The 2024 season was the 21st in the history of Auckland City Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, the club is participating in the Chatham Cup for the fourth time and the OFC Men's Champions League for the 19th time. They also qualified and participated in the inaugural edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup by winning the OFC Men's Champions League.
Overview Pre-season Auckland City began their preseason fixtures with a 1–0 loss to Birkenhead United at the Croatian Cultural Club. The following day the club announced the signing of former England youth international Joe Ridley.
On 21 February 2024, City got their first win of pre-season, defeating West Coast Rangers 3–1 at the Croatian Cultural Club. City grabbed their second win in the same week with a 3–2 win over Eastern Suburbs after being two behind at half time.
City finished their pre-season with a 2–0 win over Manurewa on 2 March 2024.
Northern League The league fixtures were announced on 1 March 2024. City play the season opener against local rivals Auckland United in the Dominion Road Derby, and finish the season away at Melville United.
City had a strong start to the season winning their first 5 games, conceding just 6 goals. In their round 9 fixture against Bay Olympic that was brought forward, they suffered their first Northern League defeat since 2022 in what was Albert Riera's 100th game in charge.
National League City qualified for the National League on 7 August after beating Birkenhead United 3–1. After beating Coastal Spirit 5–1 in the final round City finished second and qualified for the Grand Final. The Navy Blues won the Grand Final after beating Birkenhead United 2–1 after extra time.
Chatham Cup As a Northern League side, City received a bye to Round 2 of the Chatham Cup. The Navy Blues were drawn at home to NRFL Championship side Metro in Round 2.
After downing Metro 5–0 in Round 2, City were drawn at home to fellow Northern League side Hamilton Wanderers in Round 3. City beat Hamilton 2–1 thanks to goals from Liam Gillion and Angus Kilkolly.
In Round 4 City were drawn away to NRFL Southern Conference leaders Cambridge. The Navy Blues were able to overcome Cambridge with a 4–1 win qualifying for the quarter-finals.
City were drawn away to Southern Premier League side Otago University in the quarter-final draw. The Navy Blues won the match 5–1, after the match was delayed when the floodlights went out less than a minute after kick-off.
In the semi-finals, City were drawn home to fellow Northern League side Birkenhead United. In the match, City defeated Birkenhead 4–2 after extra time to qualify for their second Chatham Cup final.
Auckland City were drawn away to Wellington Olympic, where the match was played at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. After a goalless first half, Wellington Olympic took the lead in the 77th minute through an own goal from Nathan Lobo. Stipe Ukich scored an equalizer in the 6th minute of injury time to take the game to extra time. After extra time the score was left unchanged at 1–1. The Navy Blues lost 5–4 on penalties after Tong Zhou's penalty was saved.
OFC Men's Champions League Auckland City qualified for the 2023 Grand Final on 4 November 2023 after their National League win vs Petone. As the two finalists qualify for the OFC Men's Champions League play-offs this meant they also qualified for the 2024 OFC Men's Champions League. Wellington Olympic qualified on 10 November 2023 after Christchurch United lost to rivals Cashmere Technical. This meant Auckland City would face Wellington Olympic in the National play-offs.
The draw for the group stage took place on 17 January 2024 at OFC Home of Football in Auckland, New Zealand. The winner of the play-off between City and Wellington Olympic would face the play-off winners from Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji in Group A.
Auckland City announced their Champions League squad on 8 March 2024.
City started their competitive fixtures off with a 1–0 win over Wellington Olympic in the first league of the National play-offs. Stipe Ukich came off the bench to put City in front after 72 minutes, after receiving a ball down the left side from Nathan Lobo. After winning the first leg at home, City only required a draw in the return leg in Wellington. Hamish Watson gave Olympic a lead in the 20th minute after he gained the ball from Vale's header, finishing into the bottom corner. Jesse Randall doubled their lead within 3 minutes, giving them the advantage in the tie. Mario Ilich pulled one back for City, before Watson restored the advantage a minute later. It took Murati three minutes into the second half to tie the aggregate score again, before Cam Howieson found the winner with eight minutes to go. The win for City sees them compete in the group stages for the 19 consecutive season since they first entered the competition. The win also saw them win back the Mediterranean Cup, a cup contested between City and Olympic acknowledging their Croatian and Greek roots.
