Joe Bell (footballer)

Joe Bell

Bell in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Joe Zen Robert Bell [1]
Date of birth	(1999-04-27) 27 April 1999 (age 25)[ citation needed ]
Place of birth	Bristol, England
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Viking
Number	8
Youth career
2007–2012	Ferrymead Bays
2013	Nomads United
2014	Miramar Rangers
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2019	Virginia Cavaliers	60	(10)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2017	Wellington Phoenix Reserves	34	(0)
2018	Charlottesville Alliance	3	(1)
2020–2022	Viking	56	(3)
2022–2023	Brøndby IF	34	(0)
2023–	Viking	39	(0)
International career‡
2015	New Zealand U17	3	(0)
2016–2019	New Zealand U20	15	(3)
2024	New Zealand Olympic (O.P.)	3	(0)
2019–	New Zealand	20	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2024

Joe Zen Robert Bell (born 27 April 1999) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Eliteserien club Viking and the New Zealand national team.

Early and personal life

Bell was born in Bristol, England but holds dual citizenship. He was raised in Wānaka ^[2] and Christchurch, attending Medbury School ^[3] and Christ's College, Christchurch ^[4] before moving aged 15 to Wellington to attend Scots College ^[5] and play for the Phoenix. ^[6]

He started playing football as an eight-year-old for Ferrymead Bays. ^[7]

Club career

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Bell moved to Wellington to join the Wellington Phoenix Academy under the guidance of Jess Ibrom where he started playing for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the New Zealand Football Championship for the 2014–15 season, playing 12 games with four starts. ^[8] He played for the reserves for another two seasons, appearing 14 times in the 2015–16 season with 10 starts and eight times with six starts in the 2016–17 season. ^[8] With the New Zealand football championship played over the summer, Bell played for Wellington United in the Central League during the winter. ^[9]

Virginia Cavaliers

Bell joined the Virginia Cavaliers who play in the NCAA Division I in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bell started 55 straight games since joining the University. ^[10] He scored six goals and had ten assists across three seasons, while also spending time with amateur club Charlottesville Alliance during the 2018 NPSL season. ^{[6] [11]}

Following his successful FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign, Bell drew the interest of several European sides, trialing with Eliteserien side Viking and eventually being offered a contract. However, with the University of Virginia offering him a full scholarship at year's end, Bell decided to delay going professional to get his degree. ^{[2] [12]}

Bell had a successful 2019 season with the Cavaliers as co-captain of the team which won the ACC Coastal Division and won the ACC men's tournament for the first time since 2009. The team ended the season winning 21 games, which was one shy of a school record. ^[13] The Cavaliers entered the 2019 NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. After wins over Campbell, St. John's, SMU and Wake Forest, Virginia lost in the final to Georgetown finishing runner up for the second time in school history. ^[14] Bell ended the season playing 21 games of which he started all 21 of them, only missing two games during the ACC tournament while on International duty. He scored seven goals, of which four came during the NCAA tournament, as well as had four assists. ^[15]

Bell also won a number of awards both on the field and academic, including United Soccer Coaches Scholar Player of the Year, First Team Scholar All-American, ^[16] ACC First Team and ACC Midfielder of the Year ^[17] He was also one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy for best player in the country. ^[18]

Viking

On 10 January 2020, Bell signed a three-year contract with Viking in the Norwegian Eliteserien. ^{[19] [20]}

Brøndby IF

On transfer-deadline day, 31 January 2022, Bell signed a 4½-year contract with reigning Danish Superliga champions Brøndby IF. ^[21]

Return to Viking

On 29 August 2023, Bell returned to Viking, signing a four-year contract with the club. ^[22]

International career

U17

Bell was selected for the New Zealand U17 national team that played in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. ^[23] He played in two of the group games, a 0–0 draw with Syria ^[24] and a 2–1 win over Paraguay. ^[25] As well as their loss to Brazil in the Round of 16 with a stoppage-time penalty seeing them eliminated from the competition. ^[26]

U20

Bell has played for and captained the New Zealand U20 national team. Playing in the 2018 OFC U-19 Championship where he was the tournament MVP and they qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland. He has also played and captained the team at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. ^[8]

