2022–23 Wellington Phoenix FC season

Wellington Phoenix
2022–23 season
ChairmanRob Morrison
ManagerUfuk Talay
StadiumSky Stadium
A-League Men6th
A-League Men FinalsElimination-finals
Australia CupQuarter-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Oskar Zawada (15)
All: Oskar Zawada (15)
Highest home attendance10,420
vs. Sydney FC
(12 March 2023)
A-League Men
Lowest home attendance2,502
vs. Western Sydney Wanderers
(10 December 2022)
A-League Men
Average home league attendance6,333
Biggest win4–0
vs. Devonport City (A)
(3 August 2022)
Australia Cup
Biggest defeat1–5
vs. Adelaide United (A)
(17 March 2023)
A-League Men
All statistics correct as of 28 April 2023.

The 2022–23 season is the 16th in the history of Wellington Phoenix Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, the club also participated in the Australia Cup for the eighth time.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF New Zealand NZL Finn Surman
4 DF England ENG Scott Wootton
5 MF Australia AUS Steven Ugarkovic
6 DF New Zealand NZL Tim Payne
7 FW New Zealand NZL Kosta Barbarouses
8 MF New Zealand NZL Ben Old
9 FW Poland POL Oskar Zawada
10 FW England ENG David Ball
11 MF Bulgaria BUL Bozhidar Kraev
12 DF Australia AUS Lucas Mauragis (on loan from Newcastle Jets)
13 MF Australia AUS Nicholas Pennington
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 MF New Zealand NZL Alex Rufer (captain)
15 DF New Zealand NZL Nikko Boxall
17 DF New Zealand NZL Callan Elliot
19 MF New Zealand NZL Sam Sutton
20 GK New Zealand NZL Oliver Sail (vice-captain)
21 DF Australia AUS Joshua Laws
23 MF New Zealand NZL Clayton Lewis
24 FW New Zealand NZL Oskar van Hattum
31 MF Brazil BRA Yan Sasse
40 GK New Zealand NZL Alex Paulsen

Transfers

Transfers in

No. Position Player Transferred from Type/fee Contract length Date Ref.
5 MF Australia Steven Ugarkovic Unattached Free transfer 1 year 3 June 2022 [1]
7 FW Kosta Barbarouses Unattached Free transfer 2 years 21 June 2022 [2]
12 DF Australia Lucas Mauragis Newcastle Jets Loan 1 year 30 June 2022 [3]
11 MF Bulgaria Bozhidar Kraev Denmark Midtjylland Free transfer 2 years 22 July 2022 [4]
31 MF Brazil Yan Sasse Brazil América Mineiro Free transfer 1 year 13 August 2022 [5]
9 FW Poland Oskar Zawada Unattached Free transfer 2 years 30 August 2022 [6]
15 DF Nikko Boxall New Zealand Auckland City Free transfer 6 months 7 February 2023 [7]

Transfers out

No. Position Player Transferred to Type/fee Date Ref.
88 FW England Gary Hooper Unattached Mutual contract termination 25 March 2022 [8]
16 DF Louis Fenton Retired 20 May 2022 [9]
3 DF North Macedonia Matthew Bozinovski Melbourne Victory End of loan 23 May 2022 [10]
5 DF James McGarry Unattached End of contract 23 May 2022 [10]
7 MF Mexico Gael Sandoval Mexico Guadalajara End of loan 23 May 2022 [10]
11 FW Australia Jaushua Sotirio Unattached End of contract 23 May 2022 [10]
31 DF England Kurtis Mogg Unattached End of contract 23 May 2022 [10]
32 FW George Ott Unattached End of contract 23 May 2022 [10]
10 FW Australia Reno Piscopo Newcastle Jets End of contract 24 May 2022 [11]
18 FW Ben Waine England Plymouth Argyle Undisclosed 30 December 2022 [12]

