The Wellington Phoenix have released a third kit for the first time.
Drawing on the club’s traditional colours, Dynasty Sport have designed a predominantly black additional away strip for the 2025-26 A-Leagues, with yellow detailing.
The shirt has a yellow sash draping from the left shoulder with yellow cuffs and yellow around the back of the collar, and is complemented by black shorts.
The Phoenix badge, club’s commercial partners and A-Leagues logo are also resplendent in yellow.
The Nix men and women will sport the third kit when their away strip, released last week, clashes with the opposition for road matches this season.
And it means the teams will always be in their home kit when they play in Wellington, which hasn’t been the case in recent campaigns.
The men’s strip, with OPPO front-of-shirt, will make its debut in round three of the Isuzu UTE A-League when the Phoenix visit Central Coast Mariners.
Entelar Group are front and centre on the women’s shirt for the Ninja A-League, which starts next week.
The tohu gifted to the Phoenix by local iwi Te Āti Awa is again prominent in the third kit.
It is featured on the right side of the shirt, below the sash, while Te Raukura (the plume of white feathers), which is an important symbol to the tribes who affiliate to Te Āti Awa and other Taranaki iwi, is on the chest between the club badge and A-Leagues logo.
Both strips use Dynasty’s cutting-edge Ecotek fabric, which is made from ethically sourced recycled plastic bottles.
The production of Ecotek fabrics use 62% less energy, 99% less water, create 35% less waste and upwards of 20% less CO₂ emissions.
The new replica away shirt is available for pre-order now from the Wellington Phoenix club store.
About the tohu gifted to the Wellington Phoenix:
Acclaimed designer Charmaine Love created a tohu on behalf of Te Āti Awa ki Te Whanganui a Tara in 2022. This taonga was gifted to the Wellington Phoenix and the design was first incorporated into the teams’ kits for the 2022-23 A-Leagues.
Te Raukura (the white feather or plume of white feathers) is centred on the front of the shirts. It is an important symbol to the tribes who affiliate to Te Āti Awa and other Taranaki Iwi. Te Raukura symbolises the peaceful resistance of their tupuna at Parihaka in the 1880s and the white feather is still worn by their descendants today. Te Raukura represents spiritual, physical, and communal harmony and unity. It is an acknowledgement of a higher spiritual power and is a symbol of faith, hope, and compassion for all.
Ngake and Whātaitai, the two taniwha of Wellington harbour Te Whanganui-a-Tara feature on either side of the tohu. Taniwha are mythical Māori creatures and guardians and represent mauri (life force) of a place in physical form and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).
A surrounding element of the tohu features koru (the unfurling new leaf of the ponga fern), symbolising new life, growth, strength and peace. The koru represents the whenua and tangata of Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Ngaru (waves) and mangōpare (hammerhead shark) are also integrated in the tohu. The ngaru represents the cutting of the waves when waka travelled the waters of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. The mangōpare represents and symbolises strength, courage, determination, leadership and a fighting spirit, all values shared with the Wellington Phoenix.
The tohu also features Taranaki maunga which is hugely important to mana whenua and considered tapu.
Main image (from left to right): Paulo Retre, Ellie Walker and Nathan Walker sport the new Wellington Phoenix third shirt for the 2025-26 A-Leagues. Photo: Priyanka Rao/Wellington Phoenix.
