Ben Old

#8 BEN OLD BIO – DOB 13/8/02

Ben Old signed a three-year professional contract with the Wellington Phoenix in 2021 after three years with the academy.

The diminutive attacking midfielder made 12 appearances for the reserves in the 2019-20 national league, scoring one goal and creating six others.

He followed that up by scoring three goals and assisting four others in the 2020-21 season. That led to him being named on the bench for the first team’s homecoming match against Western United on 22 May, 2021 and Old went on to make a dream debut in front of a record regular season crowd of 24,105 fans.

Old made his first start for the Phoenix in the third round of the 2021-22 season, after featuring off the bench in the opening two weeks.

He also started their round of 32 Australia Cup match against Western United and their dramatic quarter-final win over Melbourne City.

Old went on to make 26 first team appearances in his first full season, starting 12 matches, and scored his first goal for the Nix in their 3-0 win over Brisbane Roar in late March.

Ben Old also represented New Zealand at the 2019 U-17 World Cup in Brazil, was a travelling reserve for the OlyWhites team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and made his All Whites debut at the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in March 2022.

> 2022-23 season

Ben Old started two of the Phoenix’s Australia Cup matches in August, including their quarter final defeat to eventual champions Macarthur.

He went on to represent the All Whites in the second of their two trans-Tasman internationals against the Socceroos in September and featured in Wellington’s first eight matches of the A-League, scoring a goal in the 4-1 win over Macarthur FC in November.

A hernia injury forced Old out of the Phoenix’s next two matches and he was limited to a bench role upon his return, coming on as a substitute in nine of the next 12 games.

The attacking midfielder started both of the New Zealand U-22 team’s matches against China’s U-24 team in March, creating a goal in the first before scoring in the second game in Wellington.

Old missed the final month of the season, including the elimination final defeat to Adelaide United, with an osteitis pubis injury.