Wellington Phoenix have appointed highly rated Emma Humphries as the A-Leagues club’s academy director.
Described as “one of New Zealand’s leading coaches”, Humphries has left her position as the Under-17 women’s national team head coach and national development director for Canada to lead the country’s largest private-run academy.
The former New Zealand international and ex-Liverpool assistant replaces Lee Padmore, who resigned last month.
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“Emma is one of New Zealand’s leading coaches and has a passion for youth development, which makes her ideally suited for the academy director role,” said director of football Shaun Gill.
“It’s fantastic we’ve been able to bring her home to Wellington to help develop the next generation of Phoenix footballers.
“We’re proud of the incredible work all of the staff do at Fraser Park and we all take great delight in seeing players graduate into the professional ranks.
“I look forward to Emma taking the academy to whole new level in 2025 and beyond.”
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Humphries returns to New Zealand for the first time in 10 years after coaching Canada at the 2022 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup.
She was also assistant coach at Liverpool for two seasons in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
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Humphries was also the director of women’s football development at Vancouver Whitecaps after being a head coach and centre director during her first stint at Vancouver.
She returns to New Zealand, where the Phoenix academy has grown from one men’s youth team and a couple of staff to eight age-group sides at Fraser Park.
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“It’s pretty special to come back and play a role in showing the next generation the pathway that exists at the Phoenix and helping them reach their full potential,” Humphries said.
“I love the art of making youth players realise what they can be, with a clear view of what it takes to make it at a senior professional level.
“I’ve played parts in both, but I think there’s something really special about being able to help youth players reach their full potential.
“With a clear identity, alignment and super passionate people I think we can continue to evolve the great work the staff here at the Phoenix have done.”
Current first team player Liv Ingham was the first female to join the Phoenix academy in 2021. Now in addition to the five men’s teams (U-15, U-17, U-18, U-19 and U-20), there are now three women’s sides (U- 16, U-18 and U-20). All eight teams play in Capital Football competitions during the winter with the two reserve sides playing in the National League Championship each spring.
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“Wellington invest more in their academy than any other A-League team” and they have helped countless young Kiwis fulfil their dreams of becoming professional footballers, with the likes of Liberato Cacace, Sarpreet Singh, Macey Fraser, Alex Paulsen, Ben Old and Finn Surman amongst their most high-profile graduates.
Almost half of the players in the current Phoenix women’s and first teams are academy graduates, with nine women and 11 men having come through the club’s high performance pathway.
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“I took a group of players for five years from 12 years old to 17 and three of them went on to win a gold medal with the senior national team,” said Humphries, who reflected on her role with the Whitecaps. “I learnt so much from being on the pitch every day with that group.
“Seeing Jordyn Huitema, Julia Grosso and Jayde Riviere realise their potential at the highest level makes you passionate about wanting to do it more.
“And coming back the second time to the Whitecaps I’ve had an opportunity to help others to do the same thing that I did on the field and help educate others with my learnings and make more people better.”