Senior

Bell made his team debut for the New Zealand senior national team in a friendly against Ireland, starting in a 3–1 loss. ^[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 May 2024 ^[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wellington Phoenix Reserves	2014–15	NZFC	12	0	—		—		12	0
	2015–16		14	0	—		—		14	0
	2016–17		8	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		34	0	—		—		34	0
Viking	2020	Eliteserien	29	2	0	0	1 [a]	0	30	2
	2021		27	1	1	0	—		28	1
	Total		56	3	1	0	1	0	58	3
Brøndby	2021–22	Danish Superliga	15	0	0	0	—		15	0
	2022–23		18	0	1	0	4 [b]	0	23	0
	2023–24		1	0	0	0	—		1	0
	Total		34	0	1	0	4	0	39	0
Viking	2023	Eliteserien	11	0	0	0	—		11	0
	2024		22	0	2	0	—		8	0
	Total		33	0	2	0	0	0	35	0
Career total			157	3	4	0	5	0	166	3

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 19 June 2023 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
New Zealand	2019	2	0
	2021	3	0
	2022	7	1
	2023	4	0
Total		16	1

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

List of international goals scored by Joe Bell

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	30 March 2022	Grand Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Solomon Islands	3–0	5–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

New Zealand U19

• OFC U-19 Championship: 2018
• 2018 OFC U-19 Championship Golden Ball ^[29]

Individual

• All-ACC Team Awards – Freshman Team 2017, Third Team 2018, First Team 2019 and ACC Midfielder of the Year: 2019
• TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award: 2019
• Soccer America Player of the Year Award: 2019

References

1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: New Zealand" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
2. Rollo, Phillip (17 June 2019). "Norwegian club Viking FK makes play for New Zealand under-20 captain Joe Bell". Stuff . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
3. ""Play the Game" Medbury Magazine" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
4. ""In Black and White" Christ's College Magazine" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
5. "Player Testimonials". Scots College . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
6. "Joe Bell Profile". Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
7. Rattue, Chris (15 April 2022). "World Cup dream only one step away". Star News. Star Media Network. pp. 28–29.
8. Joe Bell at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
9. "Wellington Phoenix Academy Players Shine In Capital Premier". Wellington Phoenix FC . 4 April 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
10. "Bell Called into New Zealand Full National Team for International Friendlies". Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer . 13 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
11. "Charlottesville's semi-pro soccer team is a winning endeavor".
12. "New Zealand under-20 captain Joe Bell turns down Viking FK's offer". Stuff. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
13. "Curtain Falls on Extraordinary Season". University of Virginia Athletics. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
14. Goff, Steven (15 December 2019). "College Cup soccer: Georgetown outlasts Virginia in penalty kicks to win its first NCAA title". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
15. "Joe Bell – Men's Soccer". University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
16. "Bell Named United Soccer Coaches Scholar Player of the Year". University of Virginia Athletics. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
17. "Bell Collects Scholar All-Region Honors". University of Virginia Athletics. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
18. "Bell Named a Finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy". University of Virginia Athletics. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
19. "All Whites midfielder Joe Bell to join Norwegian club Viking FK". Stuff (website). 8 January 2020.
20. "Her er Vikings nysignering Joe Bell på plass". www.aftenbladet.no (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
21. "Brøndby IF skriver kontrakt med Joe Bell" (in Danish). Brøndby IF (website). 1 February 2022.
22. "Joe Bell returnerer til klubben: – Fantastisk å være tilbake" [Joe Bell returns to the club – Fantastic to be back]. Viking FK (in Norwegian Bokmål). 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
23. "FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile 2015 List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
24. "New Zealand, Syria left to settle for point". FIFA . Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
25. "New Zealand leave it late against ten-man Paraguay". FIFA. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
26. "Brazil edge past resolute New Zealand". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
27. Voerman, Andrew. "Callum McCowatt scores on debut as new-look All Whites lose to Republic of Ireland". Stuff . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
28. Joe Bell at National-Football-Teams.com
29. "Sport: NZ defend OFC U19 title". 20 August 2018.

External links

• Joe Bell at Soccerway
• Joe Bell – FIFA competition record (archived)