Abby Erceg

Abby Erceg joined the Wellington Phoenix for the 2026-27 Ninja A-League after a decorated season abroad.

The defender is one of New Zealand’s greatest footballers.

On top of being the fourth most capped Football Fern and playing at four World Cups and four Olympic Games, Erceg has played more than 200 matches in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the U.S.A. and has captained three championship-winning NWSL teams.

She has also previously played in Australia and Germany, and for the past year and a half has played for Liga MX Femenil club Toluca in Mexico.

Erceg was born in Whangārei before moving to Auckland where she played her junior football for Three Kings United (now Auckland United).

She also played for Western Springs and Fencibles in Auckland before joining Adelaide United in the old W-League in 2011.

After two seasons in Adelaide Erceg secured a move to Europe, where she played for USV Jena in Germany.

During her time at USV Jena she was loaned to Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL, where she would go on to make her mark.

Erceg made a permanent move to Chicago in 2015 before being traded to Westen New York Flash.

She captained Western New York to the 2016 NWSL title before the franchise moved to North Carolina and became the Courage.

Erceg played 125 matches for the Courage from 2017-2023 and won seven major trophies, including the NWSL championship in 2018 and 2019.

She was named to the NWSL Best XI in 2018 and was named the competition’s defender of the year.

Erceg was traded to Racing Louisville in 2023 and went on to play every minute of every game for them over the next two seasons.

She joined Liga MX Femenil club Toluca in 2025.

Erceg made her Football Ferns debut as a 16-year-old in 2006 and went on to play 146 senior internationals through until 2022.

> 2025-26 season

Abby Erceg helped lead Toluca to the finals of the Apertura and Clausura portions of the Liga MX Femenil.

Toluca lost in the quarter-finals of the Apertura season after finishing fourth on the ladder and in the semi-finals of the Clausura after a sixth place finish.

Erceg “fell in love with Mexico” during her time there but has always wanted to return home before the end of her career.

“I want to give back to the game in New Zealand,” Erceg said. “It’s been a goal of mine to come back and play and have my family and friends see me playing professionally week-in, week-out.

“I want to drive the awareness around women’s football here and push that in the last couple of years of my career.

“And I want to get as many girls as we possibly can up to a higher level and just expose them to what’s required if they do want to go overseas, or if we can help the A-League grow that’s even better.

“I’m quite keen to get my hands dirty and do as much as I can while I’m still relevant and can have that influence.”