2007–08 Wellington Phoenix FC season

Wellington Phoenix FC
2007–08 season
CEO	Tony Pignata
Chairman	Terry Serepisos
Manager	Ricki Herbert
A-League	8th
Preseason Cup	6th
Finals	Did not qualify
Top goalscorer	Shane Smeltz; 9 Goals
Highest home attendance	18,345 v Adelaide; 30 November 2007
Lowest home attendance	8,032 v Perth; 7 December 2007
Home colours	Away colours
	2008–09 →

The 2007–08 A-League season was the inaugural season for the Wellington Phoenix, who replaced the New Zealand Knights.

Players

First team squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	NZL	Mark Paston
2	DF	NZL	Jeremy Christie
3	DF	NZL	Tony Lochhead
4	DF	BRA	Cleberson
5	DF	AUS	Karl Dodd
6	MF	NZL	Tim Brown (Vice-Captain)
7	DF	AUS	Ross Aloisi (Captain)
8	FW	NZL	Vaughan Coveny
9	FW	NZL	Shane Smeltz
10	MF	AUS	Michael Ferrante
11	MF	BRA	Daniel
12	MF	AUS	Richard Johnson


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	DF	NZL	Steven Old
14	DF	AUS	Steven O'Dor
15	MF	BRA	George
16	DF	AUS	Kristian Rees
17	MF	AUS	Vince Lia
18	DF	AUS	Ahmad Elrich
19	FW	NZL	Greg Draper
20	GK	NZL	Glen Moss
21	MF	BRA	Felipe
22	FW	AUS	Royce Brownlie
23	FW	NZL	Kosta Barbarouses
30	GK	NZL	Jacob Spoonley

Transfers

In

No.	Pos.	Player	From	Notes
1	GK	Mark Paston	New Zealand Knights
2	DF	Jeremy Christie	Perth Glory
3	DF	Tony Lochhead	New England Revolution
4	DF	Cleberson	Cabofriense
5	DF	Karl Dodd	Falkirk FC
6	MF	Tim Brown	Newcastle Jets
7	DF	Ross Aloisi	Adelaide United
8	FW	Vaughan Coveny	Newcastle Jets
9	FW	Shane Smeltz	Halifax Town
10	MF	Michael Ferrante	Melbourne Victory
11	MF	Daniel	Madureira
12	MF	Richard Johnson	New Zealand Knights
13	DF	Steven Old	Newcastle Jets
14	DF	Steven O'Dor	New Zealand Knights
15	MF	George	Carabobo
16	DF	Kristian Rees	Whittlesea Zebras	Short-term contract
17	MF	Vince Lia	Melbourne Victory
18	MF	Ahmad Elrich	Fulham FC
19	FW	Greg Draper	Canterbury United
20	GK	Glen Moss	Dinamo Bucharest
21	MF	Felipe	Hajduk Split
22	FW	Royce Brownlie	Swindon Town
23	FW	Kosta Barbarouses	Team Wellington
30	GK	Jacob Spoonley	Auckland City FC

Matches

2007 Pre-season Cup fixtures

Group B
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
1	Central Coast Mariners	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	3	10
2	Queensland Roar	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	1	6
3	Wellington Phoenix	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	2	5
4	Sydney FC	3	0	1	2	0	6	−6	0	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

14 July 2007 Group Stage	Central Coast Mariners	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
	A. Wilkinson 3' A. Kwasnik 30'	Report		Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Srebre Delovski

22 July 2007 Group Stage	Wellington Phoenix	3–0	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	S. Smeltz 13' 89' (pen) M. Rudan 14' (o.g.)	Report		Attendance: 6,039 Referee: Peter O'Leary

27 July 2007 Group Stage	Wellington Phoenix	1–2	Queensland Roar	Queen Elizabeth II Park, Christchurch
	S. Old 46'	Report	40' S. Lynch 48' S. Ognenovski	Attendance: 4,081 Referee: Michael Hester

4 August 2007 Play-offs	Melbourne Victory	1–2	Wellington Phoenix	Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne
	K. Dodd 34' (o.g.)	Report	53' S. Smeltz 87' Daniel	Attendance: 4,100 Referee: Kevin Docherty

10 August 2007 5th Place Play-off	Wellington Phoenix	0–0	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
		(2–4 pen.) Report		Attendance: 5,174 Referee: Michael Hester
	Penalties
	S. Smeltz R. Aloisi J. Christie R. Johnson		J. Griffiths M. Bridge M. Thompson T. Elrich

2007–08 Hyundai A-League fixtures

26 August 2007 Round 1	Wellington Phoenix	2–2	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	S. Old 8' Cleberson 18' Daniel 63' 79' R. Aloisi 70' S. Smeltz 84'	(0–1) Summary	19' (pen.) 77' K. Muscat 20' G. Brebner 25' L. Milicevic 39' 60' D. Allsopp 89' J. Keenan	Attendance: 14,421 Referee: Mark Shield

