Nix sign young midfielder to first pro contract
- Dave Worsley
- 19 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Teenage Anaru Cassidy is the latest player to graduate from the Wellington Phoenix academy after signing a scholarship deal with the Phoenix until the end of the 2026-27 A-League.
Cassidy, 19, has been an integral member of the men’s reserves side for the past two seasons, having joined the academy as a 16-year-old in 2022.
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He represented New Zealand at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia the following year and was unlucky to miss out on a place in Chris Greenacre’s squad for this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano has already given Cassidy his A-League debut.
Cassidy replaced an injured Hideki Ishige little over a quarter of an hour into the third round match against Central Coast Mariners in Gosford, after making a positive impression in pre-season.
“I feel really comfortable with Anaru because he’s a really smart player,” Italiano said. “I think he’s one of the smartest players that have come through the academy.
“Anaru trained with the first team while the 20s were away, and he impressed me.
“I played him in pre-season against a couple of local sides and then he played against Wanderers and Sydney FC, and he did really well.
“Against Central Coast you saw that Anaru recognises the space and he worked well with Alex Rufer and Kazuki Nagasawa.
“The more time he gets, the more he’s comfortable with the league and then once he builds his physicality, in terms of being able to work off the ball defensively, I think he’ll be a real asset.”
Cassidy was born in Gisborne, but considers Wellington home with his family moving to the capital when he was seven and he played his junior football for Waterside Karori and Western Suburbs before joining the Phoenix academy.
“It’s a dream come true to sign a pro contract with the Wellington Phoenix,” Cassidy said.
“I’ve been watching the Phoenix since I was a kid, even when I was in Gisborne, as for so long they were the only professional team in New Zealand.
“I’ve been working for quite a while for an opportunity like this to come around.
“I’m really happy the coaching staff have seen something in me and I’m really appreciative of them.”
Signing his first pro contract has helped make up for the disappointment of missing out on New Zealand’s squad for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
“Obviously I was a little bit disappointed about not making it, but that’s football. You win some and you lose some, and it’s about how you respond.
“It gave me an opportunity to impress here. I feel like I did well over pre-season, one thing sort of led to another and it just worked out in the end.”
Cassidy says it was a pretty cool experience making his A-League debut against the Mariners and it helped he had no inkling it was coming.
“As a sub you’re always ready to come on, but looking at our bench there were some really good players on it as well.
“Chief (Italiano) just said ‘you’re coming on’ and I was like ‘oh okay’ and got ready and got chucked on. I didn’t have the chance to think much about it.
“I had some good moments and some not as good moments, but that’s part of the journey.
“I’m still young and I’ve still got a lot to learn obviously.”
He hopes it’s just the start.
“I want to play as much as I can and winning games is super important.
“And the dream goal is to win the A-League with the Phoenix.”
Cassidy is the 11th academy graduate in the men’s now 25-strong first team squad.