A new era kicks off for the Wellington Phoenix men this weekend against Sydney FC.
Chris Greenacre has taken the reins as head coach following Giancarlo Italiano’s resignation after last Saturday’s derby defeat.
The first task on his agenda is to restore pride at the club.
“To the players, and I include myself in that, forget the loss at the weekend,” he told media pre-match.
“I think professionally you want to give everything you’ve got, and we as a club want to get some pride back.
“That’s really important, pride in the badge, pride in playing for this club, give the fans something to really scream about and get fans in the stadium.
“We’ve got a really good opportunity with Sydney, Uffy’s done a terrific job there.
“They’re playing some good football, but it’s a great game for us to get ourselves up for and really get some pride back into this badge.”
There’s been a good response from the players in his first few training sessions.
“There’ll be moments in the game where the players have looked at their own performance, and gone actually that was ok.
“Other parts, I could have been better. It’s about trying to fix the stuff they can do better.
“There’s bits they did well, we need to keep building on that.
“That’s a simple message to the boys, and they’ve certainly adapted to that and done that in training.”
It’s familiar territory for Greenacre, who has stepped up three previous times when head coaches have left mid-season.
“I’ve been here a long time, and I don’t want to sound cliched but it feels like this is my club.
“I’ve almost been here as long as I spent time in my family home as a kid.
“I want to be successful here, whether I’m the long-term answer or not. I don’t want to go anywhere else, I want to be successful here.
“I’m proud to be stood here, I’m proud to be associated with this club for such a long time.”
And he believes he’s inherited the right set of players to make some noise over the rest of the season.
“They’re a really good group of players. It’s easy for me to say that because that’s cliched, but there’s a real tight togetherness of the group.
“In all honesty, training yesterday was a little more competitive than I actually liked, but that shows to me straight away that every player in that squad cares.
“I’ve been an armchair supporter watching the team play, but I can tell you they care. Trust me, they care.
“When you’ve got those ingredients, anything can happen.”
The round 19 Isuzu UTE A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC is scheduled to kick-off at the newly renamed Hnry Stadium in Wellington at 3pm Sunday and will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sport 2 in New Zealand, and on Paramount+ in Australia.
Most recent meeting: 18 January 2026 – Sydney FC 0 Wellington Phoenix 2
All-time A-League head-to-head: Phoenix 17W, Sydney 27W & 8D.
Wellington Phoenix squad (two to be omitted): 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 3. Corban PIPER, 4. Manjrekar JAMES, 8. Paulo RETRE, 10. Nikola MILEUSNIC, 11. Carlo ARMIENTO, 12. Dan EDWARDS, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 16. Sander KARTUM, 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD, 20. Ramy NAJJARINE, 23. Luke SUPYK, 24. XUAN LOKE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN, 28. Bill TUILOMA, 29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH, 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 40. Eamonn MCCARRON (gk).
Unavailable: 6. Tim PAYNE (injured), 7. Ifeanyi EZE (suspended), 9. Sarpreet SINGH (injured), 19. Nathan WALKER (injured).
Sydney FC squad (two to be omitted): 5. Alex GRANT, 6. Corey HOLLMAN, 7. Piero QUISPE, 9. Victor CAMPUZANO, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Abel WALATEE, 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL, 22. Mathias MACALLISTER, 23. Rhyan GRANT (captain), 24. Paul OKON JNR, 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (GK), 32. Marcel TISSERAND, 35. Al Hassan TOURE, 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC, 44. Akol AKON, 70. Ahmet ARSLAN, 80. Apostolos STAMATELOSPOULOUS.
Unavailable: 1. Gus HOEFSLOOT (wrist).
Cover image: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – FEBRUARY 26: Interim coach Chris Greenacre talks to his players during a Wellington Phoenix A-League training session at NZCIS on February 26, 2026 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
