Among the notable arrivals are Philippines internationals at Brisbane Roar, a major homecoming for New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley at Wellington Phoenix and a series of North American signings that could reshape several squads.
The new campaign is the league’s 19th season, with clubs continuing to adjust their squads following an off-season marked by player movement and uncertainty at several franchises.
Adelaide United
Adelaide United have appointed forward Adriana Taranto as captain after she helped the club reach the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The 27-year-old has two senior international caps and has previously played in the A-League Women for Melbourne Victory and Western United.
The Reds have added two North American defenders in Jamaican international Tianna Harris and American Bella Yakel. Harris, 26, holds dual Jamaican and Canadian citizenship and becomes the first senior Jamaican international to join an A-League Women club. She began her professional career with French side FC Fleury 91 in 2023 before moving to Portugal to play for SF Damaiense. In the United States, she played for Kent State University and was named USL W League Defender of the Year with Minnesota Aurora in 2023. She received her first senior Jamaica cap in June in a friendly victory over Panama.
Yakel, 22, joined Adelaide after a stint with the Portland Thorns during their 2026 NWSL pre-season. She played at Texas A&M in 2025 after three seasons at the University of Portland, making 74 Division I appearances, including 66 starts.
Another American-born addition is forward Tessa Salvestrin, 22, who arrives after two seasons with Portugal’s SCU Torreense. She won the Portuguese Cup in 2024-25, followed by the Portuguese Super Cup and League Cup in 2025-26. Before moving to Europe in early 2025, she played for St Mary’s College in California.
Defender Claudia Cicco, 21, has signed a two-year deal after leaving Newcastle Jets. She has also played for Wellington Phoenix and represented the Young Matildas. Cicco said Adelaide’s culture and commitment to developing young players made the club the right place for her next step, adding that she hoped the move would help her work towards representing the senior Matildas.
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane have recruited two Philippines internationals who grew up in the United States: midfielder Katrina Guillou and central defender Hali Long, both 31.
Guillou joins from USL Super League side DC Power FC, having previously played in Finland, Switzerland and Sweden after completing her college career at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She was part of the Philippines squad that made history at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the country’s first appearance at the tournament. She was also named Philippine Women’s Football Association Player of the Year that year. By March 2026, she had accumulated 46 senior caps and 13 international goals, and she has also represented the Philippines in futsal.
Long arrives as the most-capped player in Philippines women’s football history, with 109 appearances and 22 goals. She started every match during the team’s 2023 World Cup campaign, which included fixtures against Switzerland, New Zealand and Norway.
After playing college football at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Long spent six seasons with Philippines club Kaya FC-Iloilo. She also played for Thailand’s BGC-College of Asian Scholars during the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League campaign before remaining with the side for its domestic season.
BGC won the 2026 Thai title unbeaten, recording 13 victories and one draw. Long made 10 appearances and scored twice, helping the team record seven clean sheets. The championship also secured the club another place in the 2026-27 AFC Women’s Champions League.
Brisbane have also signed Isabel Hodgson, 30, a former Australian under-19 international who began playing for Adelaide United in 2013. The move represents her first professional spell outside South Australia.
Canberra United
Canberra United have added young local talent in Tehya Aspland, 17, who has joined from Canberra Olympic and earned her first senior A-League contract. A Junior Matilda, she was named in Australia’s squad for the 2026 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Midfielder Caley Tallon-Henniker, 20, arrives from Sydney FC, where she scored on her A-League Women debut and won the 2023-24 Championship.
New Zealand international Kelli Brown, 25, has joined from Newcastle Jets. She has also played for Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory, and made her senior debut for the Football Ferns in 2025. By the end of May 2026, she had recorded 13 international appearances and five goals.
Central Coast Mariners
Goalkeeper Morgan Aquino, 25, is a major addition for Central Coast after two seasons with USL Super League side DC Power FC. Her return to Australia follows a period of uncertainty at the Mariners, who were run by the league last season before new owners were found and several players departed.
