C. Lewis

#23 CLAYTON LEWIS BIO – 12/2/97

> History

Lewis joined the Phoenix in October 2020 from reigning national champions Auckland City FC, boasting a large amount of age-group and senior international experience.

The midfielder made his All Whites debut at the age of 18 in an international friendly against South Korea in March 2015. He went on to play all three of the Junior All Whites’ group matches at the U-20 World Cup in New Zealand later that year.

Lewis captained the New Zealand U-20 side at the 2017 World Cup and then started two of the All Whites’ matches at the Confederations Cup in Russia, scoring New Zealand’s only goal of the tournament against Mexico.

It helped secure him a contract with Scunthorpe in England’s League One after two seasons playing for Auckland City.

Lewis played 23 times for ‘The Iron’ before re-joining the Navy Blues for the 2019/20 national league. He scored two goals and created three others to help Auckland City win the Covid-hit league.

He quickly established himself as an integral member of the Phoenix, playing all 26 matches in his first A-League season with his hometown club, starting 24 of them.

Lewis scored two goals, with the second coming in his first match in Wellington in front of a Phoenix regular season record crowd of 24,105 fans.

That came days after he re-signed with the club through until the end of the 2022/23 season.

All Whites coach Danny Hay took notice of Lewis’ performances and named him in the New Zealand squad for the Tokyo Olympics. He started in three of the Oly Whites’ four matches, playing all 120 minutes of the penalty shoot-out defeat to Japan in the round of 16.

> 2021/22 A-League Season

Lewis was a key member of the Phoenix XI for the first four months of the season. He missed just two matches because of All Whites commitments.

He played a key role in the team’s memorable FFA Cup run, scoring a crucial penalty in the shoot-out victory over Melbourne City after playing all 120 minutes of the dramatic quarter-final.

Lewis was also influential in the Phoenix’s seven-match unbeaten run in the A-League which lifted the team off the bottom of the ladder and into finals contention.

After a three and a half year absence, he was recalled to the national team for a friendly against Jordan in January and then started the All Whites’ first two matches at the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in March.

Unfortunately Lewis tore ligaments in his ankle in his first game back from international duty and was forced to sit out the Phoenix’s next nine matches, including their two matches in New Zealand.

He made his return off the bench in the team’s final regular season match and started the elimination final defeat to eventual A-League champions Western United.

Lewis was named in the All Whites squad for the intercontinental playoff against Costa Rica and started the 1-0 defeat.

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