Auckland FC Have Unveiled Their Very First Men's Reserves Squad
The latest step in the Auckland FC rollout occurred last week when the club confirmed its inaugural Men’s Reserves squad. This team will be a direct link to the local domestic scene, competing in the Northern and National Leagues of Aotearoa. This team will also just so happen to incubate some of the best and brightest teenaged talent from the region in order to prepare them for professional footy in the A-League and beyond. Luke Casserly will be the head coach of AFC’s Men’s Reserves (and also an assistant with the first team), having been hand-picked as the bloke to slap the asphalt on that road to the pros.
The Auckland FC footprint keeps getting bigger. The A-League Women’s side should learn of its head coach any day now, with player signings to follow. Long-term, we oughta see this expanded into a full-on academy system like the Wellington Phoenix have got. Men and Women. Multiple age grades. A bit of collaboration with NZ Football. Short-term, the ALM squad keeps winning games, maintaining their spectacular defensive record, and the crowds continue to cram into Mt Smart Stadium with another sellout on the way for the third NZ derby. These are prosperous days.
The Competition Ramifications
The ball got rolling for Auckland FC’s reserve team last year when the authorities carved out a space for them in the Northern League. Instead of the usual two-up, two-down relegation affair, the 2023 edition was adjusted so that two teams went down automatically but only one team came up. Then in order to keep it a little more fair for the second-placed NRFL Championship side that would miss out on what in any other year would have been guaranteed promotion, they also set up a playoff between them and the third-to-last team in the Northern League.
Melville United and Hamilton Wanderers were the two automatic relegated clubs. Guts to the Waikato region... although with Cambridge FC moving up to the Championship that does set up a funky Hamilton collision in the NRFL Championship for 2025. Keeping with the regional theme, Manurewa AFC (tenth in NL) then took on their South Auckland rivals Manukau United (second in C) to determine which of them would be playing top flight the following year. That tie took place over two home and away legs back in September.
The first leg, in Manurewa, saw the home side take a 2-0 lead, get hauled back to 2-2, then win 4-2 thanks to a pair of goals in the last fifteen minutes. Manukau United then won 2-0 in their hosted return leg, with Boon Ozawa scoring both goals including a 90+6th minute to send it into extra time. But it went to penalties where Manurewa survived with a 4-2 shootout victory after the 4-4 aggregate draw. So Manurewa remain in the Northern League and only Fencibles United were promoted from the Championship, taking the trophy with them after winning 16 of their 22 matches on the way to the title (you’ll be hearing plenty more about Fencibles in this article). Two teams down, one team up... and with that there was room for the Auckland FC Reserves to wiggle on into to Northern League. Mission accomplished.
2025 Northern League:
Auckland City, Auckland FC Reserves, Auckland United, Bay Olympic, Birkenhead United, East Coast Bays, Eastern Suburbs, Fencibles United, Manurewa AFC, Tauranga City, West Coast Rangers
2025 NRFL Men’s Championship:
Cambridge FC, Ellerslie AFC, Hamilton Wanderers, Hibiscus Coast, Manukau United, Melville United, Mt Albert Ponsonby, Ngaruwahia United, North Shore United, Northern Rovers, Onehunga Mangere, Takapuna
The framework for the AFC Ressies entry must have been easy to write up because they’ve been given the exact same privileges and restrictions as the Wellington Phoenix Reserves get in the Central League. That includes automatic National League entry, immunity from regional league relegation, and ineligibility for the National League grand final. The first two points are to maintain their function as development clubs, ensuring regular opportunities and protection against their fluctuating player bases from year to year. The latter point doesn’t really make much sense aside from preventing other clubs from whinging about the hypothetical freak instance that either ressies stack their side with A-League players every week and outclass everyone. In reality, the WeeNix have only had one season with a positive goal difference in ten years of full National League/Premiership participation. Last season’s fifth-placed finish was only the second time they’ve won as many games as they’ve lost in a campaign. They’re an U20s team playing Men’s football, don’t forget. The dangers are overrated.
The Nix Reserves did manage to finish third, second, and fifth in the past three Central Leagues though. Since regional qualification to the National League became a proper thing, they’d have made it anyway, without the withheld automatic spot, on two of the three occasions and weren’t far off in the third. The Northern League is probably more deeply competitive but that should offer some context for how AFC will settle in. Immediate top four with a brand new squad feels like way too much to ask but they should be relatively competitive.
