2019–20 Wellington Phoenix FC season

Pre-season

On 15 April, it was announced that Rudan would not see out the second year of his contract and would leave at season's end for personal reasons.^[3] On 4 May 2019, it was announced Ufuk Talay would be taking the reins of head coach after the departure of Mark Rudan on a one-year deal.^[4]

Following the end of the 2018–19 season, Phoenix released nine players including the likes of Mandi, Nathan Burns, Cillian Sheridan, Michał Kopczyński and Ryan Lowry.^[5][6][7][8] On 27 May, Wellington Phoenix announced that Johnny Warren Medalist and Golden boot winner Roy Krishna would be departing the club.^[9] On 11 June, it was announced that the longest serving captain Andrew Durante will departing the club along with David Williams.^[10][11] A week later, defender Tom Doyle also was announced as leaving the club.^[12] On 1 July, it was announced that Sarpreet Singh had departed the club for Bayern Munich II after they paid an undisclosed fee between $750,000–$1,000,000.^[13]

In his first press conference, Talay expressed his idea of building a young team with a strong Kiwi core. He made his first signing with All Whites goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic^[14] and signed local Kiwi players, Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi,^[15] Tim Payne,^[16] and Callum McCowatt.^[17] Talay made his first import signing with Mexican Ulises Dávila^[18] following another import signing of English striker, David Ball.^[19] On 24 July, it was announced that Steven Taylor would be the captain heading into the new season^[20] while Alex Rufer was made vice-captain.^[21] On 18 August, it was announced that Phoenix had paid an undisclosed fee for Reno Piscopo, marking the first time the club paid a transfer fee for a player.^[22] Talay also made a handful of signings of young Australian players including Walter Scott,^[23] Jaushua Sotirio,^[24] Cameron Devlin,^[25] Liam McGing,^[26] and experienced centre-back Luke DeVere.^[27] Talay used his fourth import spot signing Matti Steinmann on a one-year deal.^[28]

Talay had a positive start to his managerial tenure with the Wellington Phoenix when he led them to a 7–0 victory over Wairarapa United in a pre-season friendly in his first match in charge.^[29] They were knocked-out of the 2019 FFA Cup in the Round of 32, losing 4–2 on penalties to Brisbane Strikers, after making an extraordinary comeback from 2–0 down to a 2–2 draw at full time.^[30]

Wellington Phoenix finished with an unbeaten record in pre-season friendlies, drawing 0–0 with Sydney FC, 1–1 with Western Sydney Wanderers, and 1–1 with Melbourne Victory.^[31] They also defeated NPL opposition Wollongong Wolves 4–0 and New Zealand club Team Wellington 2–0.^[32]

October

Wellington Phoenix lost their opening game of the season falling 1–0 at home to A-League newcomers Western United coached by former coach Marko Rudan.^[33] On 17 October, Wellington Phoenix announced the signing of English striker, Gary Hooper on a one-year marquee deal.^[34]

November

Wellington Phoenix equaled their worst start to a season following 4 narrow defeats to fellow A-League clubs in the first 4 rounds picking up 0 points.^[35] In Round 5, Wellington Phoenix drew 1–1 with Melbourne Victory picking up their first point.^[36] Wellington Phoenix won their first game of season in Round 6 beating Brisbane Roar 2–1 at home.^[37] Ulises Dávila was voted for Player of the Month for November.^[38]

December

In rounds 7, 8, and 9, Wellington Phoenix were 2–1 victors over Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and the Western Sydney Wanderers accumulating 9 points and moving up into the top six. It was the first time since 2014 Wellington Phoenix had beaten Adelaide United in Adelaide.^[39][40] In Round 10, Wellington Phoenix drew with Melbourne Victory in yet another draw despite having an extra man advantage.^[41] Round 11 saw Wellington Phoenix produce one of their best performances of the season playing out a 2–2 draw with champions Sydney FC despite dominating the match^[42] Wellington Phoenix finished off the year with a dominant 3–1 win over Western United away from home making the win their biggest win of the season so far.^[43] Following the win, Wellington Phoenix were described as the second-best team in the A-League right now after reigning Champions Sydney FC by former Premier League winner Robbie Slater.^[44] Head coach Ufuk Talay was voted Coach of the Month,^[45] while Cameron Devlin was voted Player of the Month.^[46] Reno Piscopo was deemed as the December Nominee for the Young Footballer of the Year.^[47]

