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As of March 2024, Aucklanders now have a professional football team to call their own. Auckland FC was established in March of 2024 giving a huge city the opportunity to support and watch A-League football matches through another NZ team. Auckland FC or ‘Black Knights” are looking to unite an entire country by producing results on and off the pitch and to help put Auckland on the world stage. Auckland FC have developed many Auckland footballers already and given them the opportunity to fulfil their life long dreams.

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Name of Auckland’s new A-Leagues football club revealed

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Owner’s preferred moniker set to only be a nickname, while the colours of the home kit have also been confirmed.

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A factor that will influence a wider community level in regard to the fanbases for AFC is the new addition of the Auckland FC Reserve squad that competes in the Northern League coming up against teams such as Auckland City and Auckland United. This helps to create exposure in communities all over Auckland and parts of the north island. This helps to influence the coverage of Auckland FC and in doing so it will gain more fans as they will become more aware of AFC and the pathways now created for players all over Auckland communities in hopes for them to make it pro.

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Fixtures Announced for the Dettol National League 2025, with Auckland FC Joining the Men’s Competition for the First Time

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The fixtures have been announced for the Dettol National League 2025, with Auckland FC s reserves side set to join the…

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Auckland FC also have core values that can link to football in NZ as well as NZ in general, the link provided states the club values through their official about is area located on their website which states that their main values are ‘Play Big Think Big’, ‘In the team for the team’, ‘Stay AHEAD STAY HUNGRY’ and lastly ‘For Everyone With Everyone’. The most important one which helps to showcase the importance AFC has on Auckland as a whole is the last value. This helps to show that this is a team for everyone no matter the background, and can be enjoyed by everyone in order to help create a community.

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Auckland Football Club, commonly known as Auckland FC, was established on March 14th 2024, and by October 19th 2024, Auckland played its inaugural A-League Men's fixture at Go Media Stadium, Penrose, against Brisbane Roar. In front of a crowd of 24,492, the club secured a 2-0 win.

The 2024/25 Season on the Pitch:

532 minutes until a goal was conceded
Fastest A-League team to 50 goals
23 Goals conceded
14 Games unbeaten this season
12 Clean sheets
11 Players selected for the All Whites
11 Unique goal scorers
10 Goals scored against the Phoenix
The first a-league team to win it's first four games
25 Games until we won our first piece of silver wear.

Auckland FC Reserves

In March 2024, Auckland FC officially launched Auckland FC Reserves, establishing a dedicated U23s side to strengthen the club's development pathway. The Reserves compete in both the Northern League and the National League Championship in New Zealand, providing young players with consistent, high-level competition while creating a direct pipeline into the Auckland FC first team.

Development Centre & Talent Development Pathway

Auckland FC doesn't have youth teams. Instead, they're powering 18 clubs to produce the next generation of footballers. With the launch of the Youth Development Club Partnership in collaboration with New Zealand Football, an initiative designed to nurture young talent of both Men and Women and deepen our connections with football communities in the Northern and WAIBOP regions.

Auckland FC invited all Talent Development Programme Clubs within NRF and WAIBOP to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), establishing them as official Auckland FC Youth Development Clubs and paving the way for even greater collaboration in the development of youth football. Players from each Talent Development Pathway receive additional training sessions with Auckland FC once a week to nurture their skills and improve all teams across the regions.

These players train and play with their TDP clubs, as part of a new partnership between New Zealand Football and Auckland FC to create a Football Centre of Excellence.

our core values
Auckland FC is more than just a football club. Our vision is to unite an entire city.
We're building a legacy that every Aucklander can feel a part of, where victories extend far beyond the pitch. Football has the extraordinary ability to connect, inspire, and ignite passion in people from all walks of life. It transcends age, background, and borders, stirring ambition in the hearts of everyone it touches.

Proudly owned by Bill Foley and his global sports organisation, Black Knights Sports and Entertainment, we have the unique opportunity to take our talent to the world. We're forging pathways from the grassroots to a global stage. Because when you nurture talent, there's no stopping it.

This is why our success won't be confined to one season. It'll ripple across generations, telling a story that's bigger than football. It is a story about a city, a club and a community hungry for success at home and on the world stage.

Now that's what you call a fantastic result.

Play Big Think Big

We're Not Just About Scoring Goals. We're All About Those Massive Dreams. From Our Small Island, We've Set Our Sights On The World. It's Not Just About Winning, It's About The Passion That Fuels Us.

in the team for the team

We're A Tight-Knit Crew. Whether On The Field Or Cheering From The Stands, We're In It Together. And It's Not Just About Playing. It's About Being There For Each Other, Our Club, Our Fans And Our Community.

