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The 2020–21 season was the Wellington Phoenix's 14th season since its establishment in 2007. The club participated in the A-League for the 14th time.

Pre-season

On 27 August 2020, it was announced that Liberato Cacace had signed with Belgian club Sint-Truidense after they had paid a transfer fee of $2,100,000. On 6 September, the Phoenix announced that Callum McCowatt signed with Danish club Helsingør following the conclusion of his contract. On 12 September, it was announced that Gary Hooper had departed the club following the conclusion of his contract. On 14 September, the Phoenix announced the shock departure of captain Steven Taylor after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract. Both players joined the Indian Super League, signing with Kerala Blasters and Odisha, respectively. On 24 September, Phoenix youngster Callan Elliot signed a deal with Xanthi. On 18 October, it was reported that Matti Steinmann had signed with Indian club East Bengal despite no announcement from the Phoenix. On 19 October, it was announced that Brandon Wilson would be parting ways with the Phoenix. A week later, it was confirmed that Walter Scott would not extend his contract with the club, after he played as a trialist for Macarthur FC in a pre-season match.

On 15 October, it was announced that the 2020–21 A-League season would commence on 27 December. On 27 October, the Phoenix confirmed that their squad will move to Australia for the start of the new campaign. On 28 October 2020, the Phoenix announced the dual signings of All Whites Clayton Lewis and James McGarry on one-year deals. On 30 October, it was announced Joshua Laws had signed a one-year deal with the Phoenix. On 6 November, it was announced that Matthew Ridenton had returned to the Phoenix on a one-year deal. On 10 November, the Phoenix announced the signing of Mirza Muratovic on a one-year deal. On 30 November, the Phoenix announced the signing of Israeli International Tomer Hemed, as its marquee player on a one-year contract.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  NZL Stefan Marinovic 2 DF  AUS Liam McGing 3 DF  AUS Luke DeVere 4 DF  NZL Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi 5 MF  NZL James McGarry 6 MF  NZL Tim Payne 7 FW  AUS Reno Piscopo 8 MF  AUS Cameron Devlin 9 FW  ENG David Ball 10 MF  MEX Ulises Dávila (captain) 11 MF  AUS Jaushua Sotirio 12 MF  NZL Matthew Ridenton

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 FW  AUS Charles Lokolingoy 14 MF  NZL Alex Rufer (vice-captain) 15 MF  AUS Mirza Muratovic 16 DF  NZL Louis Fenton 17 FW  ISR Tomer Hemed 18 FW  NZL Ben Waine 19 MF  NZL Sam Sutton 20 GK  NZL Oliver Sail 21 MF  AUS Joshua Laws 23 MF  NZL Clayton Lewis 27 DF  ENG Steven Taylor

Transfers

From youth squad

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
19	MF		Sam Sutton	18	3-year senior contract

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref
23	MF	Clayton Lewis	Auckland City	Free transfer	1 year	28 October 2020
5	DF	James McGarry	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	28 October 2020
21	MF	Joshua Laws	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	30 October 2020
12	MF	Matthew Ridenton	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	6 November 2020
15	FW	Mirza Muratovic	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	10 November 2020
17	FW	Tomer Hemed	Unattached	Free transfer	1 year	30 November 2020
13	FW	Charles Lokolingoy	Unattached	Free transfer	4 months	17 February 2021
27	DF	Steven Taylor	Odisha	Free transfer	3 months	5 March 2021

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref
13	DF	Liberato Cacace	Sint-Truidense	$2,100,000	27 August 2020
21	FW	Callum McCowatt	Helsingør	End of contract	6 September 2020
88	FW	Gary Hooper	Kerala Blasters	End of contract	12 September 2020
27	DF	Steven Taylor	Odisha	Mutual contract termination	14 September 2020
17	DF	Callan Elliot	Xanthi	End of contract	24 September 2020
5	MF	Matti Steinmann	East Bengal	End of contract	18 October 2020
12	MF	Brandon Wilson	Perth Glory	Mutual contract termination	19 October 2020
23	DF	Walter Scott	Unattached	End of contract	25 October 2020