January

Wellington Phoenix won their first game of the year with a gritty 2–1 win over the Mariners followed by a 2–0 win over Wanderers thus matching their best ever unbeaten run.^[48][49] Wellington Phoenix's 9-game unbeaten run came to end with a shock loss to Brisbane Roar.^[50] Wellington Phoenix won their last game of the month with a 2–1 win over the Newcastle Jets accumulating 9 points from possible 12 cementing their fourth spot in the ladder.^[51] Following a run of strong consistent performances, Cameron Devlin was deemed as the January Nominee for Young Footballer of the Year.^[52]

February

Wellington Phoenix lost their first game of the month 4–2 to Perth Glory in an encouraging effort.^[53] Wellington Phoenix then went on to beat Melbourne City for a crucial 1–0 win at Eden Park in front of more than 15,000 fans followed by yet another dominating 2–0 victory over Western United the following week.^[54][55] The two wins saw Wellington Phoenix move up to 3rd place on the ladder accumulating 6 points from possible 9. David Ball was voted for Player of the Month for February following a string of consistent performances.^[56]

March & Effects of the 2019–20 Coronavirus Pandemic

Wellington Phoenix continued their strong form into March with a dominant 3–1 over the Central Coast Mariners and a strong 3–0 win over Melbourne Victory. This run of 4 consecutive wins saw Wellington Phoenix match their best ever run of consecutive wins.^[57][58] Due to the required self isolation required after overseas travel imposed by the Australian Government imposed on 16 March 2020, Wellington Phoenix were required to self-isolate when arriving in Australia due to playing in Wellington on 15 March 2020. Due to the postponement of games involving Wellington Phoenix, the FFA announced that games would be rescheduled in order to complete the season in a condensed period.^[59] On 16 March 2020, the FFA announced that the remainder of the season would proceed with all games being played behind closed doors.^[60] Wellington Phoenix intended to relocate for the remainder of the season in Sydney in order to keep playing the remainder of its scheduled games.^[61] On 24 March 2020, the FFA announced that the season would be postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand.^[62] With the suspension of the league announced, the club returned to Wellington on 24 March 2020.^[63] An assessment will be made by the FFA on 22 April 2020.

From youth squad

More information N, Pos. ...

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
31	FW		Ben Waine	18	Originally a 1-year scholarship contract, followed by 1-year senior contract,[64] but was upgraded to a 2-year senior contract.[65]

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Transfers in

More information No., Position ...

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
1	GK	Stefan Marinovic	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	6 June 2019	[14]
23	DF	Walter Scott	Perth Glory	Free transfer	1 year	7 June 2019	[23]
11	MF	Jaushua Sotirio	Western Sydney Wanderers	Free transfer	1 year	12 June 2019	[24]
3	DF	Luke DeVere	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	17 June 2019	[27]
21	FW	Callum McCowatt	Eastern Suburbs	Free transfer	1 year	26 June 2019	[17]
8	MF	Cameron Devlin	Sydney FC	Free transfer	2 years	4 July 2019	[25]
10	MF	Ulises Dávila	Unattached	Free transfer	2 years	5 July 2019	[18]
2	DF	Liam McGing	Sutherland Sharks	Free transfer	1 year	9 July 2019	[26]
9	FW	David Ball	Rotherham United	Free transfer	2 years	12 July 2019	[19]
4	MF	Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi	Auckland City	Free transfer	1 year	18 July 2019	[15]
6	MF	Tim Payne	Eastern Suburbs	Free transfer	1 year	19 July 2019	[16]
5	MF	Matti Steinmann	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	9 August 2019	[28]
7	FW	Reno Piscopo	Renate	$145,000	3 years	18 August 2019	[22]
88	FW	Gary Hooper	Unattached	Undisclosed	1 year	17 October 2019	[34]
12	MF	Brandon Wilson	Unattached	Free transfer	1.5 years	6 January 2020	[66]

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Transfers out

More information No., Position ...