A Perth native, Aquino made her A-League Women debut for Perth Glory in January 2020 and later played for Brisbane Roar. Her standout 2023-24 campaign with Perth saw her play every match and set a league record with 126 saves, achieving an 81.1 per cent save rate. She won the A-League Women Golden Glove and was selected for both the Professional Footballers Australia and league teams of the season.
Aquino was called into the senior Matildas squad in November 2024 and was subsequently named in Australia’s squad for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, although she has yet to earn her first senior cap.
Mariners head coach Dean Heffernan praised her professionalism and early integration into the squad, expressing confidence that the goalkeeper could continue developing at the club.
Central Coast have also brought back defender Alexia Karrys-Stahl, 22, who previously made 16 appearances for the Mariners in 2023-24. She has since played in the New South Wales NPL Women’s competition and represented Australia in futsal, with a brief spell at Indonesian club MSP Merdeka Juara earlier in 2026.
Forward Kiara De Domizio, 24, arrives after spending last season with Canberra United. She previously played for Western United, where she became known for making an impact off the bench, including a stoppage-time winning header against Sydney FC in 2024-25 with her first touch after coming on.
Defender Rebecca Lake, 27, joins from Vietnamese club Thái Nguyên T&T, where she became the club’s first foreign player earlier this year. The New Zealand youth and futsal international has played for Wellington Phoenix and Canada’s Vancouver Rise, and previously captained Canterbury United Pride during their run of three consecutive New Zealand national league titles, completed in 2020. She was drafted into the Football Ferns squad in October 2025 but has yet to make her senior debut.
Melbourne City
Reigning Premiership and league champions Melbourne City have signed Young Matildas midfielder Avaani Prakash, 19, from Central Coast. She has made 41 A-League Women appearances since her professional debut in November 2023 and represented Australia at the 2024 Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia and the AFC Under-20 Women’s Asian Cup in Thailand earlier this year.
Prakash is also eligible to represent Fiji and India through FIFA’s parentage rules but has stated her ambition to play senior international football for Australia.
City director of football Michael Petrillo said the club had monitored Prakash for some time and believed her existing A-League and youth international experience, combined with her potential at 19, made her a strong addition.
Japanese midfielder Momo Hayashi, 31, has also joined on a one-year deal after leaving Brisbane Roar. She made 38 appearances and scored 10 goals across two seasons with Brisbane.
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory have brought back Philippines international defender Angela Beard, who previously played 54 matches across two spells with the club. She has also represented Brisbane Roar and Western United in Australia, alongside spells in Iceland, Denmark and Sweden. Beard captained Victory’s 2020-21 championship-winning side and later reached the Grand Final with Western United in its first season.
Born in Australia, she played three senior international friendlies for the Matildas in 2021 before switching allegiance to the Philippines ahead of the 2023 World Cup. She has scored twice in 30 appearances for the Philippines.
American-born midfielder Skye Leach, 22, has also signed for Victory. Capped by the Philippines in 2026, she made her international debut at the Asian Games in Japan and scored her first international goal in a 2-0 win over Hong Kong in September. She played college football at Baylor University and the University of Kentucky before joining Minnesota Aurora in the USL W League.
Goalkeeper Ayana Aoyagi, 26, arrives after spending last season with Melbourne City, where she won the Premiership and league title. Born in Queensland, she has previously played for Brisbane Roar and at several American colleges. In 2025, she won the Nike FC Cup with NPL Women’s Victoria side South Melbourne.
Victory coach Jeff Hopkins said Aoyagi’s familiarity with the league would strengthen the club’s goalkeeping group, which includes A-League Women Goalkeeper of the Year Courtney Newbon.
New Zealand international defender Claudia Bunge, 26, returns for her sixth season with Victory and her third consecutive campaign at the club. She has made 92 appearances across her two previous stints, won A-League Grand Finals in 2020-21 and 2021-22, and represented New Zealand at the 2023 World Cup and the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.
With the next World Cup approaching, Bunge said she wanted to keep competing for silverware and believed Victory offered the right environment.
The club added Swiss youth international Anna Sutter, 24, on October 14. Born in Sydney, Sutter spent the past two seasons with Swedish club Eskilstuna United, making 47 competitive appearances and helping the team win the Elitettan title and promotion in 2025.