Contract extensions

No. Player Position Duration Date Notes Ref.
10 England David Ball Striker 2 years 26 May 2022 Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2024–25. [13]
14 Alex Rufer Defensive midfielder 3 years 29 March 2023 Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2025–26. [14]

Technical staff

Role Name
Head coach Australia Ufuk Talay[15]
Assistant coach Australia Giancarlo Italiano[16]
Assistant coach England Chris Greenacre
Goalkeeping coach New Zealand Ruben Parker
Football operations and facilities coordinator New Zealand Shaun Gill[17]
Head of football conditioning New Zealand Weijie Lim
Head physiotherapist Ben Venn
Assistant physiotherapist Cory Glover
Equipment manager Jack Mapp
Team analyst Logan Hughes

Pre-season and friendlies

20 July 2022 Wellington Phoenix 2–0 New Zealand Miramar Rangers Wellington
  • Waine
  • Laws
Report
6 August 2022 Central Coast Mariners 2–0 Wellington Phoenix Sydney, Australia
 Report Stadium: Valentine Sports Park
Note: Match was played over three 30 minute periods
12 August 2022 Newcastle Jets 0–3 Wellington Phoenix Sydney, Australia
Report
4 September 2022 Newcastle Jets 3–3 Wellington Phoenix Sydney, Australia
 CoY report
Newcastle Herald report
Note: The match was played over three 45-minute periods
24 or 25 September 2022 Wellington Phoenix 5–2 New Zealand Napier City Rovers Wellington
Report
1 October 2022 Sydney FC 3–0 Wellington Phoenix Sydney, Australia
 Report

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Cancelled or postponed

Overview

Competition First match Last match Starting round Final position Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
A-League Men 9 October 2022 29 April 2023 Matchday 1 6th 26 9 8 9 39 45 −6 034.62
A-League Finals 5 May 2023 5 May 2023 Elimination-finals Elimination-finals 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 000.00
Australia Cup 3 August 2022 31 August 2022 Round of 32 Quarter-final 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 066.67
Total 30 11 8 11 45 50 −5 036.67

Last updated: 5 May 2023
Source: Soccerway

A-League Men

Main article: 2022–23 A-League Men

League table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
4 Western Sydney Wanderers 26 11 8 7 43 27 +16 41 Qualification for Finals series[a]
5 Sydney FC 26 11 5 10 40 39 +1 38
6 Wellington Phoenix[b] 26 9 8 9 39 45 −6 35
7 Western United 26 9 5 12 34 47 −13 32
8 Brisbane Roar 26 7 9 10 26 33 −7 30
Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Points per game; 5) Least red cards; 6) Least yellow cards; 7) Toss of a coin in an event of a tie of two clubs.
Notes:
  1. ^ The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.
  2. ^ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.

Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
26 9 8 9 39 45  −6 35 5 5 3 24 20  +4 4 3 6 15 25  −10

Last updated: 29 April 2023.
Source: ultimatealeague.com

Results by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
GroundHHAAHHHHAHAAHHAAAAHHAHAHAA
ResultDDLDWLDWDLWWWDLLWDWWLLLDLW
Position589978106797444565555555566
Points122366710111114172021212124252831313131323235
Updated to match(es) played on 29 April 2023. Source: Ultimate A-League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
Notes: Positions show the situation at the end of the corresponding Rounds; not the position at the conclusion of matches or game days

