Jayden Smith

Jayden Smith signed his maiden professional contract with the Wellington Phoenix a couple of weeks before the start of the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League, after impressing the coaching staff during pre-season training.

The young centre back stands 1.90m tall and graduated from the Phoenix academy, which he joined at the start of 2023 after playing his junior football for his hometown club FC Nelson.

Smith was converted into a centre back when he arrived at the academy, having been a midfielder in Nelson.

He made two appearances off the bench in the 2023 National League Championship after starting three matches at the end of the Central League season.

After three substitute appearances in the reserves’ first six matches to start the 2024 Central League, Smith established himself in their starting XI.

He started 11 of their final 12 matches, including the team’s 2-0 win over Miramar Rangers, before joining the first team for the start of pre-season training.

> 2024-25 season

Jayden Smith featured in all three of the men’s pre-season friendlies against A-League opposition ahead of the new campaign and made his first team debut off the bench against Western United in round one.

Smith was on the bench for a further 11 A-League matches but was an unused substitute.

He got gametime for the reserves, starting two of their matches in the 2024 National League Championship and five of their matches in the first half of the 2025 Central League.

Smith received his first international call-up at the end of the season and headed to Chile in June to represent the New Zealand U-20 side in two friendlies in preparation for the FIFA U-20 World Cup there in September.