Newcastle Jets
Veteran midfielder Cass Davis, 32, has re-signed for a 14th consecutive season with her hometown Newcastle Jets. Since making her debut in 2013, she has made 185 appearances, placing her third on the A-League Women all-time list behind Canberra United’s Michelle Heyman and Tameka Yallop, who has joined Wellington Phoenix.
Davis said representing Newcastle and its community remained an honour and that she was excited to help build the new-look squad and push for a finals place.
English-born midfielder Libby Copus-Brown, 28, has also re-signed. She has made more than 100 appearances across two spells with the Jets and spent the 2022-23 season with Lewes in England.
Attacker Akeisha Sandhu, 27, joins from Essendon Royals after playing in Victoria’s NPL Women’s competition. She previously captained South Melbourne to a league title in 2023, scoring directly from a corner in the club’s upset victory over FC Bulleen Lions. In 2025, she helped South Melbourne win the Nike FC Cup, converting the decisive penalty in the shootout against Heidelberg. Away from football, she is a qualified osteopath and clinical lead at AEM Health & Performance, bringing experience in high-performance healthcare and player preparation.
Newcastle have recruited two American players from western US colleges: midfielder Alex Klos, who played at California-Berkeley after two seasons at Santa Clara, and winger Cam Valladares, who spent the past two years at Arizona State following a spell at the University of Washington.
Valladares made a strong impression at Arizona State with her pace, direct running and ability to beat defenders on the right wing. Her college coach, Graham Winkworth, told Tim Grainey that Newcastle offered the best professional opportunity she had received. Valladares could prove an influential addition to the Jets’ attack.
American forward Allie Thornton, 28, joined in September from USL Super League club Dallas Trinity, where she scored 17 goals in 53 matches across the league’s first two seasons. Her previous European experience includes RSC Anderlecht in Belgium and spells in France with Issy FF and Le Havre.
Goalkeeper Claire Henninger, 25, arrives from Portuguese side Damaiense, where she spent two seasons, after playing college football for Western Washington University.
Newcastle will be without forward Lauren Allan, 29, who has retired. A local player who began her career with the Jets in 2019, Allan made 116 A-League appearances and scored 24 goals, including three in 19 matches during 2025-26.
Perth Glory
Perth Glory have signed defender Ella Buchanan, 22, after three seasons with Western Sydney Wanderers. She made 46 A-League Women appearances for the club, scoring four goals and adding three assists. In 2025-26, she played 20 matches, made 68 tackles and 42 interceptions, and completed 403 successful passes.
Glory have also awarded a scholarship contract to 17-year-old defender Sakura Leong. She trained with the senior squad last season before producing a standout campaign for Hyundai NTC in the NPL Women’s Western Australia competition. Her performances earned her a call-up to the Junior Matildas and selection for Australia’s 2026 Under-17 World Cup squad in Morocco.
Sydney FC
Sydney FC have recruited American midfielder Kenzie Roling, 23, and defender Kiley Dulaney, 24.
Roling arrives after five seasons at the University of Iowa, where she scored 14 goals and supplied 11 assists in 87 appearances, including 75 starts.
Dulaney has experience with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit and USL Super League side Dallas Trinity, where she made 16 appearances. During her college career at the University of Arkansas, she played 78 matches and scored nine goals.
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix have made one of the off-season’s most significant signings by bringing New Zealand international forward Indiah-Paige Riley, 24, home on a two-year deal. The move reinforces the club’s position as a destination for Football Ferns players returning from overseas, following goalkeeper Victoria Esson’s arrival last season.
Born in Auckland and raised in Australia, Riley was a youth international for Australia and earned one senior Matildas cap in 2021 before switching allegiance to New Zealand under FIFA eligibility rules. She represented the Football Ferns at the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.
Riley has played in several European competitions, representing Danish club Fortuna Hjørring, PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands and, most recently, Crystal Palace in England’s Women’s Super League. She scored twice in 29 appearances for Palace over two seasons.
Phoenix head coach Bev Priestman said Riley’s experience in England and other European leagues would add quality and energy to the team. She also pointed to the growing number of New Zealand internationals playing regularly for the club.
