Vaughan Coveny

Vaughan Coveny
	Coveny with Wellington Phoenix
Personal information
Full name	Vaughan Barry Coveny
Date of birth	13 December 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth	Wellington, New Zealand
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Newlands United
	Porirua Viard
Senior career*
Years	Team
1990	Waterside Karori
1991–1992	Miramar Rangers
1992–1993	Melbourne Knights
1993–1995	Wollongong Wolves
1995–2004	South Melbourne FC
2004	Essendon Royals
2005–2006	South Melbourne FC
2005–2006	→ Newcastle Jets (loan)
2006–2007	Newcastle Jets
2007–2009	Wellington Phoenix
2009	South Melbourne FC
2011	Essendon United FC
Total
International career
	New Zealand U23
1992–2006	New Zealand
Managerial career
2010–2011	South Melbourne
2011–2014	Melbourne Victory Youth (assistant)
2021–2024	Western United U21
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vaughan Coveny (born 13 December 1971) is a retired professional football player from New Zealand. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, mostly in Australia, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soccer League era. He was primarily a striker although he also played as a winger. After retiring from playing, he pursued a coaching career. He was recently the head coach of the Western United under 21's side.^[1]

Club career

Coveny began his NSL career at the Melbourne Knights, then moved to Wollongong City.

South Melbourne FC

The majority of Coveny's career was spent at South Melbourne in the NSL, and later on, Victorian Premier League.

Coveny, affectionately known by fans as Horsey due to his speed primarily played as a striker for South Melbourne. Coveny would dominate the NSL with his pace and would capture two NSL Championships under Ange Postecoglou in 1997–98 and 1998–99. Additionally, his goalscoring form in the OFC Championship in 1999 fired South to claim the title as Oceania's best and qualify them for the 2000 FIFA Club World Cup. Here, Coveny would put in respectable performances including hitting the post twice against the treble winning Manchester United squad.

Following the disbanding of the back-to back winning squad, Coveny would stay at South and lead the new era in the new century. Coveny would once again reach a grand final for South in 2001 but ultimately lose.

The disbanding of the NSL was a premature end to Coveny's first stint as South.

Coveny would return to Lakeside in 2009 helping South to capture the Hellenic cup. On Anzac Day 2009 Coveny scored his 100th goal for South Melbourne FC away at John Ilhan Memorial Reserve against Hume City FC.^[2] He retired at the end of the 2009 season.becoming only the third player to score 100 goals for South.

Overall, Coveny made 265 appearances for Hellas scoring 104 goals.

Later career

He also spent some time in the A-League following the collapse of the NSL, playing for the Newcastle Jets and Wellington Phoenix.

International career

Coveny made his full New Zealand debut in a 0–0 draw with Fiji on 19 September 1992. He was included in the New Zealand side for both the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup finals tournament,^[3] and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup finals tournament.^[4] He ended his international playing career with 64 A-international caps to his credit, his final cap gained in a 1–1 draw with Estonia on 31 May 2006.^[5]

Coveny became New Zealand's highest goal scorer on 27 May 2006, when he scored twice in the "All Whites" 3–1 victory over Georgia, bringing his total A-international goal tally to 29.^[6]^[7] and his total including unofficial games to 30 in 71 games, surpassing Jock Newall's long standing record of 28 from only 17 games.^[8]^[9] Coveny record was officially overtaken by Chris Wood on 21 March 2022 when Wood scored his 30th goal.^[10]^[11] In January 2009, Coveny announced his retirement from international football.^[9] He was also the games record holder for the All Whites, until Ivan Vicelich passed him in 2009. He is currently ranked third in appearances for the All Whites, behind Simon Elliott and Vicelich.

Managerial career

After retiring, Coveny was announced as South Melbourne's manager for the Victorian Premier League 2010 season.^[12] After the team failed to make the finals, his contract was not renewed.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[13]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
New Zealand	1992	3	0
	1993	4	0
	1994	0	0
	1995	8	1
	1996	4	0
	1997	8	5
	1998	6	4
	1999	10	1
	2000	0	0
	2001	5	9
	2002	1	0
	2003	5	1
	2004	5	6
	2005	1	0
	2006	4	2
Total		64	29

Scores and results list New Zealand’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Coveny goal.

List of international goals scored by Vaughan Coveny
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	20 June 1995	Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso, Coquimbo, Chile	Turkey	1–0	1–2	Copa Centenario del Fútbol Chileno
2	25 January 1997	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia	South Korea	1–0	1–3	Four Nations Tournament
3	11 June 1997	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Papua New Guinea	1–0	7–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4				2–0
5				6–0
6	18 June 1997	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Fiji	2–0	5–0
7	28 September 1998	Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia	Vanuatu	2–0	8–1	1998 OFC Nations Cup
8				3–0
9				5–0
10				6–0
11	29 June 1999	National Stadium, Singapore	Singapore	1–0	1–0	Friendly
12	6 June 2001	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Tahiti	1–0	5–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
13				3–0
14				4–0
15	11 June 2001	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Solomon Islands	1–0	5–1
16	11 June 2001	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Solomon Islands	3–0	5–1
17	13 June 2001	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Vanuatu	1–0	7–0
18				2–0
19				5–0
20	24 June 2001	Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia	Australia	1–2	1–4
21	9 June 2003	University of Richmond Stadium, Richmond, United States	United States	1–1	1–2	Friendly
22	2 June 2004	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Vanuatu	1–1	2–4	2004 OFC Nations Cup
23	2 June 2004	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Vanuatu	2–3	2–4
24	4 June 2004	Marden Sports Complex, Adelaide, Australia	Tahiti	1–0	10–0
25				4–0
26				5–0
27	6 June 2004	Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia	Fiji	2–0	2–0
28	25 May 2006	Stadion Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Germany	Georgia	1–0	3–1	Friendly
29	25 May 2006	Stadion Altenkirchen, Altenkirchen, Germany	Georgia	3–1	3–1	Friendly