Masterclass in squad-building from scratch

Auckland FC in New Zealand formed in November 2023.

Twelve months later, they made their debut in Australia and NZ’s elite competition, the A-League.

And then, in their first season, they have finished first in the regular season and go into the play-offs for the A-League title as big favourites.

This extraordinary rise as a new team has been made even more remarkable by the fact they have had to build a squad from scratch.

They needed access to the key contacts and real-time market intelligence from football clubs and agencies around the world, so they could secure the best domestic talent and also compliment their core from Australia and New Zealand with international talent. But how could they do that without a history and network of contacts that takes years to build up?

The answer: TransferRoom.

TransferRoom is world football’s marketplace. It’s online platform is used by over 800 clubs and 550 Trusted Agencies in more than 130 leagues across the globe.

They can connect directly, see what clubs are looking for, advertise their own requirements in players and use comprehensive market and performance data on players, teams and Head Coaches to help find the right fit for new signings, and to open up opportunities to loan or sell players who impress at Auckland FC to teams around the world, and to drive crucial revenue to re-invest into the squad and infrastructure of this new club.

“TransferRoom has been very supportive, right through the whole recruitment process,” Terry McFlynn, Auckland FC’s Director of Football, said after they joined the platform alongside four other A-League clubs in April 2024. “We started back in November 2023. We built out our squad and the connections we made through TransferRoom, whether that was directly to clubs, agents or both, was very useful in getting us to the point we're at today.

“There's probably contacts via the TransferRoom that we didn't have internally. We do have a vast network of contacts within our football department, but as football is ever-evolving across the world, it's important to stay at the forefront of evolution and make sure we're at the forefront and getting access to the best talent if and when we can.

Auckland FC joined TransferRoom in 2024 and had instant success.

One of the signings made possible was striker Guillermo May (pictured below), who has gone on to get nine goals and two assists in 25 A-League appearances to date. He’s been the focal point of their attack and a pivotal part of their success, and that of the other attacking players around him.

Auckland FC signed him after seeing he was available on TransferRoom and they tapped into the scouting network of Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, who are under the same ownership, to get a deeper understanding of the Uruguayan’s character profile.

Head of Recruitment Doug Kors connected directly with May’s agency, Goalactic Matchmakers. They are a Trusted Agency on the platform. Within 30 minutes, he was talking to the player.

"TransferRoom’s a bit like a Facebook marketplace for football players,” Kours told Row Z FC. “It's actually been really helpful because of the way the platform works. You have to get verified to be on it, so we're actually dealing now directly with the agents of these players.

“In Guillermo May's example, when he popped up we actually said to the agent, ‘Can we speak to him soon?’ And we were on the phone in like 30 minutes, straight away. He had just finished a gym session and I spoke to him about why he wanted to come, and what his motivations were.

“So, for us with him, we used the data to understand that he fits our playing style. We then go deep on the video, not just what he was doing at his club, because what happened was, he was signed to a big club in Argentina.

“And the coach left. So he then was playing in a different position and not really playing. So we actually looked at what he was doing the year before that as well. To understand when he was playing as a striker, what his strengths were.

“And then the benefit for us, through Bournemouth, we have access to their scouting network. So we were actually able to speak to people in South America, who work for Bournemouth, and to get character reports on him.

“He just ticked a lot of the boxes for what we were looking for, in our strategy and he's done fantastic. I think we always probably look at... we want the number nine to be the leading goalscorer in the league. But in reality, in modern football, there's so much more to it than just putting the ball in the back of the net. He's been one of our most important players in terms of what he does for us. Week after week.”

Linking up with a Trusted Agency on TransferRoom was also key to the signing of Luis Felipe Gallegos (pictured below) from OFI Crete in Greece.

The 33-year-old Chilean central midfielder has also been an integral part of their success this season, amassing 24 appearances in the A-League and getting one goal and two assists from the base of their midfield.

“We were starting from scratch, so we uploaded the profile of the players that we wanted in each position. OFI Crete spoke to us about Luis Felipe, and he was a profile that fitted exactly what we were looking for.

“Through the platform, we then connected with his agent. We had several conversations, the Head Coach, myself, the player, our Head of Recruitment, Doug Kors. It was pretty smooth in the end, so TransferRoom helped a lot in the acquisition of Gallegos to our club.

“Every player brings different attributes to the team, and his attributes are very much complementary to the other players that we've got in the group. Once we uploaded all the information that we were looking for, OFI Crete recognised that they pitched the player to us, and again, we had the conversations and thankfully he joined our club.”

TransferRoom will also be a key part of how Auckland FC build on this incredible debut season in the long term, when it comes to selling and loaning players, to reinvest into the squad and infrastructure of this new club. They can maximise interest in their talents by pitching directly to clubs in more than 130 leagues, getting access to the right people and the player profiles that other teams are looking for.

“TransferRoom is going to be very important for us," McFlynn added. "One of our goals is to create opportunities and pathways for young New Zealand players, into professional football and then beyond into Europe and South America and beyond. TransferRoom can help facilitate that, so we're looking forward to this partnership developing over the years.”

Click here for the full story on how the five A-League clubs open up global market by joining TransferRoom.

Auckland FC are among 800 clubs on TransferRoom. You can find out how to join them here.