Alex Rufer

Alex Rufer is the longest-serving player in the Wellington Phoenix squad, having joined the club ahead of the 2013-14 season.

The combative midfielder made his Phoenix debut as a 17-year-old in February 2014 and has gone on to become the fifth most capped player in club history.

Rufer has been the men’s first team captain for the past four seasons.

He represented New Zealand at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2015, playing in three of their games, and went on to make his senior debut later that year against Myanmar.

Rufer’s career was stalled in late 2015, when he suffered a broken ankle and was sidelined for eight months. He returned for the 2016-17 season and despite making just three A-League appearances he was selected in the All Whites squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.

He featured 11 times in the following A-League campaign before cementing himself as a regular in Ufuk Talay’s first season, starting 24 matches as the Nix achieved their then highest ever regular season finish of third.

Rufer started 14 of the club’s first 15 games in his eighth season at the Phoenix but featured sparingly over the remaining 11 matches as the team narrowly missed out on a place in the finals.

He was named Wellington Phoenix captain on the eve of the 2021-22 campaign. He was the first homegrown to be appointed club captain in the Phoenix’s 15-year history and just the fifth fulltime skipper after Ross Aloisi, Andrew Durante, Steven Taylor and Ulises Dávila.

Rufer started the first 14 matches of the A-League season, playing a key role in the team’s seven-game unbeaten run which put the Nix in finals contention, but his season was cut short in March 2022 when he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

He returned eight months after his operation, eventually reclaiming the captain’s armband and memorably scoring his first A-League goal against Central Coast Mariners at Sky Stadium a fortnight later.

Rufer started 15 of the Nix’s final 17 A-League matches during the 2022-23 season, including the elimination final defeat to Adelaide United, and signed a new three-year deal in March 2023.

Rufer was outstanding in the middle of the park for the Wellington Phoenix in the 2023-24 A-League, captaining them to the club’s most successful season.

He started all 26 games he was available for and scored three goals in consecutive games, including a dramatic injury time penalty to equalise against Melbourne Victory at Sky Stadium.

His leadership, ball-winning ability, and distribution led to him being named in the PFA A-League men’s team of the season.

Rufer’s brilliant season was rewarded with an international call up to the All Whites side for the OFC Nations Cup in Vanuatu, where he played every minute as New Zealand lifted the trophy.

> 2024-25 season

Alex Rufer’s 12^th season with the Wellington Phoenix was interrupted by glandular fever.

The viral infection saw Rufer miss the first six matches of 2025 after he’d started the first nine games of the season.

He made his return off the bench in two matches in February before returning to the starting XI.

Rufer appeared in 19 A-League matches in total, 17 of which were starts.