Ben Old

Ben Old
Old playing for Saint-Étienne 2025
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Craig Old
Date of birth (2002-08-13) 13 August 2002 (age 24)
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Saint-Étienne
Number 11
Youth career
–2016 Hibiscus Coast
2017 North Shore United
2018–2019 Wellington Phoenix
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2022 Wellington Phoenix Reserves 26 (4)
2021 → Lower Hutt (loan) 6 (0)
2021–2024 Wellington Phoenix 71 (7)
2024– Saint-Étienne 48 (1)
International career‡
2018–2019 New Zealand U-17 4 (1)
2023– New Zealand U-23 2 (1)
2022– New Zealand 30 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  New Zealand
OFC Nations Cup
Winner2024 Fiji/Vanuatu
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 September 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 5 October 2026 (UTC)

Benjamin Craig Old (born 13 August 2002) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ligue 2 club Saint-Étienne and the New Zealand national team.

Early life

Old began his sports career as a golfer; he was given his first golf club when he was two. Old was considered a former child golf prodigy, playing in his first international golf tournament at the age of seven. He had travelled to the United States to play against other child prodigies from around the world in Las Vegas, Pinehurst and San Diego.

Club career

Wellington Phoenix

Old playing for Wellington in March 2022

Old originally lived in Auckland before he moved to Wellington and joined the Wellington Phoenix Football Academy in 2018. While not an official member of Wellington Phoenix's senior squad, Old had trained with the team before they went to Australia. Old joined the team again for training when they returned, making his debut as a substitute in the Phoenix's 3–0 win over Western United and nutmegging his defender with his first touch.

Old scored his first goal for the Wellington Phoenix during a 3–0 victory over the Brisbane Roar on 30 March 2022.

Saint-Étienne

On 9 July 2024, Old signed for Ligue 1 club Saint-Étienne on a four-year contract with an option for a fifth year.

On 17 August 2024, Old played his first game with Saint-Étienne, a 0-1 defeat against AS Monaco FC in the first day of the 2024–25 Ligue 1, becoming the first New Zealander to start a game in Ligue 1, and the second to even play.

On 13 September 2024, he played his third Ligue 1 game, a 1-0 win against Lille, beating Bill Tuiloma’s tally of two games and setting a new record for a New Zealander in Ligue 1.

International career

New Zealand U-17s

Old was part of the New Zealand U-17 team that won the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship and qualified for 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil. Old played in two games at the World Cup, first coming on as a sub in New Zealand's opening 1–2 loss to Angola before getting a start in the team's 1–0 win over Canada.

Olympic Games

On 25 June 2021, he was named in New Zealand reserve squad for the 2020 Olympics. Though he was actually travelled to Japan, he didn't play any game.

New Zealand

Old was named in the 30-man New Zealand squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Oceania qualifiers. He subsequently made his international debut on 19 March 2022, coming on as a substitute in the 67th minute during New Zealand's 1–0 victory against Papua New Guinea in the group stage.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 May 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Others Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 2019–20 Premiership 121——121
2020–21 133——133
2021 National League 00——00
2022 10——10
Total 2640000264
Lower Hutt (loan) 2021 National League 60——60
Wellington Phoenix 2020–21 A-League Men 1000—10
2021–22 2312010261
2022–23 1712000191
2023–24 2750020295
Total 6874030757
Saint-Étienne 2024–25 Ligue 1 13000—130
2025–26 Ligue 2 3012410335
2026–27 0000—00
Total 4312410465
Career total 13612643014516
  1. ↑ after Bill Tuiloma in 2015 with Marseille
  2. 1 2 Appearances in A-League Finals
  3. ↑ Appearances in Promotion & relegation play-off

International

As of match played 5 October 2026.
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
New Zealand 2022 2 0
2023 0 0
2024 10 1
2025 8 1
2026 10 1
Total 30 3
Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Old goal.
No.DateVenue CapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.21 June 2024VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu 6 Vanuatu4–04–02024 OFC Men's Nations Cup
2.15 November 2025Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States 19 Colombia1–11–2Friendly
3.5 October 2026Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan30 Japan1–11–22026 Kirin Cup Soccer

Honours

New Zealand

Individual

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Men's Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024: Squad list" (PDF). FIFA. 24 July 2024. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 Rollo, Phillip (23 May 2021). "Academy player Ben Old makes Wellington Phoenix debut in front of 24,105 people". Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rollo, Phillip (31 January 2021). "Former child golf prodigy Ben Old striving towards Wellington Phoenix contract". Stuff.
  4. ↑ Rollo, Phillip (25 May 2021). "Ben Old feeling more at home with Wellington Phoenix after surprise debut". Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Wellington Phoenix FC (31 March 2022). "Men's match review: Wellington Phoenix vs. Brisbane Roar" (Press release). Wellington Phoenix FC. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  6. ↑ "Ben Old rejoint l'AS Saint-Étienne !" (in French). AS Saint-Étienne. 9 July 2024. Archived from the original on 22 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Monaco 1-0 ASSE, Ligue 1". L’Équipe. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "Ben Old, un Néo-Zélandais sur le green". So Foot. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  9. ↑ "ASSE 1-0 Lille, Ligue 1". L’Équipe. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  10. ↑ "Bill Tuiloma : " Portland, c'est un peu l'OM de la MLS "". So Foot. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  11. ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019 – News – History for Solomons, New Zealand continue run". FIFA. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "U-17 players looking to impress". New Zealand Football. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "Figueira names quality World Cup squad". New Zealand Football. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 – Matches – New Zealand – Angola". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  15. ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 – Matches – Canada – New Zealand". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  16. ↑ "Squads named for Tokyo 2020". NZ Football. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ↑ "Squad named for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Oceania Qualifiers". New Zealand Football. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  18. ↑ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™". FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  19. ↑ Benjamin Old at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  20. ↑ "Summary - Premiership - New Zealand - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "Summary - Premiership - New Zealand - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  22. ↑ "Benjamin Old (Wellington Phoenix) 2020-21". Ultimate A-League. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  23. 1 2 3 "Benjamin Old (Midfielder), Wellington Phoenix". Ultimate A League. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  24. 1 2 "Ben Old". National Football Teams.
  25. ↑ "A-League All Stars Men lock in final 21-player squad to take on Newcastle United this Friday". A-League Men. 20 May 2024. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.