Nicholas Pennington (born 18 December 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Wellington Phoenix. His parents are both Australians.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicholas Pennington | ||
| Date of birth | (1998-12-18) 18 December 1998 (age 23) | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Wellington Phoenix | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–2016 | Cagliari | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2018 | Cagliari | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2021 | Olbia | 115 | (5) |
| 2021– | Wellington Phoenix | 24 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2021– | Australia U-23 | 3 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:31, 17 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 March 2022 | |||
Born in Rome, Pennington is of Australian descent through his father who originated from Perth. He has stated his interest in representing the Australia national team.[1]
Pennington began his career with Cagliari. He made his first appearance on the bench on 27 November 2016 in a Serie A match against Udinese and the second three days later in a match against Sampdoria in the fourth round of Coppa Italia, but both times he did not appear on the field.[2][3]
On 19 August 2017, he was loaned to Serie C club Olbia on a seasons-long loan deal.[4] On 4 October, Pennington made his debut for Olbia as a substitute replacing Enrico Geroni in the 28th minute of a 0–0 home draw against Pistoiese.[5] Four days later, on 8 October he played his first entire match for Olbia, a 2–1 home defeat against Robur Siena.[6] On 18 February 2018, Pennington scored his first professional goal in the 51st minute of a 2–1 away win over Pistoiese.[7] Pennington ended his loan to Olbia with 25 appearances, 1 goal and 1 assist.[8]
At the end of the loan period, Olbia signed Pennington outright for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract.[9] On 19 September he played his first match of the season in a 3–2 away win over Albissola, he was replaced by Joseph Tetteh after 75 minutes.[10] Four days later he played his first entire match of the season, a 2–1 home win over Aurora Pro Patria.[11]
On 30 July 2021, Pennington signed for New Zealand club Wellington Phoenix who play in the A-League.[12] Pennington scored his first Phoenix goal on 26 March 2022, a 97th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory over Perth Glory.[13]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Olbia (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie C | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||
| Olbia | 2018–19 | Serie C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 1 | ||||
Wellington Phoenix FC – current squad | |
|---|---|