31 August 2007 Round 2	Central Coast Mariners	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
	N. Mrdja 9', 35' A. Kwasnik 13' J. Hutchinson 63' T. Vidmar 90'	(3–0) Summary	29' Daniel 41' M. Ferrante 77' K. Dodd	Attendance: 9,052 Referee: Peter Green

9 September 2007 Round 3	Wellington Phoenix	0–1	Newcastle Jets	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	Felipe 53' K. Dodd 86'	(0–0) Summary	6' A. Griffiths 86' A. D'Apuzzo 77' M. Thompson	Attendance: 11,478 Referee: Peter O'Leary

14 September 2007 Round 4	Sydney FC	1–2	Wellington Phoenix	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
	A. Casey 6' M. Rudan 56' B. Šantalab 65' R. Zadkovich 85' D. Zdrilic 89'	(1–2) Summary	8' Felipe 29' (pen.) 30' Daniel 85' R. Aloisi 85' G. Moss	Attendance: 11,491 Referee: Matthew Breeze

22 September 2007 Round 5	Wellington Phoenix	2–2	Adelaide United	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	Felipe 65' S. Smeltz 87' R. Aloisi 88'	(0–0) Summary	70' Diego 78' B. Djite	Attendance: 12,127 Referee: Ben Williams

30 September 2007 Round 6	Wellington Phoenix	4–1	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	R. Aloisi 14' S. Smeltz 42' V. Coveny 55' R. Johnson 62' Daniel 63' T. Lochhead 83' T. Brown 84'	(2–1) Summary	10' B. Celeski 46' 54' D. Djulbic 47' S. Colosimo	Attendance: 10,127 Referee: Peter Green

5 October 2007 Round 7	Queensland Roar	2–1	Wellington Phoenix	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
	M. Zullo 4' 62' Marcinho 26' R. Kruse 45+1' Reinaldo 90'	(2–0) Summary	88' K. Dodd 90' T. Lochhead 90+5' S. Smeltz	Attendance: 12,458 Referee: Craig Zetter

14 October 2007 Round 8	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
	J. Holland 17' J. Griffiths 40' S. Laybutt 52'	(2–0) Summary	37' V. Lia 56' R. Johnson 80' A. Elrich 90+4' S. Old	Attendance: 11,947 Referee: Ben Williams

21 October 2007 Round 9	Wellington Phoenix	1–2	Central Coast Mariners	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	A. Elrich 24' T. Brown 30' Daniel 56' T. Lochhead 57' S. Smeltz 58' K. Dodd 65'	(1–1) Summary	16' D. Heffernan 83' N. Boogaard 90+1' S. Petrovski	Attendance: 10,562 Referee: Peter Green

28 October 2007 Round 10	Adelaide United	4–1	Wellington Phoenix	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
	D. Giraldi 5' Cássio 24' N. Burns 45+3' L. Pantelis 50' S. Spagnuolo 75'	(2–1) Summary	3' S. Smeltz 83' V. Lia	Attendance: 11,740 Referee: Simon Przydacz

2 November 2007 Round 11	Perth Glory	0–1	Wellington Phoenix	Members Equity Stadium, Perth
	S. Colosimo 11' N. Topor-Stanley 68'	(0–1) Report Summary	13' V. Lia 51' 74' Daniel 78' R. Johnson 85' J. Christie	Attendance: 7,105 Referee: Simon Przydacz

11 November 2007 Round 12	Queensland Roar	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
	J. McCloughan 22' Reinaldo 67' (pen.), 79' Marcinho 83'	(0–0) Summary	11' K. Dodd 34' A. Elrich 52' T. Lochhead 90' J. Christie 90' T. Brown	Attendance: 13,808 Referee: Matthew Breeze

17 November 2007 Round 13	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	R. Aloisi 29' S. Old 61' 90' K. Rees 76' V. Coveny 78'	(1–0) Summary	27' 69' T. Popovic 90+3' (pen.) U. Talay	Attendance: 8,062 Referee: Peter Green

24 November 2007 Round 14	Melbourne Victory	1–1	Wellington Phoenix	Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
	K. Muscat 34' 45' D. Allsopp 43' L. Broxham 62' A. Thompson 62'	(1–0) Summary	42' M. Ferrante 58' V. Lia	Attendance: 20,938 Referee: Peter Green

30 November 2007 Round 15	Wellington Phoenix	1–2	Adelaide United	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	Daniel 69' (pen.)	(0–1) Summary	9' P. Agostino 50' 68' M. Susak 58' Diego 59' 79' L. Pantelis 90' S. Ontong 90' I. Erdogan	Attendance: 18,345 Referee: Craig Zetter

