Isaac Hughes

Alby Kelly-Heald was promoted to the men’s first team squad in December 2023, having signed a scholarship contract with the Phoenix through until the end of the 2026-27 Isuzu UTE A-League.

The towering goalkeeper is Lukas Kelly-Heald’s twin brother.

They both played their junior football at Island Bay United and spent a season at North Wellington before joining the Phoenix academy, where they were regulars for the reserves in 2022 and 2023.

Alby Kelly-Heald made his debut for the club’s reserves team as a 16-year-old in the south central series at the end of 2021.

Kelly-Heald went on to start 11 of the reserves’ 18 matches in the 2022 Central League season, keeping four clean sheets to help the team finish third on the table behind only Wellington Olympic and Miramar Rangers.

Still only 18-years-old, he travelled to Argentina with the New Zealand side for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup but didn’t feature at the tournament.

Kelly-Heald started all nine of the reserves’ matches in the 2023 National League Championship before being signed as the third goalkeeper for the first team squad for their memorable 2023-24 A-League campaign.

He was called up to the New Zealand squad for the 2024 OFC U-19 Nations Cup and he won the golden glove award after not conceding a single goal during the tournament.

> 2024-25 season

Alby Kelly-Heald made his senior debut in August, starting in goal in the round of 32 Australia Cup match against South Melbourne.

Kelly-Heald was upgraded from a scholarship to a full pro contract in September and went into the new campaign as the team’s no. 2 goalkeeper.

He started two of the men’s reserves matches during the National League Championship in October and November and was on the bench for the first team’s first 11 matches of the A-League season.

Kelly-Heald was handed his first A-League start against Sydney FC in January and made the most of it, keeping a clean sheet in a scoreless draw.

He was unbeaten in his first four matches in goal, keeping two clean sheets, and went on to make eight starts before dislocating his shoulder at training in March and prematurely ending his season.