Auckland FC, Auckland’s new home team in the A-League Men, has won the Premier’s Plate in their inaugural season.
Winning the plate means Auckland FC make history, becoming the first New Zealand team to win a piece of silverware in the Australasian league.
The Premier’s Plate was secured with two games to spare after Melbourne City’s draw with Adelaide United on April 26. The team will today (April 27) lift the trophy in front of a sell-out crowd at Go Media Stadium.
Auckland FC is largely made up of Kiwis, including 11 national team players, coming either from the national league or returning home from playing abroad. The remainder of the team comes from Australia, Uruguay, Chile, Columbia, and Japan.
Before the formation of Auckland FC, the country had only one professional football team based in Wellington, meaning professional opportunities in the country’s biggest city were limited.
The club was granted its licence in November 2023 and officially launched as Auckland FC in March 2024.
Multiple A-League Men records were broken in the opening months, including the best start to a debut season, minutes played before conceding a goal, and a domestic crowd record of 27,009 at Go Media for the second derby.
‘Not being here just to make up the numbers,’ were the words of majority owner, Bill Foley, spoken when announcing the club in Auckland back in March 2024.
“What the team have achieved in monumental, and our ambition is now to do the double as we now look towards the finals in May.” says Foley.
“I want to say a huge thank you to our fans and the city for the support and encouragement the club has received over the past season. We live by the motto – always advance, never retreat.”
Head coach Steve Corica joined Auckland FC after spending 19 years as both player and manager with Sydney FC. Steve joined the club after taking a call from long-time friend, former teammate and current Auckland FC Director of Football, Terry McFlynn.
“The brief was to build a local team and team capable of winning. We looked at thousands of players, talked to them about what we were building here and what we wanted to achieve,” said Corica.
“Now a year on, I couldn’t be prouder. An expansion club winning the league in their debut season is unheard of. It feels very special.
“The players, the fans and the whole club will remember this moment for a long time. Now that’s done we look forward and focus on the finals.”
With an average crowd of close to 18,000 and almost 250,000 fans through the gate, the club boasts the best average gate in the A-League Men.
“The fans have been a revelation,” says Auckland FC CEO, Nick Becker.
“We’re incredible grateful to them, for the energy, passion and atmosphere they bring. We’ve had close to 250,000 people through – that’s phenomenal for club that didn’t exist last season.
“As a club we’ve worked hard to ensure we appeal to everyone right across the city and be a club that stands for and can be embraced by Auckland. Massive congratulations to Steve, the entire football department and of course the players, roll on the finals.”
By The Numbers – How Auckland FC Made History
RECORDS BROKEN
Six wins in our first six games – the best start to a season by a new team in Australian Men’s national league history.
532 minutes before we conceded our first goal – the longest time before conceding a first goal in Australian Men’s national league history.
27,009 at Go Media for February’s NZ Derby – a new domestic crowd record for a regular season football match in New Zealand
LEAGUE TOPPERS
17,591 average home crowd (and growing) – the highest of any Isuzu UTE A-League club this season
23 – The number of goals we have has conceded, giving us the best defensive record in the league
THIS SEASON
25 games – how many matches it took us to win our first piece of silverware
11 -Number of All Whites with at least one cap in the squad
409 days ago, Auckland FC didn’t exist. Now, we’re Isuzu UTE A-League premiers in our first season
About Auckland FC:
Auckland FC was announced as an A-Leagues expansion team 21 November, 2023, with a formal club launch on 14 March, 2024. It is the latest club in Bill Foley’s growing sports portfolio, which also includes AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League, a significant investment in FC Lorient of France’s Ligue 1, and Hibernian FC in the Scottish Premier League.
Foley’s first sports team, the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights, launched in 2017 and won the Stanley Cup in 2023 in their sixth season.
Also in the Auckland FC ownership group is entrepreneur Anna Mowbray and her husband, World Cup winning All Black Ali Williams. Former All Whites Tim Brown, Noah Hickey and Winston Reid are also involved, as is NBA star Steven Adams.
