Season

 

It's Vince Rugar's team of the season. You can see his rational in the Total A Leagues show on YouTube. Segacic is not a bad shout given he was golden boot winner with the best goals per game ratio in the league.

If they host the final it will be at Mt Smart, not in Mt Eden.

Auckland FC is boosting capacity at Go Media Stadium by 2700 seats for their home semi final.

The expansion for the match on Saturday, May 24 was approved by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) following strong early ticket sales and record home support for the A-League side.

An additional 800 seats will be added if Auckland FC qualifies to host the Grand Final on Saturday, 31 May. The north-end seating upgrade gives more fans the chance to witness Auckland’s historic debut finals campaign.

“Credit to all involved at Auckland FC for the momentum they’ve built, and a huge shout out to their growing fan base, for the passion and connection they’ve shown to the club in their first season.”

As 2025 Premiers, Auckland FC will host the second leg of their semi final, facing the lowest-ranked elimination final winner, which start on Friday.

The APL or FA or whoever listening to fans! 
Wowsers. Just had to check outside for four riding horsemen etc 

There is also a Blues Super rugby game at Eden Park on the Saturday of the weekend, Grand Final is scheduled to be played.

Without that clash who knows the APL may have insisted Auckland host any final at EP.

coochiee

There is also a Blues Super rugby game at Eden Park on the Saturday of the weekend, Grand Final is scheduled to be played.

Without that clash who knows the APL may have insisted Auckland host any final at EP.

Ahh. That would be why I haven’t seen that wolf near the sun just yet!

Virtue from a necessity.

There was a thread last year talking about an Auckland team going into the A League.  I posted and said I thought it was a bad idea and wouldn't work.

Also said I'd hold my hand up if I was proven wrong.  Fair to say I was proven wrong - consider my hand raised.

Auckland verus VUC will be a fascinating match up. 

0-0 at AAMI Park, and then Victory to win 2-1 in NZ in ET? 
It's been done before.

Preety sure they will line  up, 5,3,2 for this one which would be similar to the last game they played in Melbourne.

Elliot and the midfield import from Chile 🇨🇱 in, Mata and François out.

the coach wont go defensive but he will be aware of the Arzani’s  of this world and how to best neutralise them.

Can’t afford to be overrun in midfield or out wide in this game.

Will be hoping for a clean sheet and a 1-0 victory.

Think this is also the game the club would want. WSW we’re on a long unbeaten streak and also the thought of hosting their fans again so soon after last time would have potentially detracted from the occasion 

Now we'll see what mettle AFC is made out of. I do think their positive approach and confidence will fire them up for both matches, and they'll offer more than what we did this time last year. Personally I hope they'll put Victory to the sword actually.

Also unlike last season’s Nix they are just a more experienced group, so less chance of being overawed by the occasion 

But then so are the VUC

I also hope AFC thump them

A ALM GF in NZ great for the sport 

Two matches between them this season.

Auckland 0-0 Victory
Victory 0-2 Auckland

Auckland the better team during the regular season, better head to head, and know how to beat Melbourne in Melbourne. They also won in Melbourne when a title was still on the line, so are capable of doing so under pressure.

A semi final will be somewhat different, and the Victory have game changers in the final third.

Think it will be very tight over the two legs. Could easily see it going to extra time in Auckland.

Really good interview on the podcast nice drop of port, with Doug Kors, head of player recruitment.

Appears there is no plans at all to have an academy in the future. 

Why have an academy if you have the money to just buy players!

They have the MOU agreement with most of the Northern Regions clubs though. They can monitor most of the best say age 13-17 year old talent through those agreements. Regular talent ID camps in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga through the year.

Keeps the local clubs happy as they hold their best players for longer. More of a sense of pride for Tauranga City when Jonty Bidois is playing for them, and then a year later is in the ALM. That's dampened if a kid like him heads to Auckland as a 13 yr old, and pops up in the ALM 5 years later. Auckland seem to at pains to developing good relationships with the local clubs (Auckland City excepted??)

Also easier for Auckland FC compared to the Nix, as the Northern League is the strongest in the country, and every club is within about a 2.5 hour drive. They will likely appoint some sort of development/coaching officer(s) to cover the Wai-BOP areas. Making sure it's quality coaching at all the NR clubs. Corica and co dropping in during the off season for some photo ops.

Trickier for the Nix being in a smaller city, Central League not as strong, and their likely scouting pool of talent basically covering Taupo all the way south to Bluff. So makes more sense for them to bring in non Welly based talented 13 yr olds into their centralised Academy, at an earlier age.

And note if the APL gets their way in a few seasons AFC will need six U20 players in their senior squad. So yes they will need to develop local youngsters.

coochiee

They have the MOU agreement with most of the Northern Regions clubs though. They can monitor most of the best say age 13-17 year old talent through those agreements. Regular talent ID camps in Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga through the year.

Keeps the local clubs happy as they hold their best players for longer. More of a sense of pride for Tauranga City when Jonty Bidois is playing for them one year and in the ALM the next. That's dampened if a kid like him heads to Auckland as a 13 yr old, and pops up in the ALM 5 years later.

Easier for Auckland FC as the Northern League is the strongest in the country, and every club is wintin about a 2.5 hour drive. They will likely appoint some sort of development/coaching officer(s) to cover the Wai-BOP areas. Making sure it's quality coaching at all the NR clubs. Corica and co dropping in during the off season for some photos.

Trickier for the Nix being a smaller city, Central League not as strong, and their likely scouting pool of talent covering Taupo south to Bluff. So makes more sense for them to bring in non Welly based talented 13 yr olds into their centralised Academy.