Matches

9 October 2022 1 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Adelaide United Wellington
15:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 8,325
Referee: Ben Abraham
16 October 2022 2 Wellington Phoenix 2–2 Central Coast Mariners Wellington
15:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 7,089
Referee: Johnathan Barreiro
22 October 2022 3 Newcastle Jets 3–1 Wellington Phoenix Newcastle
17:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium
Attendance: 7,028
Referee: Jack Morgan
30 October 2022 4 Melbourne City 2–2 Wellington Phoenix Melbourne
19:00 AEST
Report
Stadium: AAMI Park
Attendance: 6,208
Referee: Adam Kersey
6 November 2022 5 Wellington Phoenix 4–1 Macarthur FC Wellington
15:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 6,135
Referee: Casey Reibelt
13 November 2022 6 Wellington Phoenix 2–3 Western United Wellington
15:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 5,203
Referee: Tim Danaskos
Mid-season break for 2022 FIFA World Cup
10 December 2022 7 Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Western Sydney Wanderers Wollongong
19:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: WIN Stadium
Attendance: 2,502
Referee: Lachlan Keevers
17 December 2022 8 Wellington Phoenix 3–1 Adelaide United Wellington
15:00 NZST
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 4,535
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
23 December 2022 9 Perth Glory 1–1 Wellington Phoenix Perth
19:45 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Macedonia Park
Attendance: 3,977
Referee: Casey Reibelt
2 January 2023 10 Wellington Phoenix 1–3 Melbourne City Wellington
13:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 6,321
Referee: Alex King
7 January 2023 11 Sydney FC 0–1 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
17:00 AEDT Report
Stadium: Allianz Stadium
Attendance: 13,921
Referee: Shaun Evans
14 January 2023 12 Brisbane Roar 0–1 Wellington Phoenix Brisbane
17:00 AEDT Report
Stadium: Kayo Stadium
Attendance: 6,183
Referee: Adam Kersey
22 January 2023 13 Wellington Phoenix 2–1 Central Coast Mariners Wellington
15:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 5,543[18]
Referee: Casey Reibelt
28 January 2023 14 Wellington Phoenix 2–2 Perth Glory Palmerston North
13:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Central Energy Trust Arena
Attendance: 4,518
Referee: Lachlan Keevers
3 February 2023 15 Melbourne Victory 3–1 Wellington Phoenix Melbourne
19:45 AEDT
Report
Stadium: AAMI Park
Attendance: 5,400
Referee: Adam Kersey
12 February 2023 16 Macarthur FC 2–1 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
17:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium
Attendance: 2,543
Referee: Alireza Faghani
17 February 2023 17 Western United 0–3 Wellington Phoenix Launceston
19:45 AEDT Report
Stadium: UTAS Stadium
Attendance: 2,690
Referee: Daniel Elder
24 February 2023 18 Central Coast Mariners 1–1 Wellington Phoenix Gosford
19:45 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Industree Group Stadium
Attendance: 5,462
Referee: Jack Morgan
4 March 2023 19 Wellington Phoenix 2–1 Newcastle Jets Wellington
15:00 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 6,388
Referee: Shaun Evans
12 March 2023 20 Wellington Phoenix 1–0 Sydney FC Auckland
15:00 AEDT
Report Stadium: Eden Park
Attendance: 10,420
Referee: Chris Beath
17 March 2023 21 Adelaide United 5–1 Wellington Phoenix Adelaide
19:45 AEDT
Report
Stadium: Coopers Stadium
Attendance: 9,036
Referee: Alex King
1 April 2023 22 Wellington Phoenix 1–2 Melbourne Victory Wellington
13:00 AEDT
Report
Da Silva 76'
 Stadium: Sky Stadium
Attendance: 7,032
Referee: Alireza Faghani
10 April 2023 23 Melbourne City 4–1 Wellington Phoenix Melbourne
16:00 AEST Maclaren 34', 52'
Tilio 57', 83'		 Report Ugarkovic 49' Stadium: AAMI Park
Attendance: 4,821
Referee: Adam Kersey
16 April 2023 24 Wellington Phoenix 2–2 Brisbane Roar Auckland
13:00 AEST
Report
Stadium: Eden Park
Attendance: 8,320
Referee: Stephen Lucas
21 April 2023 25 Western Sydney Wanderers 4–0 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
19:45 AEST
Report Stadium: CommBank Stadium
Attendance: 10,766
Referee: Alex King
29 April 2023 26 Macarthur FC 0–1 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
17:00 AEST Report
Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium
Attendance: 2,017
Referee: Adam Kersey

