Recently, Luke Brooke-Smith was reminded of a memory. A year ago, the teenager was watching Wellington Phoenix face Melbourne City as a fan.
Fast forward 12 months and the 16-year-old is a history-maker looking to build on his memorable A-Leagues debut.
“Last year I got a memory. This time a year ago, I was watching Phoenix playing Melbourne City at Go Media Stadium,” Brooke-Smith told reporters ahead of Saturday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 10 clash against Newcastle Jets at Sky Stadium.
“I was on the sideline asking (Alex) Rufer for a photo and stuff.
Brooke-Smith came off the bench with 15 minutes remaining against the Wanderers at CommBank Stadium in Round 9.
Asked if he knew a debut was incoming, the teen said: “During the week, I was getting a lot of chances and patterns to sort of express myself. So I knew maybe Chief wanted to play me.
“I was thinking five or 10 minutes, and I was warming up, and I hear people shouting, Luke, Luke, Luke. Literally within two minutes I had my shirt on, and I remember running on the field for the first 10 seconds I was like, can’t believe this is happening. Like three minutes ago I warming up, and I got like, 20 minutes. Stoked with that.”
The New Zealand youth international is a highly-rated talent with a fascinating backstory; an eight-time national age-group BMX champion, Brooke-Smith was playing in New Zealand’s regional leagues just five months ago.
Brooke-Smith is a graduate of the RH3 Football Academy, led by former Phoenix head coach Rickie Herbert. In a high school project this year, Brooke-Smith listed earning a scholarship contract at a professional club as one of his aims for 2025 – and has made that dream a reality before the turn of the New Year.
“For me, I love the pressure and I love sort of the crowd. Like I’m warming up, and people are like, ‘oh you suck’ and stuff like that,” he said.
“I just want to go out there and play football and make it enjoyable for everyone to watch around me.”