7 December 2007 Round 16	Wellington Phoenix	3–0	Perth Glory	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	S. Smeltz 29' (pen.), 72' 35' Felipe 32'	(1–0) Summary	34' N. Topor-Stanley 35' M. Prentice 37' D. Micevski 66' H. Foxe 73' J. Harnwell	Attendance: 8,039 Referee: Strebre Delovski

14 December 2007 Round 17	Wellington Phoenix	1–1	Queensland Roar	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	V. Coveny 15' S. Smeltz 24' A. Elrich 72' Daniel 90'	(1–1) Summary	5' Reinaldo 37' R. Kruse 72' H. Seo	Attendance: 9,384 Referee: Ben Williams

30 December 2007 Round 18	Newcastle Jets	2–3	Wellington Phoenix	EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle
	M. Bridge 29' (pen.) S. Musialik 55' S. Tunbridge 81'	(1–1) Summary	16' S. Smeltz 28' G. Moss 49' M. Ferrante 51' K. Rees 59' V. Lia 84' T. Brown 90' A. Elrich	Attendance: 15,107 Referee: Strebre Delovski

4 January 2008 Round 19	Wellington Phoenix	0–2	Sydney FC	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	K. Rees 14' R. Johnson 80' S. Smeltz 81' T. Lochhead 85' R. Aloisi 90'	(0–0) Summary	26' U. Talay 79' T. McFlynn 83' A. Brosque	Attendance: 14,288 Referee: Ben Williams

11 January 2008 Round 20	Melbourne Victory	3–0	Wellington Phoenix	Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
	C. Hernandez 31' N. Ward 35' K. Patafta 88'	(2–0) Summary	54' T. Brown 63' K. Dodd 90' Felipe	Attendance: 25,489 Referee: Peter Green

19 January 2008 Round 21	Central Coast Mariners	2–0	Wellington Phoenix	Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
	M. Jedinak 22' J. Aloisi 52' A. Kwasnik 90+4'	(0–0) Summary	41' J. Christie 86' V. Lia	Attendance: 9,849 Referee: Kevin Docherty

Exhibition match

1 December 2007	Wellington Phoenix	1–4	Los Angeles Galaxy	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	R. Aloisi 7'		17' C. Mathis 45' L. Donovan 48' C. Pavón 77' (pen) D. Beckham	Attendance: 31,853 Referee: Michael Hester

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A
Result	D	L	L	W	D	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	D	W	L	L	L
Position	2	8	8	5	6	5	5	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	7	7	7	8	8

Source: Matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Central Coast Mariners	21	10	4	7	30	25	+5	34	Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series^[a]
2	Newcastle Jets (C)	21	9	7	5	25	21	+4	34
3	Sydney FC	21	8	8	5	28	24	+4	32	Qualification for 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship and Finals series
4	Queensland Roar	21	8	7	6	25	21	+4	31	Qualification for Finals series
5	Melbourne Victory	21	6	9	6	29	29	0	27
6	Adelaide United	21	6	8	7	31	29	+2	26
7	Perth Glory	21	4	8	9	27	34	−7	20
8	Wellington Phoenix^[b]	21	5	5	11	25	37	−12	20

Source: ultimatealeague.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
^ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Statistics

Appearances

Rank	Player	Minutes played																					Total
Rank	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	App.	GS			Min.
1	Glen Moss	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	20	20	0	0	1,800
2	Karl Dodd	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90	90	90	90		90	90	90	19	19	0	0	1,710
2	Shane Smeltz	90	90	90	90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	19	19	0	0	1,710
4	Tony Lochhead	90	90	90	82	90	90	90		90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90	90	90		90	18	18	0	1	1,612
4	Michael Ferrante	90	90	90	90	90	19	90	45				33	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	18	16	2	1	1,537
6	Daniel	90	90	48	90	90	90		90	90	84	80	67	86	87	90	8	12			30		17	14	3	6	1,222
	Felipe	26	36	82	62	86	71	41			56			90	90	90	67	78	65	77	90	8	17	14	3	10	1,115
	Vaughan Coveny	76	62	42	28	4	77	70	75			10		90	11	25	83	90	89	90	65		17	11	6	8	987
9	Jeremy Christie	64	90	90	90	90	90	90		90	90	90	90		3		4		7	8		83	16	12	4	2	1,069
10	Richard Johnson			90	90	86	86	90	90		6	90	77	75			23	5	25	82			14	10	4	5	915
11	Vince Lia								75	90	90	90	90	90	79	90	90	90	83		90	90	13	13	0	3	1,137
	Ross Aloisi	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	84			77						8		62	13	12	1	3	1,041
	Steven O'Dor		90	90	90	90	90	49	90	90	90	80		4					1		90		13	11	2	2	1,034
	Ahmad Elrich								45	86	90	79	34		90	90	86	85	90	82	60	7	13	11	2	7	924
15	Steven Old	90			8			41	90		90	10	90	89			90	90	90	90			12	9	3	1	868
16	Tim Brown						13	20		90	6	90	90		90	65			90		90	90	11	8	3	1	734
17	Kristian Rees													90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	90	9	9	0	0	810
18	Royce Brownlie	14	28	8					15			11	13	15						13			8	0	8	0	117
19	George					4	4	49	15														4	0	4	0	72
20	Cleberson	90	54						90														3	3	0	1	234
20	Kosta Barbarouses									4				13								90	3	1	2	0	107
21	Greg Draper																				25	28	2	0	2	0	53
22	Mark Paston										90												1	1	0	0	90
23	Jacob Spoonley																						0	0	0	0	0