Stay AHEAD STAY HUNGRY

We Never Retreat, Never Surrender. We're Out There Making Things Happen. Always Up For Learning and Trying Out New Stuff, We're Open To Fresh Ideas That Keep Us Moving Forward. Because Progress Is Not A Spectator Sport.

For Everyone With Everyone

Our Club Isn't Exclusive. In Fact, It's Where We All Belong. Just Like Our City, We're Building A Community Where Differences Are Celebrated. We Know Diversity Makes Us Stronger, And That's How We Roll.

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Learn more about your new home team, Auckland FC today. Get to know more about the team, management and why Auckland FC was started!

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Auckland FC also prioritised creating that community like connection in Auckland. Auckland FC looks to help promote football here in NZ by creating connections with the fans allowing them to have ideas and their importance factors on the club. They do this with the proactive fan area named The Port, this is the official supporter group of the Auckland FC fan community allowing fans to have the connection bond with the club. They also have a fan area allocation at Go Media Stadium where fans can all sing and watch together allowing to create that ‘togetherness’.

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The recipe for success: What's behind Auckland FC's blockbuster start to life

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Auckland FC have taken the A-League by storm . The new club boasts a perfect record from their first three games and has yet to concede a goal, matching...

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Fan’s are everything for a football club, they help in all aspects of the club, not only do fans help to bring in the required revenue for the club to remain stable but they also give the team more motivation. As a result of Auckland FC being a new club, they have to adapt and play well in hopes of winning more matches. There was a study that showed home field advantage decreased by 64% as measured by expected goals when fans weren’t allowed in the stadium, this helps to show that Auckland FC has to rely on the fans commitment and loyalty to be at every match to push the team ahead.

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Filling the void for NZ football fans, giving them a sense of home, which creates that community

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Aucklanders has often had to be ‘long distance’ for other countries' teams, however as a result of AFC being created, sport and home can be connected. This improves the overall bonding experience between fans and the club enabling these fans to be more committed and loyal. With the club being so close to home, it helps to bring families together to support the team which also improves the overall community of the loyal fan bases such as The Port. This also helps these fans create that sense of belonging to a football club which encourages the overall engagement of these fans.

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Long-distance football fandom  emotional mobilities and fluid geographies of home

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The positive impact the WWC had on women's football here in NZ

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The Creation Of Auckland FC Women's Team

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The Creation Of Auckland FC Women's Team

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Auckland FC is seeking to expand and create a women's AFC team in the A-League Women's league. This will look to create ‘opportunities’ to positively impact girl’s and women's sporting and physical activity in general as well as creating another team for them to support. With the Women's World Cup being held in NZ and Australia in 2023 that improved overall engagement in Women’s football here in NZ, so by having this Auckland FC team it will help more female fans to engage in the club and become more involved whether that's playing for the team or supporting games for the team.

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This first season of AFC is fully underway and they currently sit in first place 7 points ahead of Western United. They stated that throughout this season they have projected a total of 3.3 million viewers through broadcast viewership. They have also broken many records through the A-League, such as a 6 game win streak. It is unheard of for a team to be this good in the A-League after their first season. AFC helps to link communities and people together as they bring different cultures and communities together to all follow the same love and passion for AFC.

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Throughout the season AFC have averaged a total attendance of 17,870. However there is a noticeable difference through games, such as the NZ derbies against Wellington Phoenix or the season opener had 24,000+ and one game had 27,009 fans which is the A-League record for attendance in a regular season game. But there were games with 13,000 fans a game, this show that there is potential to increase more attendance throughout those games. This is where the challenge comes in where AFC needs to generate more loyal fans to come to more games to help encourage them to win more games as well as help with the revenue aspect of the club.

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Setting Up The Fans' Representative Group 

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Setting Up The Fans' Representative Group 

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In order to help to engage more fans and loyal fans, AFC named an official fan representative group, with a total of eight people being on the board. This helps to link supporters directly to management which helps again to create that sense of belonging and longlife fans. As a fan it is important to be understood and heard by the club you support. Creating this representative helps to connect management and the club connected with the fans and people of Auckland. With meetings throughout the year it helps to showcase different aspects to create more exposure for all fans, old and new.

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Auckland FC sets up fans’ representative group as part of A-League initiative

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Auckland FC has just named their first fan representative group, a council of eight people, linking supporters directly to management.
It’s an A-League-wid