Contract extensions

No.	Name	Position	Duration	Date	Notes
9	David Ball	Striker	2 years	27 October 2020
4	Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi	Defender	2 years	29 October 2020
2	Liam McGing	Centre-back	1 year	2 November 2020
3	Luke DeVere	Centre-back	1 year	6 November 2020
23	Clayton Lewis	Attacking midfielder	2 years	18 May 2021
20	Oliver Sail	Goalkeeper	2 years	19 May 2021
18	Ben Waine	Forward	3 years	20 May 2021
27	Steven Taylor	Defender	1 year	4 June 2021
16	Louis Fenton	Full-back	1 year	10 June 2021

Technical staff

Position	Name
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

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

As of 25 April 2021

No.	Pos.	Player	A-League		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Stefan Marinovic	6	0	6	0
2	DF	Liam McGing	6(1)	0	7	0
3	DF	Luke DeVere	6	0	6	0
4	DF	Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi	0(4)	0	4	0
5	DF	James McGarry	15(3)	0	18	0
6	DF	Tim Payne	19	0	19	0
7	FW	Reno Piscopo	8(1)	1	9	1
8	MF	Cameron Devlin	11(6)	1	17	1
9	FW	David Ball	17	4	17	4
10	MF	Ulises Dávila	18(1)	7	19	7
11	FW	Jaushua Sotirio	6(7)	3	13	3
12	MF	Matthew Ridenton	2(6)	0	8	0
13	FW	Charles Lokolingoy	0(7)	0	7	0
14	MF	Alex Rufer	15(1)	0	16	0
15	MF	Mirza Muratovic	3(5)	2	8	2
16	DF	Louis Fenton	12(5)	2	17	2
17	FW	Tomer Hemed	9(5)	5	14	5
18	FW	Ben Waine	9(6)	6	15	5
19	MF	Sam Sutton	3(2)	0	5	0
20	GK	Oliver Sail	13	0	13	0
21	DF	Joshua Laws	10(2)	0	12	0
23	MF	Clayton Lewis	17(2)	1	19	1
27	DF	Steven Taylor	3(2)	0	5	0

Friendlies

20 November 2020	Blacktown Spartans	1–8	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney, Australia
21:00 NZST	? ?'	Report	Sotirio 5' Ball 12', 14', 31' Muratovic 26' Trialist 46' Piscopo 55' Trialist 61'	Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

25 November 2020	APIA Leichhardt	1–5	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney, Australia
	? ?'	Report	Piscopo 17' Sotirio 39' Payne 42' Trialist 73' Trialist 85'	Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

2 December 2020	Macarthur FC	1–0	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney, Australia
13:00 NZDT	Derbyshire 1'	Report		Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

6 December 2020	Central Coast Mariners	0–2	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney, Australia
		Report	Waine 1' Piscopo 37'	Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

12 December 2020	Western Sydney Wanderers	1–3	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney, Australia
	Pelekanos 80'	Report	DeVere 6' Sotirio 24' Ball 54'	Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

19 December 2020	Newcastle Jets	3–4	Wellington Phoenix	Newcastle, Australia
	Yuel 53' Ugarkovic 80' (pen.) Yengi 89'	Report	Muratovic 12' Rufer 30' Lewis 45' Sotirio 57'	Stadium: McDonald Jones Stadium Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

17 January 2021	Wollongong Wolves	4–0	Wellington Phoenix	Wollongong, Australia
		Report		Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

Overall

Overview

Updated to match played future (December 2020)
Source: Competitions

A-League

League table

1. The top two teams entered the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth entered the finals series at the elimination-finals.
2. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.
3. The top 8 teams qualified for the round of 32, while the bottom four teams participated in a playoff round.

