Auckland City Football Club is an association football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. The football club was founded in 2004 following the inception of the New Zealand Football Championship. They currently compete in the .
Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in both New Zealand and Oceania, having won eleven New Zealand Football Championship and 14 OFC Champions League titles. The club is the most successful in Oceania, having won seven consecutive OFC Champions League titles between 2011 and 2017 – the most consecutive continental titles of any football team in history. This has resulted in Auckland becoming a regular fixture at the FIFA Club World Cup, famously achieving a third-placed finish in the 2014 edition. Auckland City's youth team play in the New Zealand Youth National League, and are the most successful team in national youth competition history with seven titles.
Auckland City currently play their home matches at Kiwitea Street in Sandringham, New Zealand. Their regular kit colours are faintly striped royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The current crest, in use since the club's inception, features the Sky Tower, an iconic Auckland landmark. The club has a strong Croatian influence, being associated with and playing at the same stadium as Central United (formed in 1962 by Dalmatian immigrants).
History
Auckland City has won the New Zealand Football Championship regular season twelve times, and the Grand Final eight times. They represented the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in the OFC Champions League, which they won most recently in 2025 for the 13th 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 four times.
In 2017, Auckland City were invited to play in the Lunar New Year Cup, a friendly tournament hosted in Hong Kong. Auckland City defeated South Korean champions FC Seoul in the semifinal, before defeating Hong Kong side Kitchee in the final to lift the trophy. Auckland City were again invited for the 2019 edition, falling to Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng 2–1.
Following the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, in which Auckland City won all but one game in their undefeated season but fell short in both the OFC Champions League and the league playoffs, long-term manager Ramon Tribulietx brought his association with the club to an end and was replaced by Team Wellington coach José Figueira ahead of the 2019–20 season.
After the first season of the New Zealand National League Auckland City finished 1st in the Northern League but didn't get to play in the championship phase due to COVID-19 affecting the Auckland Region. The club then announced that Albert Riera would take over as head coach for the next season.
FIFA Club World Cup
2009
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 CAF Champions League winners TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo 3–2. The goal scorers on this special occasion were Jason Hayne with two and Riki van Steeden.
These historic victories were the first recorded by a New Zealand team at the Club World Cup, and the first by an amateur side at this tournament. This was also the first time that a senior men's representative team from New Zealand has recorded a victory in a world FIFA competition.
2014
Auckland City played Moroccan league 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-final clash against CAF Champions League winners ES Sétif. Auckland City defeated ES Sétif 1–0, courtesy of a John Irving goal, and advanced to the semi-finals for the first time ever.
Auckland played Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo in the semifinals, but lost 2–1. A shock seemed possible when a second-half goal from Ángel Berlanga cancelled out Pablo Barrientos' first-half strike for San Lorenzo, but substitute Mauro Matos netted San Lorenzo's winner in extra time.
They finished the tournament with a historic 4–2 penalty shootout win over CONCACAF Champions League winners Cruz Azul in the third-place playoff after a 1–1 draw at full time, with substitute Sanni Issa scoring the ultimate penalty just days after signing for the club. The result gained the side worldwide acclaim, as the team of part-timers and amateurs defied all expectations in the competition. Club stalwart and defender Ivan Vicelich came third in the Golden Ball award for best player at the tournament, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid.
2025
Auckland qualified for the only spot allocated to the OFC in the upcoming 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the first edition to be held under the new expanded format. They were drawn into Group C, where they lost 10–0 to Bayern Munich and 6–0 to Benfica. In the final match of the group stage, Auckland City achieved a 1–1 draw against Boca Juniors. Auckland earned $3.58 million USD for participating in the competition and another $1 million USD for securing a draw with Boca Juniors.
Colours and badge
Auckland City's regular kit colours are faintly chequered navy blue shirts, navy blue shorts with white socks. The current crest features the Sky Tower and Rangitoto Island along with the Waitematā Harbour all iconic Auckland landmarks. It also features an anchor to acknowledge the city of Auckland's long maritime history and a yellow and white checkerboard to acknowledge the club's original roots being founded upon sister club Central United FC which was formed in 1962."Blog Um Grande Escudeiro – NEW ZEALAND: AUCKLAND CITY FC'S NEW SHIELD (in Portuguese) Retrieved on 21 April 2022
Stadium
Freyberg Field, then a public park, was made available for use as a football field in 1965 for tenants Central United. What became known as Kiwitea Street, was made available to Auckland City following their foundation in 2004. Since then, the amenities at Kiwitea Street have been overhauled, including a new clubrooms and a resurfaced pitch in 2007.
