The 2021–22 season was the Wellington Phoenix's 15th season since its establishment in 2007. The club participated in the A-League for the 15th time and in the FFA Cup for the 7th time.
This season was the Phoenix's third season fully or partially based in Australia, starting towards the end of the 2019–20 season. This season was Ufuk Talay's third in charge; in May 2021 he renewed his contract until 2023.
Pre-season The Phoenix finished 7th in the 2020–21 A-League season, one point short of finals series. On 21 May, the Phoenix announced that head coach Ufuk Talay had signed a 2-year contract extension with the club.
June On 9 June, the Phoenix confirmed the departure of captain Ulises Dávila in spite of the club's record-setting efforts to retain him. He would later sign for Macarthur FC. On 10 June, the departure of Stefan Marinovic was confirmed by the Phoenix after he had signed with Israeli club Hapoel Nof HaGalil. On 15 June, the Phoenix announced the return of Gary Hooper on a two-year deal. On 23 June, the Phoenix re-signed Joshua Laws on a two-year contract. Following the conclusion of the 2020-21 A-League season, on 25 June, the Phoenix confirmed the departure of Cameron Devlin, Liam McGing, Luke DeVere, Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, Matthew Ridenton, Charles Lokolingoy, and Mirza Muratovic. On 30 June, it was announced that left-back James McGarry signed a one-year contract extension.
July On 10 July, it was announced that Tomer Hemed would not be re-signing with the club for the 2021-22 A-League season. Hemed had finished as the Phoenix's top goal-scorer with 11 goals. He would later sign for Western Sydney Wanderers. On 29 July, it was announced that defender Callan Elliot, who had previously played for the club, had returned on a two-year deal. On 30 July, the Phoenix announced the signing of Australian midfielder Nicholas Pennington on a two-year deal.
September On 13 September, the Phoenix announced that academy players Ben Old and Alex Paulsen had signed three-year professional contracts with the club. On 27 September, Steven Taylor announced his shock retirement just days after being named captain.
October On 13 October, the Phoenix bolstered their defensive stocks by securing a season-long loan deal for 20-year-old Melbourne Victory centre-back Matthew Bozinovski. On 18 October, the Phoenix announced the signing of Olyroo Luka Prso on a one-year deal. On 22 October, the Phoenix signed reserve team players George Ott and Kurtis Mogg on one-year scholarship contracts ahead of the A-League Men season.
November In November the Phoenix played their last three preseason matches. They won against the Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers 1–0 and 2–1, respectively. The Phoenix would lose their last preseason match against Sydney by a 1–0 margin.
Players
Other players with first-team appearances
Transfers
From youth squad
Transfers in No.PositionPlayerTransferred fromType/feeContract lengthDateRef 88 UnattachedFree transfer2 years15 June 2021 17 Free transfer2 years29 July 2021 13 Free transfer2 years30 July 2021 3 Melbourne VictoryLoan1 year13 October 2021 12 Free transfer1 year18 October 2021 7 Loan1 year21 December 2021 4 Free transfer5 months7 January 2022
Transfers out No.PositionPlayerTransferred toType/feeDateRef 10 Macarthur FCEnd of contract20 May 2021 1 End of contract31 May 2021 2 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 3 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 4 UnattachedMutual contract termination25 June 2021 8 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 12 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 13 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 15 UnattachedEnd of contract25 June 2021 17 Western Sydney WanderersEnd of contract11 July 2021 27 Retired27 September 2021 12 UnattachedMutual contract termination10 January 2022
Contract extensions No. Name Position Duration Date 21 Joshua Laws Centre-back 2 years 23 June 2021 5 James McGarry Left-back 1 year 30 June 2021 6 Tim Payne Defender 3 years 22 February 2022 19 Sam Sutton Midfielder / left-back 2 years 21 March 2022 4 Scott Wootton Centre-back 3 years 24 March 2022
Technical staff PositionName Head coach Ufuk Talay Assistant coach Chris Greenacre Assistant coach/Head analyst Giancarlo Italiano Goalkeeping coach Paul Gothard Head physiotherapist Ben Venn Strength & conditioning coach Aidan Wivell
Friendlies
Competitions
Overview
A-League
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches
Finals series
FFA Cup
Squad statistics Appearances and goals
|colspan="16"|Goalkeepers:
|colspan="16"|Defenders:
|colspan="16"|Midfielders:
|colspan="16"|Forwards:
|colspan="16"|Players that have left the club:
Clean sheets Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal.
PlayerA-LeagueA-League FinalsFFA CupTotal1GK20 Oli Sail50162GK40 Alex Paulsen0011
Disciplinary records Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total disciplinary records are equal.
Pos. No. Name FW9 David Ball70002090MF13 Nicholas Pennington60002080MF14 Alex Rufer30000030DF16 Louis Fenton30000030DF17 Callan Elliot30000030MF19 Sam Sutton20001030DF21 Joshua Laws30000030MF23 Clayton Lewis20100030DF4 Scott Wootton20000020DF6 Tim Payne20000020MF7 Gael Sandoval20000020FW10 Reno Piscopo20000020FW18 Ben Waine20000020GK20 Oli Sail20000020DF5 James McGarry10000010MF8 Ben Old00001010MF11 Jaushua Sotirio10000010DF33 Finn Surman10000010FW43 Oskar van Hattum10000010FW88 Gary Hooper10000010
See also 2021–22 Wellington Phoenix FC (A-League Women) season
References
External links Wellington Phoenix official website