Results summary

Source: ultimatealeague.com

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

References

1. ^ "Football: Wellington Phoenix star Liberato Cacace officially signs with Belgian Pro League club Sint-Truiden". The New Zealand Herald. 29 August 2020.
2. ^ Rollo, Phillip (6 September 2020). "All Whites forward Callum McCowatt departs Wellington Phoenix for Europe". Stuff.co.nz.
3. ^ Radbourne, Lucas (12 September 2020). "More departures show A-League can no longer compete financially with India". FTBL.
4. ^ "Striker Gary Hooper departs Wellington Phoenix amid Indian Super League interest". Stuff.co.nz. 13 September 2020.
5. ^ "Captain Steven Taylor leaves Wellington Phoenix by mutual consent". Stuff.co.nz. 14 September 2020.
6. George, Arun (5 October 2020). "ISL: Kerala Blasters replace Bart Ogbeche with Gary Hooper". The Times of India.
7. ^ Krishna, Ajay (14 September 2020). "Odisha FC Sign 34 Year Old English Defender Steven Taylor". IFTWC.
8. ^ Rollo, Phillip (24 September 2020). "Wellington Phoenix rising star Callan Elliot to join Greek club Xanthi FC". Stuff.co.nz.
9. ^ "Official: German A-League midfielder the latest Indian exit". FTBL. 19 October 2020.
10. ^ "Brandon Wilson Parts Ways With Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 19 October 2020.
11. ^ Rugari, Vince (25 October 2020). "Ring the bells: Macarthur FC take first step towards A-League debut". The Sydney Morning Herald. Milicic handed starts to ex-Wellington Phoenix defender Walter Scott, who are trialling with the club...
12. "Wellington Phoenix set to spend Christmas in Australia as A-League start date confirmed". Stuff.co.nz. 15 October 2020.
13. "'There is no option': Wellington Phoenix to move to NSW for A-League season". Stuff.co.nz. 27 October 2020.
14. "Clayton Lewis Signs with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 28 October 2020.
15. "James McGarry Signs with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 28 October 2020.
16. Hewett, William (30 October 2020). "Football: Wellington Phoenix sign Australian midfielder Joshua Laws". Newshub.
17. "Matt Ridenton Returns To The Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 6 November 2020.
18. "Mirza Muratovic Signs With Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 10 November 2020.
19. "Wellington Phoenix Signs Tomer Hemed As Marquee Striker". Wellington Phoenix. 30 November 2020.
20. "Sam Sutton Signs First Professional Contract with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 29 October 2020.
21. "Clayton Lewis Signs with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 28 October 2020.
22. "James McGarry Signs with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 28 October 2020.
23. Hewett, William (30 October 2020). "Football: Wellington Phoenix sign Australian midfielder Joshua Laws". Newshub.
24. "Matt Ridenton Returns To The Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 6 November 2020.
25. "Mirza Muratovic Signs With Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 10 November 2020.
26. "Wellington Phoenix Signs Tomer Hemed As Marquee Striker". Wellington Phoenix. 30 November 2020.
27. "Wellington Phoenix Signs Charles Lokoli-Ngoy". Wellington Phoenix. 17 February 2020.
28. "Steven Taylor Returns To Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 5 March 2021.
29. Rollo, Phillip (27 August 2020). "Wellington Phoenix rising star Liberato Cacace joins Belgian club Sint-Truiden". Stuff.co.nz.
30. "David Ball Signs Extension With Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 27 October 2020.
31. "Hudson-Wihongi Re-Signs with Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 29 October 2020.
32. "Liam McGing Re-Signs For The Upcoming Season". Wellington Phoenix. 2 November 2020.
33. "Luke DeVere Re-Signs With Wellington Phoenix". Wellington Phoenix. 6 November 2020.
34. "Wellington Phoenix Re-Signs Clayton Lewis for Two Years". Wellington Phoenix. 18 May 2021.
35. "Wellington Phoenix Re-Signs Oliver Sail for Two Years". Wellington Phoenix. 19 May 2021.
36. "Ben Waine Commits To Wellington Phoenix For Three Years". Wellington Phoenix. 20 May 2021.
37. "Steven Taylor Re-Signs With Wellington Phoenix for Season 2021/22". Wellington Phoenix. 4 June 2021.
38. "Wellington Phoenix Re-Signs Louis Fenton for Season 2021/22". Wellington Phoenix. 10 June 2021.
39. "FFA Cup to introduce Hyundai A-League play-off process from 2020". Football Federation Australia. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

• Wellington Phoenix FC seasons
• 2020–21 A-League season by team