Pre-season

On 14 April 2023, it was announced that Ufuk Talay would depart the club at the end of the season. The following week, assistant coach Giancarlo Italiano was announced as the next head coach on a 2-year deal.^[1][2]

On 10 May, the Phoenix announced the departures of eight players, including vice-captain Oliver Sail, Clayton Lewis, Steven Ugarkovic and Callan Elliot.^[3]

On 11 May, the Phoenix announced their first signing of the off-season in Mohamed Al-Taay on a two-year deal from the Newcastle Jets.^[4] On 18 May, it was announced that Nicholas Pennington had signed a one-year contract extension with the club.^[5] On 9 June, the Phoenix announced the signing of Jack Duncan on a one-year deal.^[6]

On 6 July, the Phoenix signed academy player Lukas Kelly-Heald on a four-year professional contract.^[7] On 2 August, it was announced that Reserves midfielder Fin Conchie had signed a three-year professional contract with the club.^[8] On 13 September, the club announced the signing of their academy captain Isaac Hughes on a two-year professional deal.^[9] On 27 September, the Phoenix announced their final off-season signing in 17-year old Lukas Supyk, who had only joined the club's academy 5 months prior, on a three-year deal.^[10] Despite initial criticism, these signings came as a result of the club putting greater emphasis on developing young New Zealand players.^[11]

The Phoenix would made a positive start to pre-season with a 5–1 win over Western Suburbs in their first friendly. They would then go on to beat Wellington Olymic twice with an aggregate score of 5–1.

Australia Cup

The Phoenix progressed to the Round of 16 of the Australia Cup after a 2–1 win over NPL side Peninsula Power.^[12] However, they would then succumb to a 3–0 loss against Melbourne City in the Round of 16, getting eliminated from the cup campaign in the process.^[13]

A–League Men

The Phoenix are set to kick off their season on 22 October against the Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney.^[14]

Transfers in

No.	Position	Player	Transferred from	Type/fee	Contract length	Date	Ref.
12	MF	Mohamed Al-Taay	Newcastle Jets	Free transfer	2 years	11 May 2023	[15]
25	GK	Jack Duncan	Newcastle Jets	Free transfer	1 year	9 June 2023	[16]

Transfers out

No.	Position	Player	Transferred to	Type/fee	Date	Ref.
23	MF	Clayton Lewis	Unattached	End of contract	9 May 2023	[17]
5	MF	Steven Ugarkovic	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[17]
12	DF	Lucas Mauragis	Newcastle Jets	End of loan	10 May 2023	[18]
15	DF	Nikko Boxall	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[18]
17	DF	Callan Elliot	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[18]
20	GK	Oliver Sail	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[17]
21	DF	Joshua Laws	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[18]
31	MF	Yan Sasse	Unattached	End of contract	10 May 2023	[18]

From youth squad

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Notes
18	DF		Lukas Kelly-Heald	18	4-year senior contract[19]
5	MF		Fin Conchie	19	3-year senior contract[20]
26	DF		Isaac Hughes	19	2-year senior contract[21]
23	FW		Luke Supyk	17	3-year contract, the first two of which are on scholarship terms.[22]

Contract extensions

No.	Player	Position	Duration	Date	Notes	Ref.
13	Nicholas Pennington	Central midfielder	1 year	18 May 2023		[23]
40	Alex Paulsen	Goalkeeper	3 years	2 November 2023	Contract extended from end of 2023–24 until end of 2026–27.	[24]
8	Ben Old	Attacking midfielder	3 years	22 November 2023	Contract extended from end of 2023–24 until end of 2026–27.	[25]

Overall record

A-League Men

Australia Cup

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

Pensinula Power v Wellington Phoenix

4 August 2023 Round of 32	Pensinula Power	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Wellington Phoenix	Brisbane
19:30 AEST	Greenwood 71'	Report	Pennington 43' Rudland 119'	Stadium: A.J. Kelly Park Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Shane Skinner

Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.

As of 2 December 2023

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Player	A-League Men		Australia Cup		Total
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
3	DF		Finn Surman	6	0	2	0	8	0
4	MF		Scott Wooton	6	0	1+1	0	8	0
5	MF		Fin Conchie	0+3	0	0	0	3	0
6	DF		Tim Payne	6	1	2	0	8	1
7	FW		Kosta Barbarouses	6	0	2	0	8	0
8	MF		Ben Old	0+6	1	0	0	6	1
9	FW		Oskar Zawada	4+1	4	2	0	5	4
10	FW		David Ball	3+1	0	0+1	0	5	0
11	MF		Bozhidar Kraev	6	3	2	0	6	3
12	MF		Mohamed Al-Taay	5+1	0	1	0	7	0
14	MF		Alex Rufer	6	0	2	0	8	0
15	MF		Nicholas Pennington	6	0	2	1	8	1
18	DF		Lukas Kelly-Heald	6	0	2	0	8	0
19	MF		Sam Sutton	0+4	0	0+1	0	5	0
23	FW		Luke Supyk	0	0	0+1	0	1	0
24	FW		Oskar van Hattum	0	0	1	0	1	0
26	DF		Isaac Hughes	0+1	0	0+1	0	2	0
34	FW		Josh Rudland	0	0	1+1	1	2	1
36	FW		Ben Wallace	0	0	0+1	0	1	0
40	GK		Alex Paulsen	6	0	2	0	8	0
41	FW		Kaelin Nguyen	0	0	1	0	1	0
42	FW		Fergus Gillion	0+1	0	0+1	0	2	0
43	MF		Matthew Sheridan	0+1	0	0	0	1	0
52	MF		Jackson Manuel	0+1	0	0	0	1	0

Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.

As of 2 December 2023

Rank	No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	A-League Men			Australia Cup			Total
1	7	FW		Kosta Barbarouses	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
	15	MF		Nicholas Pennington	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0
3	9	FW		Oskar Zawada	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	11	MF		Bozhidar Kraev	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	14	MF		Alex Rufer	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
6	3	DF		Finn Surman	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	6	DF		Tim Payne	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	18	DF		Lukas Kelly-Heald	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	19	MF		Sam Sutton	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					13	0	0	3	0	0	16	0	0

Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.

As of 2 December 2023

Rank	No.	Nat.	Goalkeeper	A-League Men	Australia Cup	Total
1	40		Alex Paulsen	3	0	3
Total				3	0	3

Players

No.	Pos.	Player	Award	Source
40	GK	Alex Paulsen	A-League Men Player of the Month (October/November)	[27]

Managers

Manager	Award	Source
Giancarlo Italiano	A-League Men Coach of the Month (October/November)	[28]