Finn Surman

#3 FINN SURMAN BIO – DOB 23/9/03

Finn Surman joined the first team in Sydney early in the 2021-22 season to bolster the squad during the FFA Cup. He ended up staying in Australia for the next five and a half months and returned home with a three-year professional contract.

The tall centre back started his youth career at Selwyn United before moving to Wellington to join the Phoenix academy in 2019.

He made his first national league appearance for the Phoenix reserves at the end of the 2019-20 season and was a regular at the heart of the team’s defence in 2020 and 2021.

Surman made his debut for the Phoenix just days after joining the first team in Sydney, starting the round of 32 FFA Cup match against Western United in early December.

He went on to make his A-League bow for the club on New Year’s Day when he came on as a halftime substitute against Adelaide United and featured a further 14 times in the A-League, starting 11 of the team’s final 12 matches, including the elimination final defeat to eventual champions Western United.

In February 2022 Surman was upgraded to a scholarship contract for the remainder of the season and signed on for the following three years through to 2025.

During the off-season Finn Surman traded his no. 33 shirt for the no. 3 he will wear during the 2022/23 campaign.

> 2022-23 season

Finn Surman made just four appearances for the Phoenix, coming off the bench in three matches in January before starting against Melbourne Victory at the start of February.

He suffered a shoulder injury while playing for the reserves in the 2022 National League, limiting his involvement early in the season.

It was a busy year for Surman internationally. He started the season by leading New Zealand to the OFC U-19 Championship title in Tahiti, starting all of the Junior All Whites’ six matches and keeping clean sheets in each.

He also started each of the New Zealand under-22 side’s matches against China’s under-24 team in March, captaining the side in the second match in Wellington.

Little over a week after being an unused substitute in the elimination final defeat to Adelaide United Surman travelled to Argentina for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

He enhanced his reputation on the global stage, leading New Zealand to the round of 16 by beating Guatemala 1-0 and drawing 2-2 with Asian champions Uzbekistan.

Surman started all four of the Junior All Whites’ matches, wearing the captain’s armband in each of them.