Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 season after its formation in March 2007, by New Zealand Football to replace New Zealand Knights as a New Zealand-based club in the Australian A-League competition. Since 2011, the club has been owned by Welnix, a consortium of seven Wellington businessmen.
Sky Stadium, home ground of Wellington Phoenix
Crowd at the first game of the season, August 2007
Phoenix fan in Algeria
A-League Men is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competition for the sport. A-League Men was established in 2004 as the A-League by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) as a successor to the National Soccer League (NSL) and competition commenced in August 2005. The league is currently administered by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), contested by twelve teams; eleven based in Australia and one based in New Zealand. The men's, women's and youth leagues have now been brought together under a unified A-Leagues banner.
Melbourne Victory celebrating after their 2007 A-League Grand Final victory.
Adelaide United against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the AFC Champions League in 2010.
Alessandro Del Piero joined the league in 2012, as Sydney FC's marquee player.
Jamie Maclaren is the leading A-League goalscorer, scoring 151 goals with three clubs.