Finals series

5 May 2023 Elimination-final Adelaide United 2–0 Wellington Phoenix Adelaide
19:45 ACDT
Report Stadium: Coopers Stadium
Attendance: 10,231
Referee: Alireza Faghani

Australia Cup

Main article: 2022 Australia Cup
3 August 2022 Round of 32 Devonport City 0–4 Wellington Phoenix Devonport
19:30 (AEST) Report
Stadium: Valley Road Ground
Attendance: 1,550
Referee: Lachlan Keevers
17 August 2022 Round of 16 Melbourne City 1–2 Wellington Phoenix Melbourne
19:30 (AEST)
Report
Stadium: Casey Fields
Attendance: 2,067
Referee: Kurt Ams
31 August 2022 Quarter-finals Macarthur FC 2–0 Wellington Phoenix Sydney
19:30 (AEST)
Report Stadium: Campbelltown Stadium
Attendance: 1,521
Referee: Daniel Elder

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 5 May 2023
No. Pos Nat Player Total A-League Men A-League Finals Australia Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Goalkeepers:
20 GK New Zealand NZL Oliver Sail 30 0 26 0 1 0 3 0
40 GK New Zealand NZL Alex Paulsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Defenders:
3 DF New Zealand NZL Finn Surman 4 0 1+3 0 0 0 0 0
4 DF England ENG Scott Wootton 24 0 19+1 0 1 0 3 0
6 DF New Zealand NZL Tim Payne 26 0 22+1 0 1 0 1+1 0
12 DF Australia AUS Lucas Mauragis 20 0 17+2 0 1 0 0 0
15 DF New Zealand NZL Nikko Boxall 3 0 1+2 0 0 0 0 0
17 DF New Zealand NZL Callan Elliot 28 1 20+4 1 1 0 3 0
19 DF New Zealand NZL Sam Sutton 18 1 9+6 1 0 0 3 0
21 DF Australia AUS Joshua Laws 24 0 15+6 0 0 0 3 0
39 DF New Zealand NZL Marco Lorenz 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0
Midfielders:
5 MF Australia AUS Steven Ugarkovic 27 1 22+4 1 1 0 0 0
8 MF New Zealand NZL Ben Old 19 1 3+14 1 0 0 2 0
11 MF Bulgaria BUL Bozhidar Kraev 29 8 22+3 7 0+1 0 2+1 1
13 MF Australia AUS Nicholas Pennington 17 0 2+12 0 0 0 3 0
14 MF New Zealand NZL Alex Rufer 19 2 14+4 2 1 0 0 0
23 MF New Zealand NZL Clayton Lewis 23 1 14+5 1 0+1 0 3 0
31 MF Brazil BRA Yan Sasse 25 3 18+4 3 1 0 0+2 0
34 MF New Zealand NZL Jackson Manuel 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0
Forwards:
7 FW New Zealand NZL Kosta Barbarouses 27 3 14+9 2 1 0 3 1
9 FW Poland POL Oskar Zawada 26 15 24+1 15 1 0 0 0
10 FW England ENG David Ball 24 1 20+3 1 1 0 0 0
24 FW New Zealand NZL Oskar van Hattum 15 1 0+11 0 0+1 0 1+2 1
35 FW New Zealand NZL Noah Karunaratne 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0
Players who left during the season but made an appearance
18 FW New Zealand NZL Ben Waine 11 6 3+5 3 0 0 3 3
36 FW New Zealand NZL Riley Bidois 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0

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.

