‘What we were missing’: Phoenix add Football Fern to ALW ranks

Wellington Phoenix have added three-time Olympian and New Zealand international Betsy Hassett to the club’s ranks ahead of the 2022-23 Liberty A-League campaign.

Hassett, 31, is the nation’s fourth-most capped international footballer, having accrued 132 caps for New Zealand to date, scoring 14 goals. 

The midfielder arrives from Icelandic side Stjarnan after 14 years abroad, representing the likes of Manchester City, Werder Bremen and Dutch giants Ajax. 

The ‘Nix entered the Liberty A-League in 2021-22; head coach Gemma Lewis took charge of an inexperienced squad which finished bottom of the table despite demonstrating significant improvement individually and collectively as the season rolled on. 

Lewis says Hassett’s arrival brings the “extra experience” her squad was missing last season to help the club move forward in its second ALW campaign.

“Having that extra experience is going to add a lot of value to the team, as it’s something we missed last season,” Lewis said. “She’s definitely going to help us a lot.

“We wanted to get a couple of key, experienced players that are going to help us move forward without completely changing what we did last year, because we feel like we just got started.

“We showed the potential those young players we were working with do have and if we get the right players to play alongside them to add that experience then we feel like we’re going to go up a gear and really compete even more within the league.”

Hassett believes joining the ‘Nix ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand – was the right move for her career as she ramps up preparation for “one of the biggest events” of her life.

“Ever since I was a little kid I’ve always wished there was a professional team in New Zealand,” Hassett said.

“That was one of the things I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid and now finally there is a team it’s perfect timing.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and it may be my last opportunity as it might be the end of my career soon. It’s a dream come true.”

She added: “It’s going to be amazing to focus on football and be in New Zealand before the World Cup’s there.

“It’s going to be awesome to play in New Zealand, be at home and be around for one of the biggest events of my life. It’s just a really great opportunity.

“We’ve got a lot of games in New Zealand with the national team as well so it’ll be nice to not travel so much to and from Iceland.”

“It’ll be nice to be able to just have training and not have work as well so I can really focus on my football which will be awesome.

“It’ll be really cool to play in the first professional team that’s based in New Zealand.

“Now we have this professional team it’s so cool for the younger girls in New Zealand to look up to us and have something to aspire to.”

Hassett is pressed for possession by Australia’s Ellie Carpenter during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.