The Wellington Phoenix have finally completed their 20-man roster, a day before the start of the new A-League season, with the signing of midfielder Cameron Lindsay.
The 18-year old Kiwi who played at the recent Under-20 World Cup in Colombia arrives at the club this week from Blackburn Rovers where he has spent the past three years as an academy player. Lindsay won't be available for the season opener against Gold Coast United on Sunday as he waits for international clearance.
He is one of three under-21 players each A-League club must have on their books, and regulations also dictate clubs must have a minimum of 20 players and a maximum of 23.
The Phoenix will hand a trial to English-born American striker Alex Smith with a view to signing him as an injury replacement for Mirjan Pavlovic, who is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken arm. It's thought that if Smith, who was paid out by Gold Coast once they signed Dutch striker Maceo Rigters, proves his worth he might earn a longer contract to replace Lucas Pantelis who is out for the season with a serious knee injury.
A-League clubs had a longer-than-usual off-season as A-League bosses shifted the start of the season to October to avoid the NRL and AFL finals, but the Phoenix needed every day of that time because of the uncertainty around their ownership. A new consortium of seven owners headed by Rob Morrison and Gareth Morgan took over from Terry Serepisos a fortnight ago.