To that point, the actual Participation Agreements between Auckland FC/Wellington Phoenix and New Zealand Football don’t seem to be available to the public, which is annoying because it would be nice to know the exact specifications of the whole U20s thing. Presumably it means a player under the age of 20 as of January 1 in the year of competition, same as it is for the wider 10% allotment of minutes to U20s rule, but yeah nah whatever. Clearly AFC don’t have to worry about the 10% rule since most of their squad will fit that bill, same as the WeeNix. That means anyone born in 2005 or later fits the bill... however two of the reserves players they’ve named were born in 2004 and there are a couple older scholarship players who’d appreciate the minutes too. Might have to do that on a rotation if there are too many of them.
There is also a restriction on overseas players, with only four non-citizens plus one additional Oceania player available per matchday – though this is the same for every team and, again, doesn’t really affect AFC since they already have a limit on imports in the A-League. Regardless, those guys are not going to be playing Northern League. Maybe National League in a few rare match-fitness cases, as we’ve seen with the WeeNix, but even then they’d need to pick all five to exceed the limit. Those spots will stay safe in case any local youngsters who were born overseas aren’t yet citizens.
The one funky note within the 2025 National League Regulations is that players are available to play for the Reserves whilst serving a yellow card accumulation suspension in the A-League. Any other suspensions and they cannot... but they do let them stay busy through the yellows. If the seasons had aligned, Louis Verstraete could have been playing against Bay Olympic or Tauranga City last week (not that he would have).
As for how this affects the National League, it’s understood that they’re simply going to expand it from ten teams to eleven teams and include a bye week. This way it’ll remain four teams qualifying from the North, three from Central, two from the South, plus AFC and the WeeNix. That’ll mean everyone plays one extra game, expanding the season slightly but keeping it at five fixtures per round. Seems like the best solution.
The Coach & Home Venue
That’s the competition side sorted, now we shift focus towards the staff. Luke Casserly is an interesting hire as Head Coach of the AFC Reserves. He’s a 51-year-old Australian who earned eight caps for the Socceroos as a defender. He played professionally for a few years in Sweden though most of his career was spent with Marconi Stallions where he was a teammate of, guess who: Steve Corica.
Casserly has coaching experience in the Aussie state leagues and also spent six years, between 2013-2019, as Football Australia’s Head of Football (basically a high-performance director role). That’s a lot of relevant history. In addition to his Reserves coach role, he’ll also be on the books as an assistant to the first team in order to ensure that smooth link between the two squads.
Luke Casserly: “I can’t wait to get started. Auckland is a club with so much ambition, such passionate fans and a real desire to have a beneficial impact at all levels of the game. There is also some real talent here that perhaps hasn’t had the chance to shine previously. I’m here to change that. Steve and I also go way back, playing and living together aged 17 at Marconi Stallions. We linked up and played together in the Socceroos. It is great to be working with him once again.”
The fixtures aren’t out yet but AFC’s Casserly announcement claims that they’ll face Fencibles on 22 March in their first official match. So there ya go. Preseason stuff is already underway... although it’s not yet clear where they’ll actually be playing these games. Obviously they can’t go booking out Mt Smart for ressies matches. Possibly the outer pitches at North Harbour Stadium where the club is already based for training? Nah, sounds like Fred Taylor Park will be the go.
We’ll see how it goes. They’re going to have the same issue trying to find their version of Porirua Park for the ALW squad next season too. Granted, the state of some of the grounds that A-League games get played at means they don’t have to worry too much about keeping up appearances. Auckland FC’s win against Western United last week was played at Ironbark Fields in front of less than 4000 people, a venue responsible for three of the four lowest attendances this A-League Men’s season, where Western are stuck until their new stadium gets completed (hopefully some time next year). Northern League games are lucky if they get a few hundred people so forget about crowds, availability is all that matters.
The Squad Itself
AFC’s reserve squad announcement delivered 17 names to the public, including three who were already with the club on youth team deals. We can reasonably expect the first team scholarship players to be involved as well – there are seven of those hombres which takes us to a smooth 24 players to choose from. Those seven scholars are: Liam Gillion, Adama Coulibaly, Jonty Bidois, Joseph Knowles, Luis Toomey, Finn McKenlay, and Oliver Middleton.
The only ones yet to debut in the A-League are Knowles (the third-choice keeper at the club... when second-choice Michael Woud hasn’t even played yet either) and Middleton. Middleton will very likely settle into this reserves side because, along with Coulibaly and McKenlay, he still counts as an U20s player in 2025. With the others it’ll be week to week depending on who is needed for the ALM side. But remember that the reserves are mostly there for the purpose of players trying to earn scholarship deals, not those who already have them. Speaking of which, here they are...