Riley said she was excited to play in front of New Zealand supporters week after week. She had frequently asked Phoenix players about the club while on international duty and was encouraged by their accounts of the environment and facilities. After watching Wellington’s success last season, she said she hoped to help the team go one step further and win the title.
She was particularly impressed by the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport, Wellington’s training base, describing its gym, recovery facilities, pitches and changing rooms as comparable to those at Crystal Palace.
Riley made her A-League debut with Brisbane Roar as a 17-year-old in 2018-19, scoring three goals in 20 appearances over two seasons. After playing in Denmark, she returned to Brisbane for the second half of 2022-23 before moving to PSV. Her return gives the Phoenix an experienced international forward ahead of the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Wellington have also signed American wingback Kam Pickett, 24, who played college football at Pepperdine and Clemson before her first professional season with Icelandic side Fram Reykjavik. She is the younger sister of Kiki Pickett, who plays for NWSL club San Diego Wave FC and has been in the American league since 2021.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Western Sydney Wanderers have recruited Colombian international forward Elexa Bahr, 28, who was born in the United States and played college football at the University of South Carolina. Her professional career has taken her through Spain, Colombia and the United States before a move to Italy’s Genoa for the 2025-26 season, when she recorded one goal and one assist in 20 matches.
Bahr represented Colombia at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when the team reached the quarter-finals, and was part of the squad that finished runners-up at the 2022 Copa América Femenina.
Midfielder Sofia Sakalis, 24, joins after spells with Melbourne City, Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory. She made her A-League debut for City at just 15 in November 2017 and has since recorded 82 league appearances, five goals and four assists. In Victoria’s NPL Women’s competition, she has made more than 120 senior appearances and won Football Victoria’s Gold Medal as the competition’s best player in 2022. She was also part of two consecutive Premiership-winning campaigns with Melbourne City.
Australian midfielder Isabella Chidiac arrives after four seasons at the University of Denver. A product of the Football NSW Institute pathway, she represented New South Wales at national championships and took part in Young Matildas camps and matches in 2021. She previously trained with the Wanderers’ A-League Women squad during the 2021-22 season.
The club’s young forward Talia Younis, 17, has been given an opportunity to train with Bayern Munich and Liverpool. Wanderers football director Mal Impiombato described the experience as an important next step for the highly regarded youth international, saying it would expose her to two of the world’s leading football environments. Younis remains under contract with Western Sydney through the end of the 2026-27 season.
Norwegian defender Silje Bjørneboe, 26, has joined on loan from Stabæk, where she has spent almost a decade since arriving in August 2017. She recently reached 200 appearances across all competitions for the Norwegian club, becoming only the fifth player in its history to reach that milestone. She has represented Norway at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels.
Midfielder Rhianna Pollicina, 29, has returned to the club where her career began in 2014-15. After years in the state leagues, she returned to the A-League with Newcastle Jets in 2020-21, winning the club’s Player of the Year award. She subsequently joined Melbourne City, making 85 appearances and scoring 29 goals across four seasons. She was part of two consecutive Premiership-winning campaigns and earned three selections in the Professional Footballers Australia Team of the Season. After scoring seven goals for Melbourne Victory in 2025-26, she now returns to Western Sydney.
Goalkeeper Sarah Langman, 31, also returns to the Wanderers after joining from Central Coast Mariners. She won the A-League Women Championship with the Mariners in 2024-25 and was named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year. Langman previously played for Western Sydney in 2020-21 and 2021-22, as well as representing Adelaide United and Perth Glory.
The Wanderers have added two young goalkeepers in October. Sofia Fante, 18, arrives from Sydney FC, where she made two substitute appearances last season and was involved with Australia’s Junior Matildas. Charlotte Church, 16, has been promoted from the Wanderers Academy after helping the club’s under-23 side win the 2026 New South Wales NPL Championship. They defeated Illawarra Stingrays in the Grand Final on penalties after a 1-1 draw across 120 minutes.
Head coach Geoff Abrahams said both goalkeepers had shown considerable potential and that the club looked forward to supporting their development.
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