Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
'This seemed like the perfect place': Marquee Auckland FC signing embraces new challenge
Jaxin Daniels • August 21st, 2025 9:00 am
Photo: Auckland FC
It’ll be quite a different footballing experience for Auckland FC’s newest signing Sam Cosgrove, as he swaps his long sleeves and beanies for singlets and sunscreen at his new club.
The Englishman has plied his trade in his homeland and Scotland, which has taken him all over Europe, but looks forward to the challenges that the move south will bring.
“The more that I looked into it, the more things popped out and appealed to me,” he told Sport Nation’s Studs Up! podcast.
“There’s no hiding from the success that this club has had in such a short period of time. It’s just something that really excited me.
“I felt myself ready for a new challenge, and this seemed like the perfect place to get that started.”
Cosgrove is a gifted athlete but insists he’s more than just a physical presence on the pitch.
“These days you have to be adaptable, you can’t just be a one trick pony.” he said.
“I excel with the ball coming up to me, being physical, roughing up defenders. But you’ve got to be able to do the other side of it.
“There's no hiding from the fact that this is a running league, the boys are immensely fit.
“I'd like to think that I've got that work ethic to adapt to this style of football, but also bring my own little touch, which is that aggressive, traditional number nine nature.
“Hopefully a few goals to come alongside that as well.”
Photo: Auckland FC
Cosgrove has been a professional for over a decade now, but at times, a journey the 28-year-old admits has seen its share of doubts and obstacles.
“It only seems like yesterday that I was ready to give up football at the age of 20," he admitted.
“There’s a lot of highs within football, but there’s a lot of things that people don’t see behind the scenes.
“The pressures, the fallouts, the constant mental attack that you get as a footballer. You’ve got to have that mental resilience.
“Sometimes it can be hard, but coming to places like this and just seeing the world, and joining teams like Auckland FC, makes it all worth it.”
Cosgrove has proven a classy finisher, peaking with a stretch of 47 goals in 103 games for Aberdeen back in his four-year stint with the Scottish club. It's that kind of form he hopes to rediscover in Auckland.
“Obviously that was a time in my life where I was younger.
“But I’ve said this before, I’m probably a much more well-rounded and better player now than I was then.
“As a centre forward you get judged by goals, and at times you find yourself in a rich vein of form or a pretty poor vein of form, sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
“But up in Aberdeen, everything was falling right, so I’m trying to replicate that form in front of goal here for sure.”
Sam Cosgrove during Europa League qualifier with Aberdeen in 2018 | Photo: Photosport
Joining the A-League Premiers comes with added expectations, something the staff outlined to Cosgrove ahead of his move.
“Obviously last year the success the club had in the first league format was incredible, I don’t think anyone would’ve seen that coming," Cosgrove noted. “But it was really that emphasis on going the next step.
“We’re in a good position at the moment to kick on in the Australian Cup. Then we’re into the league format. If we can go one step further, then I think everyone will be incredibly happy with that.”
Being a player in the brutal English game, Cosgrove looks forward to the lighter calendar ahead.
“It’s relentless in the UK, it’s three games every two weeks," he told Studs Up! hosts Riccardo Ball and Daniel McHardy.
“Maybe it’s a little more laid back in terms of the fixture list here. But from what I’ve seen, the intensity of the games and workload that the boys get through, there’s no shying away from how demanding this is still going to be.”
Cosgrove closed with a cheeky dig at co-host McHardy and Wellington Phoenix fan diehard Daniel McHardy over the prospect of entering the cauldron of the NZ derby rivalry in the capital.
“It was ruthless up in England derby rivalry, so I’m sure I’ll be able to take whatever you can give us.”
Subscribe to Sport Nation's weekly football podcast 'Studs Up' on Spotify.