Carlos Ranui – Defender (29/06/06)
Centre-back who spent a year and a half with the Wellington Phoenix Academy, though didn’t play National League for them. Originally from the Waikato, he rejoined Melville United midway through last year when he left the WeeNix. Has been with AFC on a youth deal since the start of the A-League after being a preseason trialist.
Codey Phoenix - Defender (03/02/05)
This guy actually scored against Auckland FC in their first ever organised game. It was a preseason friendly and Phoenix was playing for Auckland United... he got a goal and then one week later he was trialling for AFC. The left-back ended up staying throughout preseason before signing a youth contract. What’s more, he even got onto the bench for the first team in a home victory against Melbourne City. Prior to Auckland United, Phoenix was with Birkenhead Utd where he made seven National League appearances in 2022. Came up at East Coast Bays before that. Was part of last year’s NZ squad at the Oceania U19s which qualified for the 2025 U20 World Cup.
Jake Woolford – Forward (20/07/05)
Speedy winger from Bay Olympic who had a real breakthrough season in 2024, cracking the first eleven and nabbing a few goal contributions (including a lovely goal in a win against West Coast Rangers). Right-footed but can play on either side. There’s an old Hudl account of his that shows he spent some time in an academy in Atlanta while his family were living in America several years back... notable more because there’s a pic of him on there with Chris Wood from 2017 when Woolford was, like, 12 years old. Maybe younger. Bookmark that in case he makes the All Whites within Woodsy’s career.
Ralph Rutherford - Forward (02/04/05)
Rutherford should be one of the better-known names amongst this crew, having had an impressive National League with Eastern Suburbs in 2024. Played all nine games and chipped in with a couple of assists. He’s a skilled winger who combines well, crosses well, makes good runs, and loves to stay active. Rutherford is another who trialled with the A-League squad during preseason so this was always a likely outcome. He’s also the guy who was robbed of a goal during a Northern League game last year when a couple of dogs invaded the pitch.
Nick Gaze – Midfielder (08/07/05)
Coming through East Coast Bays means that Nick Gaze hasn’t been graced with the spotlight of National League football yet. But he’s already made 50+ appearances for ECB since debuting as a 16-year-old, helping them get promotion back to the Northern League in 2023 and then consolidate that top flight position in 2024. Gaze scored in his senior debut and it sounds like he’s got a reputation for popping up from midfield with useful goals. Always a good sign. These days East Coast Bays is probably best known as Tyler Bindon’s junior club. Well, here’s another homegrown graduate.
James Taylor – Forward (06/05/06)
Interestingly enough, James Taylor also scored on his senior debut for Birkenhead United (this was two years ago, coming off the bench in a National League win against Christchurch United). He’s already made 11 National League appearances and plenty more in the Northerns, though he didn’t play a whole lot down the stretch while Birko were surging into the National League final a few months ago. It’s not easy to get minutes for a winning team with in-form strikers... but Taylor is a centre-forward who just spent a year learning off Monty Patterson and Daniel Bunch so he should go alright.
Blake Callinan – Goalkeeper (28/01/06)
Here’s the third of the already-announced youth contractees. Callinan is an Auckland United product who, along with Nathan Garrow (who is a year older), stepped up to their first team last year after Mack Waite moved on. Replacing a proven National League gloveman with a pair of teenagers was a risk that didn’t entirely pay off for United, who missed out on National League qualification... but they were unbeaten in Callinan’s seven starts (including four clean sheets). Garrow spent the NL with Auckland City as Conor Tracey’s backup after Joe Wallis moved to West Bromwich Albion. Callinan’s now with Auckland FC. No shortage of young goalkeepers going around, that’s for sure.
Everton O’Leary – Defender (04/10/04)
Probably the most established of all these dudes, having started games at the U20 World Cup in 2023 and already had multiple campaigns in the National League. He’s a right-back/right-wingback who has predominantly played for Birkenhead United but did get loaned out to Auckland United for the 2023 National League when Birko didn’t make it. Unfortunately, O’Leary got injured early in the 2024 Nats so he didn’t play much part in Birkenhead’s minor premiership and grand final appearance.
Ryan McKay – Defender (30/05/07)
Another East Aucklander, McKay has risen swiftly through the Fencibles system to get this opportunity. To give you an indication of the bloke’s youth, he was playing U17s for Fencies just last year. He was also often captaining that U17s side so there’s another indication for you. Can’t tell you much else about him, being as he’s so nascent in his career, but his mere presence is proof that these Auckland FC jokers have been doing their research.
