{"id":496854,"date":"2026-06-26T16:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496854\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:38:12","slug":"real-life-wellington-phoenix-coach-bev-priestman-on-her-redemption-from-scandal-to-a-league-grand-final-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496854\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Life: Wellington Phoenix coach Bev Priestman on her redemption from scandal to A-League Grand Final run"},"content":{"rendered":"Priestman said the scrutiny was difficult after a career that had seen her twice shortlisted for the Best Fifa Women\u2019s Coach award, and lead Canada\u2019s women\u2019s team to gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a big circle when you\u2019ve got a gold medal round your neck, but that circle very quickly disappears.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think what I did learn is there are some incredible people who were there, no matter what \u2026 your true circle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the scandal, the 40-year-old moved to New Zealand\u2019s South Island with her wife, former Football Fern Emma Humphries, and their son.<\/p>\n
Even after putting distance between themselves and the issue, Priestman said she still felt the pressure follow them across the world.<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) 3am in the middle of the night; you feel your phone go, and your heart\u2019s pounding \u2026 because of media stories or an investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d gone from the highest of highs and the roller coaster of high-performance sport, to a very isolated circle, no one other than your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the opportunity came to coach the Phoenix, she said \u201cit felt right\u201d, despite some raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember having a couple of conversations in the football world: people would say, \u2018I think you can do better\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
She described wanting to \u201cpay New Zealand back\u201d, having previously held roles at NZ Football that helped form her early career. The move also felt like a natural fit because it was where her wife Emma grew up.<\/p>\n
In July 2025, she took the job and, in her first season, guided the side to the A-League Grand Final, where they lost 3-1 to Melbourne City.<\/p>\n
Despite the defeat, they became the first New Zealand team to reach an A-League Grand Final.<\/p>\n
Priestman was later picked as Coach of the Year by Professional Footballers Australia, the representative body for players.<\/p>\n
Having come through the other side, Priestman told John Cowan she felt grateful to still be coaching and involved in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had it taken away from me for 12 months, and I think now I have that real appreciation for what I do every day. I just feel super lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
With another year left on her contract, she said she is well-placed to continue the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s taken a whole load of people across the country with us, right? <\/p>\n
\u201cI know this club has put a lot into the women\u2019s programme for a long time, and to reward that has been awesome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to get better every game. I\u2019m with people who are like-minded, who want to be successful \u2026 it is getting the best out of me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7.30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Priestman said the scrutiny was difficult after a career that had seen her twice shortlisted for the Best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,27500,9218,682,6190,9525,1320,3052,3592,5904,71,1437,5912,10813,114650,106,1364,6628,424,111,139,69,90,57694,190871,6115,52591,8145,9644,213,126931,61,52,2248],"class_list":["post-496854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-aleague","tag-before","tag-being","tag-bev","tag-caught","tag-coach","tag-faced","tag-fall","tag-final","tag-from","tag-global","tag-grace","tag-grand","tag-guiding","tag-head","tag-her","tag-historic","tag-life","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-phoenix","tag-priestman","tag-real","tag-redemption","tag-run","tag-scandal","tag-sports","tag-spying","tag-to","tag-wellington","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496854","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=496854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}