It’s starting to become real. Auckland FC are signing players, they’re initiating league-wide rule changes, and they’ve even popped over to Australia for a few preseason games. There’s still a while to go before they take on Brisbane Roar at Mt Smart Stadium on October 19, bringing forth a new era in Aotearoa football (or maybe just enhancing the one we’re already in), but that inaugural game is in sight. The pieces are falling into place. The vision is becoming clearer.

Nothing brings a football team to life more than, you know... playing football. Auckland FC weren’t able to join in the Australia Cup festivities like the Wellington Phoenix did – that’s because the Aussie Cup draw is based on last season’s standings so AFC didn’t exist to qualify... they should be there next time (awkward if they draw the Wellington Phoenix and the game is forced to be played in Australia). But Steve Corica’s lads are leaving no stone unturned having already played five friendly games. It began with a 2-2 draw against Auckland United on a wet and windy Wednesday evening on July 31. A week later they took on East Coast Bays and won 1-0. More recently they spent a stint across the ditch with matches against Newcastle Jets (2-2), Western Sydney Wanderers (2-4), and Central Coast Mariners (2-2).

So what have we learned about this team through these first five games? For that we may need to grab the magnifying glass and chuck on the investigative deerstalker cap because getting clean information here has proven to be a bit of a task. Auckland FC are still building their squad and they’re still figuring out the media side of it too... some of these friendlies have had good coverage, others barely anything at all. Their website and social media stuff is littered with typos (even mispelling player names sometimes). But these things will get ironed out in time. Most preseason games come and go without any recognition so having AFC drop a few line-ups and goal videos is already batting above the average.

Auckland FC got the ball rolling with that Auckland United fixture at which a few thousand people braved the elements to see Aotearoa’s new A-League presence for the first ever time. That game happened while Liam Gillion and Jesse Randall were away at the Olympics (and before fellow Olympian Alex Paulsen’s loan deal had been announced). It was also too soon for Jake Brimmer or Scott Galloway to be involved while Hiroki Sakai wouldn’t kit up until their second preseason match. As such there was plenty of room for the scholarship players and the trialists – and there has remained steady a trialist presence throughout all of these matches so far.

Steve Corica’s starting line-up took a rough 4-3-3 shape. Michael Woud was in goal. Dan Hall and Tommy Smith were the CBs with Callan Elliot on the right and Francis de Vries on the left. Finn McKenlay anchored the midfield with Cam Howieson and Luis Toomey operated ahead of them. Logan Rogerson and Joey Champess were the wingers outside of striker Max Mata. Champness suffered an early injury which sounds like it may have been quite nasty - though he has since been pictured back in training - and was replaced by Ralph Rutherford who was one of the trialists. Dejuan Naidoo (trialist) came on at half-time. Adama Coulibaly, Jonty Bidois, Joe Knowles, and Nikko Boxall (trialist) all featured off the bench in the second half. Plenty to go around as Max Mata scored the club’s first unofficial goal and Luis Toomey later sealed a draw with a tidy hit from distance.

Toomey scored again in the 1-0 win over East Coast Bays a week later. Results don’t matter in preseason... but moments do and having a scholarship dude starting and scoring in both of these fixtures is pretty notable. There were only two changes to the starting eleven for the ECB meeting: Gillion came in for the injured Champness, while Toomey moved forward in place of Rogerson with Adama Coulibaly getting a crack in the midfield. Hiroki Sakai played the last half hour for his first nod in blue and black. As did trialist Reid Drake. Joe Knowles got quarter of an hour in goal as well.

Through those two matches were seven confirmed trialists. Four in each game with James Bulkeley doing double duties. Ralph Rutherford, Dejuan Naidoo, and Nikko Boxall all got minutes in the first match, while Reid Drake got minutes in the second match (with Carlos Ranui and Codey Phoenix on the bench). Of the six confirmed scholarship dudes, Luis Toomey, Liam Gillion, Finn McKenlay, and Adama Coulibaly all made starts (with Toomey and McKenlay starting both), while Jonty Bidois got minutes off the bench. The only scholar bloke missing was Oliver Middleton – who also went missing at the Oceania U19s Championships in July despite being named in the squad so it stands to reason that he’s injured.