Semi Nabenu – Defender (14/08/04)
The oldest of the group, Semi Nabenu is a Fijian national who just got called up to a wider training camp with the Fijian national team as they prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. His father Waisea Nabenu was a Fijian international, as is his older brother Simione Nabenu (who plays for Suva FC but has spent time in the NZ scene as well). Great pedigree. Semi came to prominence at Auckland United where he played seven times in the 2023 National League. He then switched to Birkenhead Utd midway through last year and got five NL games for them including a grand final appearance off the bench. Tall and strong and fast and good with his feet, he’s the ideal model for a central defender. A couple others in this squad were born elsewhere or have dual eligibility but Semi Nabenu is the only one of them who is actively aligned with another national association... very cool to see, especially when it’s an Oceania nation.
Matthew D’Hotman – Defender (03/04/06)
There aren’t that many chaps here with age grade international experience. Not as many as you’d expect. But Mat D’Hotman is one of them having started for NZ in games against Venezuela and Mexico at the 2023 U17 World Cup. He’s also got something else going for him which hardly any of the others do: he’s already had a stint overseas (a few others have done some extended trial stuff so he’s not entirely alone there). D’Hotman joined Perth SC while Danny Hay was coaching them... albeit he only stayed six months and doesn’t appear to have played any games. D’Hotman is a wing-back or winger. One of many talented players stemming from Melville United over the past few years, he spent last year with Eastern Suburbs after returning from Oz, making eight appearances in the National League including a couple of starts.
James Mitchell – Midfielder (15/08/06)
Eastern Suburbs got a bit confusing last season because they already had James Mitchell with them as a homegrown talent, then they added Luke Mitchell as an U20s loanee from Hamilton Wanderers (no relation). But it’s James Mitchell that’s signed with Auckland. JM is listed here as a midfielder but of his six starts for the Lilywhites during the 2024 National League, five were as a central defender. Where, by the way, he was fantastic. Reads the game really well. Good defensive instincts. He did get to play the last game of the campaign in midfield so perhaps that’s his favoured position and he was simply getting in where he fitted in. Either way, that’s good versatility.
Dejaun Naidoo – Midfielder (15/07/07)
One more Eastern Suburbs player for good measure, why not? AFC signed Francis De Vries, Luis Toomey, Finn McKenlay, and Joe Knowles directly from the Lilywhites (while Max Mata and Nando Pijnaker had played there in the past). They also had guys like Nikko Boxall, Ralph Rutherford, and this bloke Dejaun Naidoo on trial during preseason – with Rutherford and Naidoo now returning with reserves contracts. Along with Naidoo and Rutherford, the 2024 ESAFC National League squad also featured James Mitchell and Matt D’Hotman. Seems crazy... until you realise that Suburbs were just doing what AFC are doing by hoarding up top talent from around the country. Only a couple of the aforementioned Lilywhites were youth products. That doesn’t include Dejaun Naidoo who only joined Eastern Suburbs from Auckland United last year... going on to feature in all nine NL matches and scoring in a win against the WeeNix (that’s bound to endear him to his new club). Very slippery attacking midfielder, someone who drifts between the lines to get involved. Skilled on the ball with a great touch. He doesn’t even turn 18 until July.
Connor Sykes – Midfielder (23/01/07)
One of the youngest in this inaugural intake, Sykes has spent the last two years with Auckland United having been with Western Springs before that. He’s only just turned 18 and has hardly played much first-team footy so the scouting team have done the hard yards here. Pretty sure AFC spelled his name wrong in the announcement... seems to be Connor with two n’s.
Ryan Revill – Forward (03/10/05)
Despite being one of the ‘05 births here, Ryan Revill is an undercover signing for Auckland FC. He hasn’t even played first team football for Auckland City. Chances are he would have at a club that isn’t perennial national champions with an amazing and experienced set of strikers already but it’s still a notable fact. What he’s done instead is score buckets of goals for the ACFC U23s, earning the golden boot for the 2024 NRFL Premiership U23s comp with 27 goals in a 22-game season. Gotta recognise the volume scorers. They must be doing something right.
