Deklan Terrence Wynne (born 20 March 1995) is a New Zealand

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. He was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa, and emigrated to New Zealand in January 2010, aged 14. The eligibility of his inclusion in an Olympic qualifying game in 2015 was successfully challenged and cost New Zealand the chance of participating in the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

Club career

Wynne signed for Wanderers SC from

East Coast Bays AFC East Coast Bays is a football club located on Auckland's North Shore. The club has won the Chatham Cup and the NRFL Premier Division three times. History East Coast Bays were founded following a public meeting held at the Progressive Hall (si ...

in 2013. On 13 August 2015 Wynne signed with

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

side Whitecaps FC 2. Whitecaps traded Wynne to Colorado Rapids on 21 December 2017, in exchange for $100,000 of Targeted Allocation Money. Wynne was released by Colorado following their 2020 season. Wynne signed with Phoenix Rising FC of the USL Championship on January 14, 2021. Wynne was loaned to fellow USL Championship side

OKC Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. History Oklahoma City businessman ...

on 1 July 2021. On 28 January 2022, Wynne signed with Detroit City ahead of their inaugural USL Championship season. On 3 January 2023, Wynne made the move to USL Chmpionship side

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

on a multi-year deal. He left Charleston following the 2023 season.

International career

Wynne first represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at senior level, his international debut came against

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in November 2014 having been called up due to injuries to

Louis Fenton Louis Ferenc Puskas Fenton (born 3 April 1993) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays for National Premier Leagues Queensland club Lions FC. Early life Fenton, whose mother is Hungarian and whose father is a postman, is named afte ...

, and

Tom Doyle Thomas Joseph Doyle (born 30 June 1992) is a New Zealand international footballer who currently plays as a left back for Bay Olympic in the Northern League. Doyle made his senior professional debut for Wellington Phoenix FC in the 2014 FFA Cup ...

. Wynne provided the assist for Chris Wood to equalise at 1–1. He made further international appearances against Thailand four days later, and in March 2015, he played against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Wynne was selected for the New Zealand national under-20 team to play at the 2015 U-20 World Cup in May 2015. He played in all possible matches for New Zealand; three group stage games against Ukraine U-20, United States U-20, Myanmar U-20 and a Round of 16 loss against Portugal U-20. Two months later, Wynne was again selected by the New Zealand national under-23 team, known as the "Oly Whites" for the 2015 Pacific Games football tournament, he played in the final group stage game against

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. As non-Pacific Games Council members, New Zealand were not able to qualify for the Pacific Games semi-final, but as members of FIFA and IOC were able to qualify for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

qualifying semi-final stage. Wynne played in the semi-final, which New Zealand won 2–0 against

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. After the game, a protest was lodged by the opponents on the basis that Wynne was not an eligible player. A 3–0 victory was awarded to Vanuatu who went on to lose the Olympic qualifying final stage against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

on penalties after a 0–0 draw.

Eligibility

Vanuatu formally protested the eligibility of Wynne following their 2–0 loss at the semi-final stage of the Olympic Qualifying section in which Wynne featured. OFC awarded a 3–0 victory to Vanuatu after finding that Wynne was ineligible to play in the Olympic qualifying rounds.

New Zealand Football New Zealand Football is the governing body for the sport of association football in New Zealand. It oversees the seven New Zealand Football federations, as well as the New Zealand national football team (nicknamed the "All Whites"), the nationa ...

announced that they would be challenging the decision, claiming that the Pacific Games Council confirmed the eligibility of the squad in advance of the tournament and that they acted in "good faith". To be eligible for the New Zealand representative team, Wynne, or a parent or grandparent would need to have been born in New Zealand, or he would have needed to have become a New Zealand citizen before the age of 18 – the age when FIFA's requirement for a player to live on the territory of the football association for five years would take effect. An appeal to the OFC against their expulsion from Olympic qualifying was rejected in October 2015. In January 2016, New Zealand Football successfully applied for an exemption from the FIFA eligibility requirements, making Wynne eligible to play for New Zealand.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne, Deklan Living people 1995 births South African emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand men's association footballers Soccer players from Johannesburg Men's association football defenders Wanderers Special Club players Whitecaps FC 2 players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Colorado Rapids players Phoenix Rising FC players OKC Energy FC players Detroit City FC players Charleston Battery players New Zealand Football Championship players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players New Zealand men's under-20 international footballers New Zealand men's under-23 international footballers New Zealand men's international footballers 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States