Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The incredible story of the women’s Phoenix football team

So I once heard someone say the best stories you could hope to read in the newspapers are always found in the sports sections—and I was reminded of that by the incredible story of the women’s Phoenix football team. These ladies are going to play in the grand final of their A-League competition, which is remarkable when you consider that, in two of the past five years, they’ve finished as the wooden spoon team. But why they’ve made the grand final is what makes the story truly incredible. It’s their coach, Bev Priestman. She seems to be the person who has turned the team around. Two years ago—remember this—she was their evil nemesis. She was the head coach of the Canadian football team during the 2024 Olympics and she was caught spying on our team, the New Zealand women’s side, using a drone. And in that New Zealand team were many players who are in this Phoenix squad. That drone spying turned into an international scandal and the coach lost her job. She needed a new one so she moved to New Zealand, where her wife is a football player and she even considered buying a coffee cart and leaving football altogether. But the Phoenix saw an opportunity. They could never normally attract a coach of her calibre, yet she needed a way back. So they gave her the job—and now the team is in the grand final. Isn’t that an amazing story? You can call it karma if you like. The women she once wronged have ended up benefiting from it. She hurt them but now she’s helping them. She’s redeemed herself. That story is so remarkable it’s only one plot twist away from being worthy of a Netflix series—and that twist would be if the team actually wins the final. As they say, doesn’t sport give us the best stories about ourselves? LISTEN ABOVE

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The incredible story of the women’s Phoenix football team is an episode from Larry Williams Drive by NZME.

This episode is 1:48 long.

This episode was published on May 15, 2026.

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