{"id":436038,"date":"2026-05-20T03:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/436038\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T03:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:14:08","slug":"new-zealand-players-named-in-pfas-mens-a-league-team-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/436038\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand players named in PFA’s men’s A-League Team of the Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Auckland FC trio Francis de Vries, Jesse Randall and Sam Cosgrove have been named in the Professional Footballers Australia Men\u2019s A-League Team of the Season.<\/p>\n

The club are one of only four sides represented in the starting line-up, announced on May 20 ahead of Saturday\u2019s grand final in which Auckland FC play Sydney at Go Media Stadium.<\/p>\n

All Whites teammates, defender de Vries and forward Randall, were recogised by their peers after standout campaigns in Auckland\u2019s second A-League season, while English import striker Cosgrove earned selection after sharing the Golden Boot award.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Jesse Randall (centre) and Francis de Vries (right) \u2026 picked for the PFA Team of the Season.<\/p>\n

Another New Zealand international, midfielder Lachlan Bayliss from the Newcastle Jets, was selected as a substitute.<\/p>\n

The squad was voted for by fellow professional players through the PFA and includes 18 players plus a coach.<\/p>\n

Auckland\u2019s selections formed part of a strong New Zealand influence across the competition this season.<\/p>\n

Randall scored consistently during the regular season and established himself as one of the club\u2019s most dangerous attacking threats, while de Vries became a key figure in defence and set-piece delivery.<\/p>\n

Cosgrove\u2019s goals helped drive Auckland to the grand final in the club\u2019s inaugural campaign.<\/p>\n

Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares was named captain of the side after receiving the most votes from fellow professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being part of the professional football community in Australia means the world to me, so to be named captain of the Team of the Season feels very humbling and honestly quite surreal,\u201d Devenish-Meares said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be recognised by my peers in this way is something I\u2019m incredibly grateful for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle coach Mark Milligan was voted coach of the season after guiding the Jets to two trophies in his first year in charge.<\/p>\n

PFA Team of the Season<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper
Harrison Devenish-Meares (Sydney).<\/p>\n

Defenders
Nathaniel Atkinson (Melbourne City), Panagiotis Kikianis (Adelaide United), Mark Natta (Newcastle Jets), Francis de Vries (Auckland FC).<\/p>\n

Midfielders
Ethan Alagich (Adelaide United), Max Burgess (Newcastle Jets), Juan Mata (Melbourne Victory).<\/p>\n

Forwards
Clayton Taylor (Newcastle Jets), Sam Cosgrove (Auckland FC), Jesse Randall (Auckland FC).<\/p>\n

Substitutes
James Delianov (Newcastle Jets), Daniel Wilmering (Newcastle Jets), Aziz Behich (Melbourne City), Lachlan Bayliss (Newcastle Jets), Paul Okon-Engstler (Sydney), Eli Adams (Newcastle Jets), Marcus Younis (Melbourne City).<\/p>\n

Head coach
Mark Milligan (Newcastle Jets)<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Saturday May 23, 2026<\/p>\n

Grand final<\/p>\n

Auckland FC v Sydney
Go Media Stadium, Auckland, 8.10pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Sky TV to provide delayed free-to-air coverage of men\u2019s A-League final<\/a> >>>><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Three-time Referee of the Year to take charge of men\u2019s A-League grand final<\/a> >>>><\/p>\n

This story was first published on May 20, 2026.<\/p>\n

More football stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland FC trio Francis de Vries, Jesse Randall and Sam Cosgrove have been named in the Professional Footballers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[137630,73757,223095,223096,223097,111,43,139,69,223098],"class_list":["post-436038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-a-league","tag-auckland-fc","tag-francis-de-vries","tag-jesse-randall","tag-lachlan-bayliss","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sam-cosgrove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}