And I'm going to put it out there that this game is going to cost nz
future games ( yes that will include Wellington). Nz football are the
first to start whinging how they have to be careful with their pennies
and what do they do but choose a dumb window, a terrible day and
potentially an atrocious venue. Afterwards when they get a sh*te crowd
everyone will blame Auckland and not the organizers.
[/quote]
Heck of a assumption. I'm pretty sure NZF aren't COMPLETELY ignorant to the risks involved. After all, they completely buggered up a midweek match against Vanuatu in Wellington a few years ago. Hopefully they've learned from it and will take steps to maximise attendance. It's up to the supporters to come to the stadium. I'm sure NZF would take the midweek context into account before calling the match a success or failure, rather than ignoring the recent success Auckland has shown (Nix, Honduras) and writing off the entire country as a result.
As for the venue - if Eden Park is unavailable, you can't blame them for playing somewhere else. I do agree that NHS is a terrible option for a midweek match, but Mount Smart should be fine.
[QUOTE=ahmad]Look at how many Wellington based fans already have plans. Yet I get the feeling Auckland based supporters aren't as prepared to travel (
perhaps not even as far as Hamilton) for games.
In all fairness, the Phoenix pre-season match against Brisbane in Hamilton did have a significant amount of Aucklanders who made the trip. And there were Aucklanders at the Bahrain match.