A few new trialists got amongst it once the crew touched down in Australia. Nikko Boxall, James Bulkeley, Ralph Rutherford, and Codey Phoenix travelled with the squad having already been trial players back in the Auckland fixtures. For the opening game of the tour, against Newcastle Jets, they were supplemented by two Australian-based players: James Bayliss and Thomas Makko. Bayliss (23yo) is the older brother of Lachlan Bayliss who was with Paulsen, Gillion, and Randall at the Olympics. Makko (22yo) is an Aussie midfielder with several years of NPL experience. Speaking of Jesse Randall, he made his first appearance in the Jets friendly. Sakai also made his first start. The line-up went: Woud; Sakai, Hall, Smith, De Vries; McKenlay, Howieson, Coulibaly; Rogerson, Mata, Randall. Meanwhile Elliot, Bidois, Rutherford, Boxall, Makko, and Phoenix all got substitute minutes. Logan Rogerson scored one goal and the other was an OG.

Now, the Western Sydney defeat is much slipperier to report on because, unlike the previous matches, AFC didn’t offer anything other than half-time and full-time score updates. Fortunately, WSW were a little more helpful and from this clip we can see that Alex Paulsen was between the sticks for the first time. This definitely was not one of his shining moments though...

That goal was scored in the first half so it’s safe to assume we’re looking at the starting line-up, with Callan Elliot, Dan Hall, Nikko Boxall, Scott Galloway, and Finn McKenlay all visible. From this other first half clip we can see Cam Howieson, Logan Rogerson, and Jesse Randall... though the striker and other midfielder are too far away to distinguish. It was probably Max Mata up front since he’d started all the previous games. More evidence to that point is that Mata scored early in the second half, with Liam Gillion also getting on the scoresheet later on.

As for the Central Coast game, we were given a report on the AFC website however it only included substitutes and key moments for some reason. No confirmed starting eleven. Those substitutions did at least confirm five of the starters, as well as adding Kwabena Appiah-Kubi to the trialist list. Bit of a blast from the past there – the 32yo Auckland-born, Aussie-raised winger who made 87 ALM appearances for the Wellington Phoenix and Central Coast Mariners as well as playing professionally in Korea and Thailand. Central Coast also did a write-up where they conspicuously mentioned that Alex Paulsen was in goal. From there we can piece together most of the rest of it from AFC’s key moments. That gives us: Paulsen; Galloway, Smith, Sakai, De Vries; McKenlay, Howieson, Coulibaly; Rogerson, Gillion... and probably Max Mata again but that’s just an educated guess. Bayliss, Phoenix, Elliot, Appiah-Kubi, and Makko all featured as subs. Bayliss and Phoenix were subbed on in the first half.

One guy who hasn’t popped up yet is Jake Brimmer. He does have a convenient attacking midfield spot in the formation just waiting for him when he’s ready though. Other than him and Middleton, all the announced signings have gotten minutes – granted, Champness only managed a few before getting injured. Obviously Nando Pijnaker doesn’t fit into that either because he wasn’t signed until after they got back from Aussie... he’ll be settling into training after the international break where he’ll be joined by Alex Paulsen and Tommy Smith.

There are 11 capped All Whites in this AFC squad (and with 22 players signed overall and up to four more imports to follow that might be that for the locals). Only Pijnaker could really be claimed to be a regular AWs selection in/around the prime of his career though. Even Alex Paulsen only has one cap leading into the North American tour. He’s still on the rise. In terms of senior international caps, prior to the Mexico and USA matches Tommy Smith has 55, Cam Howieson has 20, Nando Pijnaker is at 19, and Max Mata at 14. Then in the single figures we find Logan Rogerson (9), Joey Champness (8), Michael Woud (6), Francis de Vries (6), Jesse Randall (4), Callan Elliot (3), and Alex Paulsen (1).

That’s a good thing though. We don’t want key All Whites playing A-League when they’re capable of much higher levels... we want a team like AFC (and the Wellington Phoenix... as well as whichever other ALM clubs are keen on kiwis) to be boosting out the depth with reliable plug-in veterans and hungry up-and-comers. The Phoenix have definitely found that balance. AFC’s kiwi players mostly fit in that category too although they’ve also made a point of rescuing a few guys from the middle of that spectrum who’d been stuck in tricky overseas spots (Woud, Rogerson, Champness, Mata).

