Jayden Smith

Central Defender - Wellington Phoenix
19 Jun 2028
Monday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 5 Transfers 1 Relations Events 70 Awards Matches History

Marked for Jayden Smith

97 Edition

The Wellington Phoenix Gazette

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets5 Jun 2028

Fee done, terms next for Alou Kuol

Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers have settled on $1.4M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Market5 Jun 2028

Matthew Grimaldi hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wellington Phoenix can pretend not to have heard.

Market5 Jun 2028

Eyes on Joel Anasmo again

The phone has started ringing about Joel Anasmo again, and this time the name on the line is Sydney FC. Wellington Phoenix are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets5 Jun 2028

Door shut on Josh Brillante

Wellington Phoenix asked and Western Sydney Wanderers said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout5 Jun 2028

The manager makes an example of Matthew Grimaldi

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout5 Jun 2028

Joel Anasmo asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout5 Jun 2028

A promise honoured for Ramy Najjarine

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Wellington Phoenix told Ramy Najjarine something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout5 Jun 2028

Quadri Liameed gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Quadri Liameed is on it.

Boardroom5 Jun 2028

The window opens at Wellington Phoenix

A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.

In brief

Back issues
95 Edition

The Wellington Phoenix Gazette

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad22 May 2028

Ramy Najjarine wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Wellington Phoenix know it.

The dugout22 May 2028

When it matters, Lukas Kelly-Heald plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout22 May 2028

Jayden Smith gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market22 May 2028

The Ifeanyi Eze talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wellington Phoenix know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout22 May 2028

Hosine Bility has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hosine Bility has written the date down.

The dugout22 May 2028

Aolin Zhang knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aolin Zhang trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

89 Edition

The Wellington Phoenix Gazette

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market10 Apr 2028

Joel Anasmo asks to leave Wellington Phoenix

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad10 Apr 2028

A falling-out at Wellington Phoenix

Sebastian Esposito and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Wellington Phoenix are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

No hiding place for Hosine Bility

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hosine Bility, and the manager let it.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

When it matters, Quadri Liameed plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

Ben Gibson knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ben Gibson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

50 Edition

The Wellington Phoenix Gazette

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market12 Jul 2027

Not going: James McGarry stays at Wellington Phoenix

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sydney FC had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market12 Jul 2027

Wellington Phoenix say no — this time

The offer from Adelaide United for Rafael Durán was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market12 Jul 2027

Joel Anasmo asks to leave Wellington Phoenix

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Transfer targets12 Jul 2027

Too dear: Wellington Phoenix walk away from Benjamin Acquah

$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Javor-Matis were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Transfer targets12 Jul 2027

Ryusei Sato will not be coming to Wellington Phoenix

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Urawa Reds is saying, and nobody at Wellington Phoenix is enjoying the guessing.

Transfer targets12 Jul 2027

Wellington Phoenix make their move for Ben Gibson

$370.0K on the table at Macarthur FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets12 Jul 2027

Wellington Phoenix make their move for Vinko Stanisic

$250.0K on the table at Adelaide United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

The dugout12 Jul 2027

No hiding place for Panos Armenakas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Panos Armenakas, and the manager let it.

Squad12 Jul 2027

Jayden Smith signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jayden Smith commits to Wellington Phoenix for another 4 years.

In brief

26 Edition

The Wellington Phoenix Gazette

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad25 Jan 2027

Benjamin Halloran damages knee ligaments — 17 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match20 Jan 2027

The small margins put Wellington Phoenix out

Out, 0‑1 to Melbourne City, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market25 Jan 2027

Manjrekar James hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wellington Phoenix can pretend not to have heard.

Squad25 Jan 2027

A one-man rearguard from Alby Kelly-Heald

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market25 Jan 2027

Wellington Phoenix turn down Ba for Tze Xuan Loke

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad25 Jan 2027

The step up is real for Jayden Smith

At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Transfer targets25 Jan 2027

Wellington Phoenix rebuffed over Dean Bosnjak

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Macarthur FC have kept their man, and Wellington Phoenix go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces25 Jan 2027

Wellington Phoenix supporters have found a favourite in Alby Kelly-Heald

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alby Kelly-Heald has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings25 Jan 2027

James McGarry was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief