Wellington Phoenix academy director Emma Humphries speaks to aleagues.com.au about the club’s youth program, how it stacks up globally and the next generation emerging in New Zealand.
When you look at Wellington Phoenix and the success of their youth program, the proof is in the numbers and there is more to come.
The Phoenix Academy was initiated in 2013 with the Football School of Excellence Programme (FSE). In the grand scheme of things, it is still early days for Wellington’s youth setup. Yet, they have been able produce some of the best talents in the A-Leagues while providing a pathway abroad.
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Just look at Ben Old, Finn Surman, Alex Paulsen and Macey Fraser.
The academy graduates were nurtured by the Phoenix before earning life-changing transfers overseas; Old was signed by historic French club Saint-Etienne in 2024-25, Paulsen was snapped up by Premier League side Bournemouth, Surman moved to Portland Timbers in MLS while Fraser secured a record-breaking move to NWSL outfit Utah Royals in a transfer hailed as a ‘game-changing’ move for football in New Zealand 12 months ago.
The quartet “raised the profile” of the Phoenix academy on top of fellow graduates like Liberato Cacace (now at Wrexham), former Bayern Munich youngster Sarpreet Singh and Ben Waine as the next generation of youngsters emerge in Wellington.
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“Those players coming through and doing well sort of kick-started us being known in New Zealand as a development club and the Development Academy puts us a little bit on the map,” academy director Emma Humphries told aleagues.com.au.
“They were great (and) helped raise the profile a bit of the academy and what we’re doing. Since then, a lot’s happened as well. It’s been a journey, now aligning really closely with New Zealand Football.
“One of our big goals is to get more kids in the national teams, youth and senior. We sort of align pathways now with New Zealand Football, which in a smaller country like New Zealand, I think is a really, really important thing.
“We don’t want to be competing for talent pools with others around us. We want to make sure we have a firm stance around where we fit within the community. Best with best is a super important principle when you’re in a small place. So, kind of taking that next step to get more of the very best. I think that group really helped raise our awareness.
“I’m really, really excited by the group that we have coming through at the moment.”
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It all forms part of Wellington’s academy vision.
Humphries is closely aligned with not only the Phoenix owners but Isuzu UTE A-League head coach Giancarlo Italiano, new Ninja A-League boss and ex-Canada coach Bev Priestman and head of professional development Chris Greenacre.
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They meet monthly to discuss every player within the academy.
“I don’t think many clubs I’ve worked for before would be that closely aligned to first-team managers,” Humphries shared. “But I think it’s at the core of the success of a club like Wellington Phoenix being more aligned that other clubs.”
She added: “It also takes an ownership that want to be that kind of a club.
“Our owners want to be the club of the future for New Zealanders. They want to invest in Kiwi kids and have Kiwi kids that come through to play in our first team.
“We want to see as many as possible that come through the Academy, that we develop with the habits and core behaviours that we believe are important within our system to go on and play into our first team and then hopefully further too. That’s a big goal.
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“Our owners really know what they want to be seeing in our academy and what success looks like. I think that’s an important part, fully buying into the strategy, making sure young players are getting minutes within the first team, within our reserves, and the right players are pushed up at the right time for them.
“Having an ownership group that are really aligned within that is important. I also don’t know another sport in New Zealand that does an academy like we do. It’s just a really unique opportunity, offering a full-time environment that has true four-corner support, and is such a important part of Kiwi sport development.
“We’re going to learn lots of things along the way. We’re still quite a new academy, but we have really, really high aspirations for the boys and girls within our pathway, and pretty determined people that are going to help them get there.”
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Now, a new wave of talents are coming through Wellington’s academy.
Manaia Elliott is a graduate, while the Phoenix women’s reserves recently qualified for the Kate Sheppard Cup final as excitement builds around the Ninja A-League side following Priestman’s arrival.
On the men’s front, youngsters continue to develop and make an impression under Italiano; from Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues to Lukas Kelly-Heald. In a friendly against EFL Championship outfit Wrexham, teen prospect Luke Flowerdew scored the winning in the midst of his fine form at academy level in 2025.
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“That’s what we want to be known as, a club that’s willing to give young players a chance and people will come to our academy for that chance of being put in front of the first team manager’s eyes,” said Humphries.
“Within the programs, we work really, really closely with our first teams, and I think that’s a really important part about our club. On the women’s side, having just appointed Bev, I think naturally, that probably starts quite a lot of excitement within the group.
“For the first time we have this level of player. I just think it’s a pretty unique opportunity that you wouldn’t want to miss out on. I think more people are looking into our academy, going ‘I want to be in front of Bev Priestman’.
“So we’re signing more of the very best young players. I think when you do things like that, you come out with a bold signing like that, it’s going to only attract more of the best into our system.”