The stadium seats 250 spectators, with additional standing room.
Rivalries
Waitakere United (2004–2021) (Auckland derby): Auckland United (Dominion Road derby): ClubPldWDLGFGAGD Auckland City149232614+12 Auckland United143291426–12 Wellington Olympic (Mediterranean Cup): ClubPldWDLGFGAGD Auckland City137422419+5 Wellington Olympic132471924–5
Players First-team squad
Club officials
Technical staff
PositionStaffHead coach Rudy MozrAssistant coach Ivan VicelichAssistant coach Alan ShakerAssistant coach Karlo PavićGoalkeeper coach Adam BannisterPhysio Matt Payne
Managers +List of Auckland City managersNameNationalityFromToRefAllan JonesRoger WilkinsonPaul MarshallAlbert RieraPaul PosaRudy MozrPresent
Notable former players
The following players gained international caps for their respective countries. Players listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Auckland City.
Emiliano Tade Takuya Iwata Teruo Iwamoto Keryn Jordan Grant Young Liam Jordan Lee Ki-hyung Micah Lea'alafa Henry Fa'arodo George Suri Roy Krishna Salesh Kumar Brian Kaltak Haris Zeb David Browne James Pritchett Cameron Howieson Cole Peverley Paul Urlovic Nikko Boxall Michael Boxall Clayton Lewis Tim Payne Myer Bevan Jacob Spoonley Cameron Howieson Ian Hogg Tom Doyle Sean Douglas Adam McGeorge Jeff Campbell Dalton Wilkins Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi Liam Graham Tamati Williams Chad Coombes Dave Mulligan Ryan De Vries Ivan Vicelich Matthew Ridenton Moses Dyer Kris Bright Ross Nicholson Jonathan Perry Harshae Raniga Callum McCowatt Logan Rogerson
Season by season record
NZ Premiership SeasonDivisionLeagueChathamCupCharityCupOther competitionsTop scorerOFCFIFANameGoalsPremiership 21 14 4 3 53 24+29 46 1st 1strowspan=17 rowspan=7 GSrowspan=2 Grant Young 152005–06 21 16 0 5 63 28+35 48 1st 1st W Keryn Jordan 22 2006–07 21 12 6 3 50 30+20 42 3rd 1st GS6th Grant Young 112007–08 21 16 2 3 44 16 +28 50 2nd EF GSrowspan=2 Bryan Little 8 2008–09 14 8 1 5 27 15+12 25 2nd 1st W 5 2009–10 14 9 4 1 33 13 +20 31 1st SF GS5th Jason Hayne 72010–1114 9 3 2 29 12+17 30 2nd2nd W Daniel Koprivcic 72011–1214 11 3 0 43 11+32 36 1st SF WW7th Manel Expósito 92012–13 14 10 3 1 40 13 +27 33 2nd 2nd 2ndW7th Manel Expósito 11 2013–14 14 10 3 1 40 12+28 33 1st 1stWW7th 172014–15 14 12 0 2 39 14 +25 42 1st 1st2ndW3rd David Browne 72015–16 14 12 2 0 43 12 +31 38 1st 2nd WW7th 152016–17 18 11 3 4 35 15 +20 36 1st 2nd WW7th Emiliano Tade 132017–18 18 12 4 2 41 12 +29 40 1st 1st 2ndSF7th Emiliano Tade ♦ 182018–19 18 17 1 0 46 18 +28 52 1st SF WSFrowspan=3 Javier López Iglesias 82019–20 16 11 4 1 42 15 +27 37 1st — W— Myer Bevan ♦ 15 14 8 4 2 27 13 +14 28 1st 2nd W— 8
National League SeasonQualifying leagueLeagueChathamCupOther competitionsOFCFIFANameGoals2021Northern League 18 15 1 2 63 19 +44 46 1stCancelled QFcolspan=2 Angus Kilkolly 182022 22 20 1 1 68 16 +52 61 1st 9 7 1 1 20 9 +11 22 1stW W7th 172023221930649+5560 1st970219 12+721 2nd R4 W7th 2020242216335321+3251 1st96122010+10191st2ndW6th Liam Gillion 1020252212463524+11404th106221914+5201stR3WGS6th Myer Bevan 1020262214355119+32453rd QualifieldTBDQFWcolspan=2
SeasonLeagueChathamCup ContinentalDivisionTierNameGoals 2027National League 1 To be determinedTBD of 12
Champions Runners-up Third Place ♦ Top scorer in competitionEFElimination finalsSF Semi-finals Participation in FIFA Club World Cup Participation in FIFA Intercontinental Cup
International competitions record
Continental Club Championship/Champions League