If we’re being honest about it... a lot of these New Zealanders are going to be sitting on the bench or outside of matchday squads. That’s alright too. You don’t sign imports to sit on the sidelines and the three non-NZ locals that they’ve picked up (Brimmer, Hall, Galloway) are each the type of highly pedigreed A-League players that a brand new squad needs. Frankly, they could have gotten away with signing a few more of them... so combine that with an impressive array of NZ scholarship dudes and there’s a lot to like.

At the time of writing a couple more imports are being strongly linked with the club. Those rumours usually tend to be true because, come on now, nobody’s going to be make them up. Who’d even benefit? Nope, when the sneaky links start emerging you can usually assume there’s fire to go with that smoke. Hiroki Sakai went through the same journey. Expect Chilean midfielder Felipe Gallego, 32 years old with Chile U20s experience (has been called up to the senior team but is uncapped), currently playing in the Greek Super League for OFI Crete, to be announced some time in the near future. Also anticipate 26yo Uruguayan forward Guillermo May, most recently of Newell's Old Boys in Argentina, also with youth team experience for his nation but without a senior cap, to follow as well. Two positions that very clearly needed strengthening... wouldn’t be at all surprised if they signed another midfielder where that came from.

It’s a weird one with expansion teams because there’s no existing hierarchy to contextualise these moves. Players have probably been signing unsure if they’re going to be first eleven starters or benchwarmers... case and point Michael Woud whose career seriously needed some stability after too many years as a backup goalkeeper and AFC were poised to offer him that until Alex Paulsen turned up at training one day. Judging by preseason, Cam Howieson and Max Mata feel like two players right on that cusp. They’ll play plenty either way but both will be sweating how the rest of the import additions turn out. Honestly speaking, Paulsen and Pijnaker are the only NZers who should feel safe about being round one starters (and their performances will determine what happens from there)... though these first five preseason games have offered positivity around Howieson, Mata, Rogerson, and even scholarship dudes like McKenlay, Toomey, and Gillion.

For the record, these are the confirmed trial players who have partaken in preseason games so far:

Nikko Boxall, James Bulkeley, Dejuan Naidoo, Ralph Rutherford, Carlos Ranui, Codey Phoenix, Reid Drake, James Bayliss, Thomas Makko, and Kwabena Appiah-Kubi

There could have been more that went unreported but those ones we know for sure. As for the actual squad, here we go...

Auckland FC ALM Squad for 2024-25

GK – Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud, Joseph Knowles (S)

DEF – Hiroki Sakai (I), Dan Hall, Nando Pijnaker, Scott Galloway, Callan Elliot, Tommy Smith, Francis de Vries

MID – Jake Brimmer, Cameron Howieson, Finn McKenlay (S), Adama Coulibaly (S), Oliver Middleton (S)

FWD – Max Mata, Jesse Randall, Joe Champness, Logan Rogerson, Liam Gillion (S), Luis Toomey (S), Jonty Bidois (S)

Chuck in a bit of Felipe Gallego (I) in the midfield and Guillermo May (I) with the forwards. The (I) of course standing for import, while the (S) stands for scholarship. It’s not clear whether Joe Knowles is a scholar or not, possibly because he was announced before they knew if they’d be able to bring Alex Paulsen across, but it would make sense that he is given he’s of a similar age and pedigree to the other scholars and they don’t really need three goalies on the main roster. Good for him if he’s not though, since it’d mean more money in the weekly paycheque.

Eight of these 22 players have played in the A-League before and it’s doubtful that any further imports will add to that list. That ranges from Scott Galloway with 221 games and Jake Brimmer with 160 games down to Tommy Smith with 8 games and Logan Rogerson with 11 games. The others are: Alex Paulsen (33), Callan Elliot (47), Joe Champness (60), and Dan Hall (74). Of course, it helps that head coach Steve Corica has won this competition on four occasions – twice as a coach and twice as a player.

It’s all shaping up nicely... but it’s impossible to know how good they’ll be until the real stuff begins and there’s more than a month to go before that happens. That means plenty of time for more friendlies and we can definitely expect a couple more signings between now and then with only the one import spot fill so far. Stay patient with it... but the day is nudging closer and closer.

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