City were drawn into a group with Fiji's Rewa, Papua New Guinea's Hekari United and Solomon Warriors of the Solomon Islands. After drawing with Rewa in their opening game, City bounced back with a 1–0 win over Hekari United and a 5–0 win over Solomon Warriors to finish top of their group on goal difference. As group winners they played runners-up of Group B, AS Magenta. After heading in to the break scoreless, Stipe Ukich calmy slotted the ball into the far corner in the 66th minute to give City a 1–0 win. This win meant they qualified for the final where they would face Pirae. This was a replay of City's first Oceanian final in 2006, when they faced Pirae at North Harbour Stadium.
City got off to a quick start in the final taking the lead through a Michael den Heijer goal in the 6th minute. Liam Gillion doubled the lead just before half time, with Stipe Ukich and Christian Gray also finding the back of the net in the second half to give City a 4–0 win in the final. This is a record-extending 12th OFC Men's Champions League title for City and their third consecutive.
FIFA Intercontinental Cup As winners of the 2024 OFC Men's Champions League, City qualified for the first edition of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup to be held in December. The Navy Blues played Al Ain of United Arab Emirates in the first round losing 6–2.
Players Players and squad numbers last updated on 5 September 2024.
Management team Staff last updated on 8 March 2024. PositionStaffHead coach Albert RieraAssistant coach Ivan VicelichGoalkeeper coach Enaut ZubikaraiTechnical Adrià Casals Jarrod WallacePhysio Matt Payne
Transfers Transfers in No.PositionPlayerTransferred fromType/feeContract lengthDateRef. 17 Unattached Free transfer 1 year 18 February 2024 Police Free transfer 1 year 1 March 2024 Bay Olympic Free transfer 1 year March 2024 6 Wellington Olympic Free transfer 6 months 31 May 2024 28 Hamilton Wanderers Free transfer 6 months 9 June 2024 5 Western Springs Free transfer 6 months 30 June 2024 17 Manurewa Free transfer 6 months 30 June 2024 7 Cavalry Free transfer 6 months September 2024 24 Auckland United Free transfer 6 months September 2024 19 Auckland United Free transfer 6 months September 2024 15 Fencibles United Free transfer 6 months September 2024 Manurewa Free transfer 6 months September 2024
Transfers out No.PositionPlayerTransferred toType/feeDate20 Western SpringsEnd of contract15 December 202325 Western SpringsEnd of contract1 January 2024 Ifira Black BirdEnd of contract1 January 202415 Western SpringsEnd of contract7 January 202417 Wellington OlympicEnd of contract22 January 20247 Auckland FCFree transfer30 May 202419 Auckland FCFree transfer19 June 202417 Caroline Springs George CrossFree transfer9 July 202424 West Bromwich Albion U21Undisclosed5 September 2024
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Northern League
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
National League
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Grand Final
Chatham Cup
OFC Men's Champions League
National play-offs
Group stage
Knockout stage
Semi-final
Final
FIFA Intercontinental Cup
Statistics
Appearances and goals Includes all competitions. One own goal scored in Northern League, National League and Chatham Cup.
|colspan="16"|Goalkeepers:
|colspan="16"|Defenders:
|colspan="16"|Midfielders:
|colspan="16"|Forwards:
|colspan="16"|Players who left during the season:
Clean sheets Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal.
PlayerTotal1 1 Conor Tracey 4 3 0 5 0 12 2 24 Joe Wallis 4 0 1 0 0 5 Total 8 3 1 5 0 17
Disciplinary record Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
Name Total 1GK Conor Tracey 00100000000000000127FW Stipe Ukich 20030010020000080025DF Michael den Heijer 4001002000000007002MF Mario Ilich 3002000001000006003DF Adam Mitchell 1003001001000006009FW Angus Kilkolly 2002001000000005004DF Christian Gray 20000000020000040013DF Nathan Lobo 20010000010000040017FW Jerson Lagos 10010000000010030021DF Adam Bell 2000001000000003008MF Gerard Garriga 10000010000000020020FW Derek Tieku 1000000000001002005DF Marco Lorenz 1000000000000001007FW Myer Bevan 00010000000000010011FW Ryan de Vries 10000000000000010016DF Joseph Lee 00000010000000010019FW Yuki Aizu 00010000000000010022DF Zhou Tong 00000010000000010023DF Alfie Rogers 100000000000000100 Total 24 0 1 15 0 0 7 0 0 7 0 0 2 0 0 55 0 1
Awards Players No. Pos. Player Award Source 1 GK Conor Tracey OFC Men's Champions League Golden Glove National League Team of the Season 2 MF Mario Ilich National League Team of the Season 19 FW Liam Gillion OFC Men's Champions League Golden Ball 25 DF Michael den Heijer National League Team of the Season Auckland City OFC Men's Champions League Fair Play Award
References
External links Auckland City official website