And note if the APL gets their way in a few seasons AFC will need six U20 players in their senior squad. So yes they will need to develop local youngsters.

does leave the door open still for the Nix to sign players. Do the Nix still have any links with Akl Utd (nee Onehunga)? Afc, with their wealthy backing, they don't need to maximise transfer returns (transfer fees split amongst clubs based on how much time spent at the club up to a certain age like 23?) which the Nix would find ideal and thus get talent in at a younger age. Less risk for afc but less reward compared with the Nix's model.

Bill will be extremely satisfied with his stable this year.

Bournemouth having their best ever season
Hibs currently number three in the table behind rangers/celtic which realistically is the ceiling.
Loient promoted to the top league and likely to win league 2.

Re Bullion's point above, I think for sure will be some youngsters (and their parents) north of Taupo who will consider the Nix an option.

In another thread, 2nd Best posted mins U20 players by ALM club, Auckland far and away bottom of the pile. For sure a big part of that is starting a team from scratch, and that metric will improve over time.

But as a promising youngster where are you likely to debut first in the ALM from NZ's 2 clubs? I'd say given their current model, it will every time be the Nix. So if you are in the NZU16 team, not attached to either club, plus a bit impatient with where you want to be - you might be swayed to sign for the Welly team given you will almost certainly be faster into their first team mix (if you are good enough). 

Is leagues all above the world, where certain clubs have a recruitment edge because they are known for promoting youth players early.

So seems the Super Rugby game at Eden Park same weekend as potential Grand Final, not really a factor at all.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2025/05/12/more-than-6000-tickets-snapped-up-as-auckland-fc-expect-sold-out-semi-final/

If Auckland FC reach the grand final, and 800 more seats were added, the ground capacity would be closer to 29,000, Becker said.

The current home game record for Auckland FC is 27,009 for the 6-1 derby win against Wellington Phoenix.

In his 10-minute interview with Pine, Becker explained how the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) had reached the decision to have the semi-final and potential grand final played at Go Media Stadium, rather than at Eden Park.

Revenue for the finals series goes to the APL, and it may have been more profitable for them to switch the games to Eden Park.

“They (APL) did their due diligence on both (stadiums). I think in the end it was a bit of a captain’s call from the chairman of the APL, who knows how important it was to us, but also knows how much of a fantastic football ground Go Media Stadium is,” Becker said.

“Every seat in that stadium is right on top of that pitch. It really does feel like a football ground.

“Eden Park’s a great stadium, a fantastic place, and many great sporting matches have taken place there but it’s got a different vibe to what Go Media has.”

coochiee

So seems the Super Rugby game at Eden Park same weekend as potential Grand Final, not really a factor at all.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2025/05/12/more-than-6000-tickets-snapped-up-as-auckland-fc-expect-sold-out-semi-final/

If Auckland FC reach the grand final, and 800 more seats were added, the ground capacity would be closer to 29,000, Becker said.

The current home game record for Auckland FC is 27,009 for the 6-1 derby win against Wellington Phoenix.

In his 10-minute interview with Pine, Becker explained how the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) had reached the decision to have the semi-final and potential grand final played at Go Media Stadium, rather than at Eden Park.

Revenue for the finals series goes to the APL, and it may have been more profitable for them to switch the games to Eden Park.

“They (APL) did their due diligence on both (stadiums). I think in the end it was a bit of a captain’s call from the chairman of the APL, who knows how important it was to us, but also knows how much of a fantastic football ground Go Media Stadium is,” Becker said.

“Every seat in that stadium is right on top of that pitch. It really does feel like a football ground.

“Eden Park’s a great stadium, a fantastic place, and many great sporting matches have taken place there but it’s got a different vibe to what Go Media has.”

 This article doesn't really paint the right picture. Becker mentions the APL considered the Sunday game at Eden Park as a poor option from a broadcast point of view.

AucklandPhoenix

Preety sure they will line  up, 5,3,2 for this one which would be similar to the last game they played in Melbourne.

Elliot and the midfield import from Chile 🇨🇱 in, Mata and François out.

the coach wont go defensive but he will be aware of the Arzani’s  of this world and how to best neutralise them.

Can’t afford to be overrun in midfield or out wide in this game.

Will be hoping for a clean sheet and a 1-0 victory.

Think this is also the game the club would want. WSW we’re on a long unbeaten streak and also the thought of hosting their fans again so soon after last time would have potentially detracted from the occasion 

On that, I did not expect Victory to win away against WSW, but here we are. They rose to the occasion and the unbeaten run of WSW ended right there.  That should be a warning for A-FC not to be complacent, and to take a lesson from the thumping by WUnited in the last regular game.

coochiee

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360687751/why-have-auckland-fcs-tickets-almost-doubled-price

The Melbourne semis are A$75 each, so for all I’m not a fan of games being priced out of people’s reach Aucklanders aren’t getting off too badly.

I did chuckle at the Stuff survey though.

Auckland fans want cheaper tix, agree to have the semi at bigger capacity Eden Park. Supply v Demand

coochiee

Auckland fans want cheaper tix, agree to have the semi at bigger capacity Eden Park. Supply v Demand

Could ask Bill,Ali and Anna to subsidize tickets. 😁

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360687751/why-have-auckland-fcs-tickets-almost-doubled-price
Did this ever make the news when we got into the finals?
Happens every year.

A coaching opportunity with Auckland ALW team?
If the side is to launch next season, must be some news happening soon.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2025/05/14/katie-duncan-steps-down-as-womens-head-coach-at-eastern-suburbs/

Former Football Fern Katie Duncan has decided to leave her role as women’s head coach at Auckland club Eastern Suburbs.

Duncan says the move has been prompted by “an exciting opportunity to work full-time in football.”