Auckland City FC
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Full name | Auckland City Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | City, The Navy Blues, La Famiglia, The School of Astrophysics | ||
Founded | 2004 | ||
Ground | Kiwitea Street | ||
Capacity | 3,500 | ||
Chairman | Ivan Vuksich | ||
Coach | Ramon Tribulietx | ||
League | ASB Premiership | ||
2014–15 | 1st | ||
Website | http://www.aucklandcityfc.com | ||
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Auckland City Football Club is an association football club based in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. The club competes in the ASB Premiership (formerly known as the New Zealand Football Championship) which is the highest level of domestic football in the country.
Auckland City has won the regular season as well as the Grand Final six times. They represented the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in the OFC Champions League, which they won most recently in 2015 for the seventh time. With a third place in 2014 they also became the only OFC team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup. They are also the only team to win the continental treble three times.
Honours
Worldwide
- Bronze Medal (1): 2014.
Continental
- Champions (1): 2014.
National
- ASB Charity Cup
- Champions (3): 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16
Rivalry
Auckland City FC's rival is cross-town team Waitakere United. It is the only city derby in the ASB Premiership and is known as the "Super City" derby. These games are fiercely contested, drawing crowds between 1,500 and 2,500. Their 2011 Grand Final clash was played in front of a crowd of 3,500. The pair have met 52 times in all competitions dating back to 2004 with Auckland City FC registering 27 victories overall. They have met nine times in continental and domestic cup finals with the Navy Blues winning three ASB Premiership titles, one OFC Champions League title and two ASB Charity Cup titles. Waitakere United have defeated Auckland City FC in two ASB Premiership finals and one ASB Charity Cup final.
In recent seasons, Team Wellington has emerged as Auckland City FC's nearest rivals at domestic and continental level with the Capital Men losing to the Navy Blues in three finals comprising the OFC Champions League final in 2015, ASB Premiership final in 2014 and most recently the ASB Charity Cup final at the start of the 2015–16 season. Team Wellington defeated Auckland City FC in the ASB Charity Cup final in November, 2014, the only time they've managed to best the Navy Blues in a cup final in four attempts.
Vanuatu club Amicale are Auckland City FC's main rivals in the OFC Champions League with the two clubs contesting three major finals in the past five years. Auckland City FC defeated Amicale in the OFC Champions League finals of 2012 and 2014 and added the OFC President's Cup to that list when they beat them in the final of the inaugural competition at Trusts Arena in November, 2014. Auckland City FC have signed players from Amicale in recent seasons with Sanni Issa, Micah Lea'alafa and Marko Dordevic turning out in Navy Blue after stints in Port Vila.
FIFA Club World Cup Campaigns
2006 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan
Auckland City lost their first game 2–0 to African Champions Al Ahly of Egypt on 10 December 2006. Five days later Auckland City played the Asian Champions, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea, in the fifth-place play-off. Auckland City, the only amateur side at the tournament, were defeated 0–3 and finished in sixth place.
2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates
Auckland City overcame local champions Al Ahli 2–0 in the opening play-off match with goals by Adam Dickinson and Chad Coombes. In their quarter final clash against CONCACAF Champions Atlante of Mexico the side lost 0–3.
The play-off for fifth and sixth place was described by coach Paul Posa as "the greatest night in the history of Auckland City Football Club" as the team defeated African Champions TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo 3–2. The goal scorers on this special occasion were Jason Hayne (2) and Riki van Steeden.
These historic victories were the first recorded by a New Zealand team at this prestigious tournament and indeed the first by an amateur side at this tournament. They were also the first time a senior men's representative team from New Zealand has recorded a victory at a FIFA World Finals competition.
2011 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan
Auckland City played Japanese champions Kashiwa Reysol in the opening play-off match of the tournament at Toyota Stadium. The final score was 0–2 with Auckland City unable to reproduce their heroics of 2009 in the United Arab Emirates.