Player started Player subbed in Player suspended Player injured

Goal scorers

Rank	Player	Goals by round																					Total
Rank	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Total
1	Shane Smeltz	1				1	1	1			1						2	1	1				9
2	Daniel	1			1							1				1							4
3	Felipe				1	1											1						3
4	Ross Aloisi						1							1									2
5	Steven Old								1														1
	Tony Lochhead						1																1
	Vaughan Coveny						1																1
	Ahmad Elrich									1													1
	Vince Lia														1								1
	Michael Ferrante																		1				1
	Kristian Rees																		1				1

A goal was scored from a penalty kick

Goal assists

Rank	Player	Assists by round																					Total
Rank	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Total
1	Vaughan Coveny						1									1	1		1				4
1	Daniel						2			1				1									4
3	Shane Smeltz	1															1		1				3
4	Vince Lia										1						1						2
4	Tony Lochhead					1	1																2
6	Ross Aloisi				1																		1
	Tim Brown											1											1
	Jeremy Christie					1																	1
	Karl Dodd																	1					1
	Ahmad Elrich																		1				1
	Felipe														1								1
	Michael Ferrante	1																					1
	George							1															1
	Steven O'Dor								1														1

Discipline

Rank	Player	Cards by round																					Total
Rank	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
1	Daniel																						7
2	Ross Aloisi																						3		1
2	Karl Dodd																						6
4	Ahmad Elrich																						3		1
5	Tim Brown																						5
5	Vince Lia																						5
7	Jeremy Christie																						4
	Richard Johnson																						4
	Tony Lochhead																						4
10	Steven Old																						1	1
10	Shane Smeltz																						3
12	Vaughan Coveny																						2
	Felipe																						2
	Michael Ferrante																						2
	Glen Moss																						2
	Kristian Rees																						2
17	Cleberson																						1

Goal times

Times in which goals have been scored in the 2007–08 season
nth Min.	Goals for Wellington Phoenix	Goals against Wellington Phoenix
01-05	1	3
06-10	1	4
11–15	1	1
16–20	1	3
21–25	2	0
26–30	3	1
31–35	1	3
36–40	0	1
41–45	1	3
46–50	1	1
51–55	3	1
56–60	1	1
61–65	1	0
66–70	1	2
71–75	1	1
76–80	1	5
81–85	2	3
86–90	3	4

Home attendance

Date	Round	Attendance	Opposition	Stadium
26 August 2007	Round 1	14,421	Melbourne Victory	Westpac Stadium
9 September 2007	Round 3	11,478	Newcastle Jets
22 September 2007	Round 5	12,127	Adelaide United
30 September 2007	Round 6	10,127	Perth Glory
21 October 2007	Round 9	10,560	Central Coast Mariners
17 November 2007	Round 13	8,062	Sydney FC
30 November 2007	Round 15	18,345	Adelaide United
1 December 2007	Exhibition	31,853	Los Angeles Galaxy
7 December 2007	Round 16	8,032	Perth Glory
14 December 2007	Round 17	9,384	Queensland Roar
4 January 2008	Round 19	14,288	Sydney FC
Total	116,824 excl. exhibition match
Average	11,682 excl. exhibition match

Club

Kit

Supplier: Reebok
Sponsor(s): Sony

Pre-Season

Home

Away

End-of-season awards

See also List of Wellington Phoenix FC end-of-season awards

Sony Player of the Year: Shane Smeltz
Players' Player of the Year: Shane Smeltz
Media Player of the Year: Shane Smeltz
Golden Boot: Shane Smeltz – 9 goals

References

[table_note_res_GS0.79138801376866-1] First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage.
Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.

[table_note_WP0.79138801376866-2] Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

[a]

[b]