Football: Wellington Phoenix striker Ben Waine signs with English club Plymouth Argyle

Ben Waine celebrates scoring against Western Sydney. Photo / Photosport

The “Waine Train” has left the station.

Kiwi striker Ben Waine is leaving the Wellington Phoenix, having signed for English third-tier side Plymouth Argyle. The 21-year-old All Whites international will depart with immediate effect and join his new club on a two-and-a-half season deal as they push for promotion to the Championship for the first time since 2009/10.

Having undergone a medical ahead of putting pen to paper, Waine was at Argyle’s Home Park on Thursday night to watch his new club beat Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 and retain a four-point lead at the top of League One at the midway point of the season.

Waine, who holds an British passport, is understood to have also attracted interest from Championship clubs Stoke City and Blackpool and League One outfit Barnsley before agreeing terms with Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth had an initial offer for Waine rejected earlier in the year, with the Phoenix not feeling it matched their valuation of the young Wellingtonian. Waine had also previously knocked back an offer from Championship club Coventry City and signed a fresh three-year contract with Wellington until the end of the 2023/24 A-League season, meaning the club will pocket an as yet undisclosed transfer fee from his sale.

He’ll follow in the footsteps of fellow All Whites striker and Phoenix Academy coach Rory Fallon who played 149 times for Plymouth Argyle between 2007 and 2011, scoring 22 goals. Phoenix defender Scott Wootton played 54 matches for the club between 2018 and 2021, while former England international Paul Mariner also made his name there.

Waine debuted for the Phoenix as a 17-year-old in the Australia Cup in August 2018, before making his A-League debut in March 2019. He signed his first full-time contract with the club ahead of the 2019/20 season and became the club’s youngest goalscorer when he netted against Melbourne City aged 18 years, 145 days. In 73 appearances for the club, he’s scored 17 goals.

Waine made his All Whites debut in the Oceania World Cup qualifying tournament in March, coming off the bench to score the winner against Papua New Guinea in a 1-0 victory. He’s earned six caps, including substitute appearances in the intercontinental playoff against Costa Rica and both recent internationals against Australia.

Waine will battle for first-team minutes at Plymouth with English strikers Sam Cosgrove, Niall Ennis and Morgan Whittaker, and Scotsman Ryan Hardie, with that quartet combining for 29 league goals this season.

He is the third player to depart the Phoenix for a European club during coach Ufuk Talay’s tenure, with Libby Cacace (Sint-Truidense in Belgium, then Italian side Empoli) and Cam Devlin (Scottish side Hearts) also now playing there. In previous years, Tyler Boyd, Sarpreet Singh and Callum McCowatt left the club for playing contracts in Portugal, Germany and Denmark.

While his departure will be considered a blow for Wellington, Waine has started just three of the side’s nine A-League matches this season, with Pole Oskar Zawada, Englishman David Ball, Brazilian Yan Sasse and fellow kiwi Kosta Barbarouses preferred in attacking roles.