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
4	MF	Mandi	Unattached	End of contract	13 May 2019	[5]
12	DF	Antony Golec	Unattached	End of contract	13 May 2019	[5]
1	GK	Filip Kurto	Western United	Free transfer	14 May 2019	[6]
23	MF	Max Burgess	Western United	Free transfer	16 May 2019	[7]
3	DF	Justin Gulley	Unattached	Free transfer	20 May 2019	[8]
5	DF	Ryan Lowry	Unattached	End of contract	20 May 2019	[8]
7	FW	Cillian Sheridan	Unattached	Free transfer	20 May 2019	[8]
9	FW	Nathan Burns	Unattached	Mutual contract termination	20 May 2019	[8]
15	MF	Michał Kopczyński	Legia Warsaw	Loan return	20 May 2019	[8]
21	FW	Roy Krishna	Unattached	End of contact	27 May 2019	[9]
11	FW	David Williams	Unattached	Free transfer	10 June 2019	[10]
22	DF	Andrew Durante	Unattached	Free transfer	11 June 2019	[11]
19	DF	Tom Doyle	Unattached	Free transfer	17 June 2019	[12]
32	MF	Gianni Stensness	Unattached	Free transfer	21 June 2019	[67]
18	MF	Sarpreet Singh	Bayern Munich II	$750,000–$1,000,000[13]	1 July 2019	[68]

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Contract extensions

More information No., Name ...

No.	Name	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
14	Alex Rufer	Midfielder	3 years	1 January 2020	[69]
27	Steven Taylor	Defender	2 years	1 January 2020	[69]
11	Jaushua Sotirio	Attacker	2 years	2 January 2020	[70]
6	Tim Payne	Defender	2 years	3 January 2020	[71]

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Overview

FFA Cup

Brisbane Strikers v Wellington Phoenix

7 August Round of 32	Brisbane Strikers	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Wellington Phoenix	Brisbane
19:30	Omori 25' Pengelly 54'	Report	Devlin 58' McCowatt 71'	Stadium: Perry Park Attendance: 1,612 Referee: Alex King
	Penalties
	Pengelly Omori Maltby Hills		Cacace Ball McCowatt Rufer

A-League

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.^[73]

More information No., Pos ...

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		A-League		A-League Finals		FFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	NZL	Stefan Marinovic	28	0	26	0	1	0	1	0
2	DF	AUS	Liam McGing	4	0	0+3	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF	AUS	Luke DeVere	25	0	24	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	NZL	Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi	12	0	3+7	0	1	0	1	0
5	MF	GER	Matti Steinmann	24	0	23	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF	NZL	Tim Payne	17	0	15+1	0	0	0	1	0
7	FW	AUS	Reno Piscopo	21	2	16+4	2	1	0	0	0
8	MF	AUS	Cameron Devlin	22	1	16+4	0	1	0	1	1
9	FW	ENG	David Ball	26	6	23+1	6	1	0	1	0
10	MF	MEX	Ulises Dávila	27	12	23+3	12	1	0	0	0
11	FW	AUS	Jaushua Sotirio	25	4	14+10	4	1	0	0	0
12	MF	AUS	Brandon Wilson	4	0	2+2	0	0	0	0	0
13	DF	NZL	Liberato Cacace	26	3	24	3	1	0	1	0
14	MF	NZL	Alex Rufer	21	0	11+8	0	0+1	0	1	0
16	DF	NZL	Louis Fenton	8	0	7+1	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	NZL	Callan Elliot	6	0	3+1	0	1	0	0+1	0
21	MF	NZL	Callum McCowatt	26	2	13+11	1	0+1	0	1	1
23	DF	AUS	Walter Scott	4	0	2+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
27	DF	ENG	Steven Taylor	27	1	26	1	1	0	0	0
31	FW	NZL	Ben Waine	16	1	1+14	1	0	0	1	0
32	DF	NZL	Sam Sutton	4	0	1+3	0	0	0	0	0
88	FW	ENG	Gary Hooper	21	8	13+8	8	0	0	0	0

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Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.^[73]

More information No., Pos ...

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total			A-League			A-League Finals			FFA Cup
13	DF	NZL	Liberato Cacace	5	0	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
3	DF	AUS	Luke DeVere	3	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	NZL	Tim Payne	2	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	MF	GER	Matti Steinmann	9	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	AUS	Cameron Devlin	8	0	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
7	FW	AUS	Reno Piscopo	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	FW	AUS	Jaushua Sotirio	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	NZL	Alex Rufer	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF	ENG	Steven Taylor	4	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	ENG	David Ball	3	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	GK	NZL	Stefan Marinovic	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	MF	MEX	Ulises Dávila	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	DF	NZL	Louis Fenton	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	NZL	Callan Elliot	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
88	FW	ENG	Gary Hooper	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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