As of 5 May 2023
Rank No. Pos. Nat. Name A-League Men A-League Finals Australia Cup Total
Yellow card Second yellow card Red card Yellow card Second yellow card Red card Yellow card Second yellow card Red card Yellow card Second yellow card Red card
1 17 DF New Zealand Callan Elliot 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
2 11 MF Bulgaria Bozhidar Kraev 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0
3 10 FW England David Ball 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
4 6 DF New Zealand Tim Payne 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 1
13 MF Australia Nicholas Pennington 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 1
31 FW Brazil Yan Sasse 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
7 4 DF England Scott Wootton 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0
8 9 FW Poland Oskar Zawada 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
14 MF New Zealand Alex Rufer 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
10 21 DF Australia Joshua Laws 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1
11 5 DF Australia Steven Ugarkovic 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
12 12 DF Australia Lucas Mauragis 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
20 GK New Zealand Oliver Sail 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
23 MF New Zealand Clayton Lewis 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
24 FW New Zealand Oskar van Hattum 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
16 3 DF New Zealand Finn Surman 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
8 MF New Zealand Ben Old 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
19 MF New Zealand Sam Sutton 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Player(s) transferred out but featured this season
1 18 FW New Zealand Ben Waine 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

Clean sheets

As of 5 May 2023

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal.

Rank No. Player A-League Men A-League Finals Australia Cup Total
1 20 New Zealand Oli Sail 5 0 1 6

Awards

Players

No. Pos. Player Award Source
9 FW Poland Oskar Zawada A-League Men Player of the Month (January) [19]
Wellington Phoenix Player of the Year [20]
Wellington Phoenix Players' Player of the Year [20]
Wellington Phoenix Members' Player of the Year [20]
Wellington Phoenix Media Player of the Year [20]
A-League Men Fan Player of the Year [21]
17 DF New Zealand Callan Elliot Wellington Phoenix Under-23 Player of the Year [20]
23 MF New Zealand Clayton Lewis Wellington Phoenix Goal of the Year [20]
35 FW New Zealand Noah Karunaratne Wellington Phoenix Academy Player of the Year [20]

Manager

Manager Award Source
Australia Ufuk Talay A-League Coach of the Month (January) [19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Men bolster midfield with highly regarded Australian". Wellington Phoenix. 3 June 2022.
  2. ^ Rollo, Phillip. "All White Kosta Barbarouses eyes fifth A-League title as he returns to Wellington Phoenix". Stuff. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Jets defender joins on season-long loan". Wellington Phoenix. 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ Rollo, Phillip (22 July 2022). "Wellington Phoenix sign Bulgarian international Bozhidar Kraev". Stuff. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  5. ^ Rollo, Phillip (13 August 2022). "Wellington Phoenix sign Brazilian playmaker Yan Sasse". Stuff.
  6. ^ "Meet our new no. 9". Wellington Phoenix. 30 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Boxall to bolster back four". Wellington Phoenix. 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ Rollo, Phillip (25 March 2022). "Injury could end Gary Hooper's time with Wellington Phoenix". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  9. ^ Rollo, Phillip (20 May 2022). "Wellington Phoenix defender Louis Fenton announces retirement at 29". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Men confirm departures". Wellington Phoenix. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Piscopo joins rival A-League club". Wellington Phoenix. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  12. ^ Pine, Jason (30 December 2022). "Football: Wellington Phoenix striker Ben Waine signs with English club Plymouth Argyle". The New Zealand Herald.
  13. ^ Rollo, Phillip (26 May 2022). "David Ball wants to play for All Whites after re-signing with Wellington Phoenix". Stuff.
  14. ^ "Skipper signs on for another three seasons". Wellington Phoenix. 29 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Wellington Phoenix Announce New Head Coach". Wellington Phoenix. 3 May 2019.
  16. ^ @ByPhillipRollo (11 July 2019). "One new face at Phoenix training..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "New Football Operations and Facilities Co-ordinator joins Phoenix". 24 October 2018.
  18. ^ Rollo, Phillip (22 January 2023). "Wellington Phoenix captain breaks goal drought in 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners". Stuff. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  19. ^ a b Pisani, Sacha (12 February 2023). "Talay and Zawada take out honours as 'Nix scoop A-Leagues awards". keepup.com.au. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g "Foster and Zawada crowned players of the year". Wellington Phoenix. 2 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Dolan Warren Awards RECAP: Craig Goodwin's emotional speech after claiming top gong". KeepUp. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.