2012 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan
For the second year running Auckland City was paired against the Japanese J League Champions – represented by Sanfrecce Hiroshima – in the opening play-off match of the tournament. Auckland City lost 0–1.
2013 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco
Auckland City played Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca in the quarter-finals play-off on 11 December at Stade Adrar. The scores were tied 1–1 at 90 minutes with a second half Roy Krishna goal cancelling out a first half goal from Mouhcine Iajour. Abdelilah Hafidi then scored in the second minute of added time to give the Moroccan champions a 2–1 victory.[1]
2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco
Auckland City played Moroccan champions Moghreb Tétouan in a play-off for the quarter-finals on 10 December. The match finished goalless with Auckland winning 4–3 in a penalty shoot-out and qualifying for a quarter-finals against Sétif.[2] In the quarter-finals on 13 December Auckland City defeated ES Sétif 1–0 and advanced to the semi-finals for the first time. Auckland played San Lorenzo in the semis and lost 2–1. They finished their 2014 tournament with a 4–2 penalty win over Cruz Azul in the play-off for third and fourth after a 1–1 draw at full time.[3]
2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan
For the second time, Auckland City was paired against the Japanese J League Champions – represented by Sanfrecce Hiroshima – in the opening play-off match of the tournament. Auckland City lost 0–2.
Professional Club Matches
Auckland City FC has faced professional clubs from across the world and achieved respectable results. The following is a compilation of those results.
2005
OFC Club Championship Tahiti 2005
vs. Sydney FC lost 2–3
2006
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006
vs. Al Ahly lost 0–2
vs. Jeonbuk Hyundai lost 0–3
2009
FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2009
vs. Al Ahli won 2–0
vs. Atlante lost 0–3
vs. TP Mazembe won 3–2
2011
Friendly Matches
vs. Central Coast Mariners won 3–1
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011
vs. Kashiwa Reysol lost 0–2
2012
Friendly Match
vs. Matsumoto Yamaga won 2–0
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012
vs. Sanfrecce Hiroshima lost 0–1
2013
Friendly Matches
vs. Wellington Phoenix won 1–0
vs. Espanyol lost 0–1
FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2013
vs. Raja Casablanca lost 1–2
2014
FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014
vs. Moghreb Tétouan draw 0–0 (4–3 pen.)
vs. Sétif won 1–0
vs. San Lorenzo lost 1–2 (aet)
vs. Cruz Azul draw 1–1 (4–2 pen.)
2015
Friendly Match
vs. Yokohama FC draw 1–1
FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015
vs. Sanfrecce Hiroshima lost 0–2
National team friendlies
2009
vs. Kuwait lost 0–2
2014
vs. Uzbekistan draw 0–0
vs. Japan lost 0–2
Current players and staff
First-team squad
- As of 17 January 2016
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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New Zealand National Team Caps
- Jacob Spoonley (GK)
- Ivan Vicelich (DF)
- Adam McGeorge (MF)
- Clayton Lewis (MF)
- Ryan De Vries (FW)
Coaching staff
Medical staff
Position | Name |
Head Coach | Ramon Tribulietx |
Assistant Coach | Ryan Faithfull |
Andy Peat | |
Ivan Vicelich | |
Goalkeeper Coach | Simone Naddi |
Position | Name |
Physiotherapist | Justin Lopes |
Matt Payne | |
Club Doctor | Dr Craig Panther |
Media staff
Position | Name |
Media Manager | Gordon Watson |
Photographer | Shane Wenzlick |
Managers
- Allan Jones (2004-2006)
- Paul Marshall (2006–2007)
- Colin Tuaa (2007–2008)
- Paul Posa (2008-2010)
- Aaron McParland & Ramon Tribulietx (2010-2011)
- Ramon Tribulietx (2011-)
References
- ^ "Raja Casablanca 2–1 Auckland City". Goal.com. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ "Moghreb 0 Auckland 0". Goal.com. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "Auckland sink Setif to book spot in semis". FIFA.com. FIFA. Retrieved 13 December 2014.