Eli Jones – Goalkeeper (04/02/07)
Another very young dude, Jones only turned 18 about a week before he was announced in this squad. It can be tricky to share out the minutes among goalkeepers so the intention is probably to spread out the age range so that the various goalies aren’t on conflicting timelines. Alex Paulsen is unlikely to stick around next season... the other GKs on the books are Michael Woud (born 1999), Joe Knowles (born 2004), Blake Callinan (born 2006), and Eli Jones (born 2007). EJ wasn’t Fencibles’ number one keeper last year but he did make several starts as a 17yo goalie for a winning Fencibles team as they charged towards promotion and that was bound to get noticed.
Luka Vicelich – Forward (15/05/08)
The youngest of the intake but you’ll recognise the surname. Luka is the son of All Whites legend Ivan Vicelich, Aotearoa’s most-capped men’s international (until Chris Wood overtakes him in the next year or two), predictably putting him on the Central United to Auckland City production line. Given his age it’s almost all been youth stuff, although he did get twenty minutes off the bench on debut in City’s last Northern League game in 2024. With that, Ivan and Luka Vicelich joined Keryn and Liam Jordan as father-son duos to have played for Auckland City. Cool that they got that one in when they did because he’s not even 17yo yet and he’s moved on. Unlike his father, who was a defender/defensive midfielder, young Luka is much more of an attacking player. Probably a number ten but we’ll see how he develops. Not only was Vicelich part of the U16 Oceania Championships last year, putting him on course for the U17 World Cup later this year, he got the most minutes of any the New Zealand player at that tournament.
Every one of those players was signed from a Northern League club, with Auckland United, Eastern Suburbs, and Birkenhead United being the most affected with three players sourced from each. That’s perfectly in keeping with how they put together their A-League squad, which drew heavily from AUFC and ESAFC in particular. Keep in mind that many of these dudes have bounced around multiple clubs so their most recent spots weren’t necessarily where they played their junior footy.
Auckland City, Melville, and Fencibles each also supplied two players to this reserves intake. That Fencies prevalence is especially fascinating because they’ve only just been promoted back up into the Northern League so Ryan McKay and Eli Jones earned this recognition by playing for an NRFL Championship club. As did Nathan Walker when he was selected for the U17 World Cup from out of Fencies, later moving to the Wellington Phoenix, and also Nathan Martin who was in last year’s Oceania U16s squad. Kodie Nicol was a very handy U20s loanee for Eastern Suburbs during the 2024 National League too (it’s a wonder he didn’t end up in this squad with both Eastern Suburbs and Fencibles heritage!). Five notable Fencibles prospects from the last two years. Someone’s doing something right there.
Bay Olympic and East Coast Bays are also in the mix with one player each. Matt D’Hotman started two games at the U17 World Cup in 2023, a squad which not only had a bunch of Wellington Phoenix lads at the time (Gabe Sloane-Rodrigues, Luke Supyk, Anaru Cassidy, etc.) but which has since seen several others from that squad brought into the WeeNix system (Nathan Walker, Dylan Gardiner, Matt Foord). There’s another U17 World Cup later this year which Luka Vicelich will probably be part of, having helped Aotearoa to qualify through the Oceania Championships last year. There’s a four year age gap between the youngest reserve (Luka Vicelich) and the oldest reserve (Semi Nabenu).
It’s the lack of age grade internationals that’s most surprising here. Many of the dudes have been around wider training squads but it’s curious that Matt D’Hotman is the only guy here from the last U17 World Cup squad. They did have interest in Stipe Ukich but he went to Croatia instead. Otherwise, the problem seems to be that the Wellington Phoenix got there first. Aside from those who were already with the Nix at the time (7/21 players), the Welly Nix have since scooped up Dylan Gardiner, Matt Foord, and Nathan Walker from that group. Several others were already with other professional clubs. To be honest, there actually hasn’t been a very high ratio of Auckland-based players in men’s national youth selections for the last few years so this is something that Auckland FC will have to rebalance.
There are also no new signings from the 2024 Oceania U19 Championship squad, though in fairness AFC had already raided that group to sign McKenlay, Coulibaly, Phoenix, and Middleton... and there weren’t many fellas left once you discount the overseas pros and Wellington Phoenix lads. They also only pocketed one player from last year’s Oceania U16s. That was Luka Vicelich and he’s the youngest of them all. Could be that contingent are still a bit young for these purposes beyond the one immaculately pedigreed exception. There were some huge prospects in that squad though. Nathan Martin of Fencibles. Michael Wong of Auckland United. Damion Kim of East Coast Bays. Van Fitzharris of Tauranga City. Don’t be surprised if Auckland FC go double-dipping when next year’s intake swings around.
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