Product Code Database
Auckland Football Club, commonly known as Auckland FC, is a professional football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the A-League Men, the top flight of Australian soccer. Established on 14 March 2024, the club is under license from the APL. The club's home ground is the Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as the Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, in Penrose.
Auckland was given an A-League license under its chosen owner Bill Foley in November 2023, as part of the third tranche competition expansion. The club achieved early success by claiming the Premiership in the 2024–25 regular season, becoming only the second expansion side to win that title in their debut season, after Western Sydney Wanderers in the regular 2012-13 season.
On 14 March 2024, the club officially announced its name, logo and inaugural home kit at its headquarters in Auckland. The kit (manufactured by New Balance) featured electric blue and black vertical stripes as its main features. The nickname was unveiled to be "Black Knights", which is associated with several clubs that Foley owns and refers to the nickname of the sports teams at his alma mater, the United States Military Academy. Terry McFlynn was chosen as the inaugural director of football, and Steve Corica as head coach. Auckland announced their first player signings in May 2024, ahead of the 2024–25 season.
| 2024–2025 | New Balance | Anchor / Go Media | McDonald's / Alvarium | ANZ / Liberty | Cupra | Barfoot & Thompson / Ebury |
| 2025– | ANZ | Anchor / Liberty | Bargain Chemist | Barfoot & Thompson / AIPC |
Before the establishment of the club, Wellington Phoenix held matches as the home side in Auckland, playing matches at North Harbour Stadium and Eden Park. The club played their last match in Auckland on 16 March 2024 against Sydney FC at Eden Park. Football Kingz, the first Auckland club to play in Australia, also named North Harbour Stadium and Mount Smart Stadium as their home grounds before dissolving in 2004 due to financial reasons. The New Zealand Knights replaced Football Kingz in the 2005–06 season of the A-League Men and also played at North Harbour. The Knights folded in the 2006–07 A-League season after the club's license was removed from the Football Federation Australia (FFA) due to insolvency.
On 20 March 2025 it was confirmed Auckland FC were pursuing a stadium development at Western Springs Stadium. Plans include a new 12,500-15,000 seat, stadium, community sports facilities, hospitality and medical services. In early July 2025 Auckland FC scrapped their bid for a stadium at Western Springs Stadium and instead announced their intention to extend their deal with Go Media Stadium and North Harbour Stadium.
As the third Auckland-based club to compete in the top flight of Australia, succeeding from Football Kingz and New Zealand Knights, Auckland share a rivalry with Wellington Phoenix, who have been the only New Zealand club in the A-League Men since the 2007–08 season. The rivalry has quickly blossomed, due to the inter-city rivalry already established and especially since the controversial signing of former Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen on loan from AFC Bournemouth also owned by Auckland FC owner Bill Foley. Despite the disparity in on-field performance in the matches between the two clubs and their respective seasons, all three matches between the two rivals were highly attended by A-League standards, all having crowds of over 26,000, and each successive match breaking the previous domestic regular-season record in New Zealand.
Auckland FC became the first team in A-League history to go undefeated in rivalry matches in a single season, winning all three fixtures during the 2024–25 campaign, including the club’s biggest win, a 6–1 victory on 22 February 2025.
In the 2025–26 season, during their third meeting of the campaign (sixth overall), Auckland FC defeated Wellington Phoenix 5–0, extending their unbeaten run against their rivals. Following the match, Wellington Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano resigned, having failed to record a win against Auckland FC, with an aggregate score of 20–4 across the six meetings.
/ref>. Under Black Knight, Foley also owns side AFC Bournemouth and the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League in the United States. He holds a minor stake in Ligue 1 club FC Lorient and a majority stake in Primeira Liga club Moreirense.
After the unveiling of Auckland FC on 14 March 2024, Ali Williams and his wife, Anna Mowbray, co-founder of Zuru, were announced as co-owners of the club. Williams is a former professional rugby union player and represented the New Zealand national team as a lock. In June 2024, Tim Bezbatchenko was appointed president of Black Knight.
A women's team was announced in March 2024 and was set to join the A-League Women for the 2025–26 season, however in August 2025 its entry was postponed until the 2027–28 season.
| vacant |
(first team)
(first team)
| 2024– | Hiroki Sakai | Inaugural club captain |
| 1 | Jesse Randall | 12 |
| Guillermo May | ||
| 3 | Sam Cosgrove | 11 |
| 4 | Logan Rogerson | 10 |
| 6 | Neyder Moreno | 8 |
| Lachlan Brook | ||
| 8 | Nando Pijnaker | 4 |
| Louis Verstraete | ||
| 11 | Jake Brimmer | 3 |
| Francis de Vries | ||
| Hiroki Sakai | ||
| 13 | Max Mata | 2 |
| Felipe Gallegos | ||
| 16 | Callan Elliot | 1 |
| Marlee Francois | ||
| Jake Girdwood-Reich | ||
|
|
