Alex Paulsen

Alex Paulsen's rise ran through Wellington Phoenix's academy, which he joined in 2018 after coming through Eastern Suburbs AFC and Onehunga Sports. His best season for the club came in 2023–24, when he played every minute of the A-League Men campaign, conceded just 26 goals and kept 11 clean sheets — form that brought him the Goalkeeper of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards, the latter shared with Nestory Irankunda, plus the PFA Young Men's Footballer of the Year prize, the Harry Kewell Medal.

That season persuaded AFC Bournemouth to sign him in June 2024 for a fee that set a record for Wellington Phoenix. He returned to New Zealand on loan at Auckland FC, where he helped the club to the A-League Premiership, kept 13 clean sheets in 28 appearances and went a club-record 532 minutes without conceding. He was named Goalkeeper of the Year for a second straight season. A further loan followed at Lechia Gdańsk in the Polish Ekstraklasa for 2025–26, where he made 24 appearances before the club's relegation.

Paulsen joined Motherwell in July 2026 and has made 10 appearances since, starting in the Scottish Premiership opener against Hibernian, a 2-1 win, in a Europa Conference League qualifier that ended 1-1 against HJK Helsinki, and in a 1-0 defeat to Rangers.

He has represented New Zealand at senior level, earning caps for the national team, and has featured for the country at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he served as captain, at the Olympic Games in 2020 and 2024, and at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He was also part of the New Zealand squad that won the OFC Nations Cup in 2024.