Auckland FC Chilean centre-midfielder Luis Felipe Gallegos, Belgium international Louis Verstraete and Uruguayan striker, Guillermo May. Photo: © Auckland FC 2024
For the first time in 17 years Auckland will have a professional football side based in the city when the A-League kicks off this season.
In the last nine months Auckland FC has gone from an unnamed entity to a fully formed club which has lured New Zealanders home to be part of history.
Backed by an American billionaire, a trio of All Whites, a former All Black, an NBA player and a toy entrepreneur Auckland FC's ownership group had set the A-League expansion club up for success.
Chief executive Nick Becker said the 13th team to be introduced into the competition was not just there to make up the numbers.
"Bill Foley who's our majority owner has a saying across all of his sports teams, and I'm sure he uses it in business as well, always advance never retreat and that comes from his days when he was a kid he went to West Point military school but he's kept that in him as a core value and we have bought into that 100 percent too and we're really ambitious we want to win we want to be competitive from the start."
How hands-on was Foley in his latest sporting venture?
"He's a macro micro manager so he macro manages when things are going well and he micro manages when they're not. Luckily so far it's been a macro management style," Becker said.
Having a majority owner who also had stakes in football clubs in England, Scotland and France had a few perks for Auckland FC director of football Terry McFlynn.
Not only did English Premier League sister club Bournemouth FC give Auckland a goalkeeper on loan - former Wellington Phoenix shot stopper Alex Paulsen - McFlynn also picked up other intel.
Alex Paulsen makes a save for the Wellington Phoenix against Melbourne City FC. Photo: photosport
"There's a real unity across the group the guys at Bournemouth have been second to none from everything from scouting analysis to they've supplied us a job description for a chef to come in and cook for the boys and provide meals after training every day so the collaboration across the Black Knight group is amazing," McFlynn said.
Auckland FC had 18 New Zealand players, three Australians and five visa players on their books. A make-up which McFlynn said was strategic.
"To build a team from New Zealand for New Zealand as many Auckland boys as we could possibly get as well we really want to build a team that this city is proud of.
"At one point Auckland was the biggest city in the world without a professional football team so for us to be given the opportunity to rectify that is a responsibility that we didn't take lightly."
Defender Dan Hall was a two-time A-League champion with the Central Coast Mariners and the 25-year-old arrived on this side of the ditch knowing what it takes to win as a professional player.
"Being in this changing room just the team environment is very good and the boys are very close I think that with a lot of successful teams you need to have a good relationship on the pitch and off the pitch and I can see a lot of similarities with that at Auckland."
Japanese defender and professional football player Hiroki Sakai with coach Steve Corica (left) Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Coach Steve Corica was a foundation player with Sydney FC so knew some of the pressure his players who were new to the A-League would feel when the competition kicked off.
"First game of the season is always a little bit nerve wracking as well for players especially for us it will be the first game for us at Go Media Stadium in front of hopefully a big crowd which obviously nerves play a part in games but we want to get out there and show the A-League and our fans what we are about."
Becker said filling the stadium regularly for home games could come down to results.
"In year one you get a bit of a longer leash from the supporting public but people back winners it's how it rolls especially in Auckland, right?"
Auckland FC kick off their season at home against the Brisbane Roar on Saturday.
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