It isn't up to standard one bit, and it reeks of typical
anti-football sentiment that some of the controlling forces in the
organisation probably harbour. I think serious explanations need to
sought and someone account for the pathetic scenario. They may as
well have played at Wakefield Park. Here we are in a country and
city where we are tryting to poush the football experience as we
know it to be, to the average person who has never been to a
professional football match. We are trying to better the status and
quality of the game in this country, and we are again treated to
something like a 3rd division NPC (or whatever) non-spectacle with
no atmosphere, pre-match, kids football stuff, etc etc etc. Not
good enough. Is this really what we expect professional football in
Wellington to be....??
I went to see the Queensland Roar v Melbourne at Suncorp
last Friday in front of 17,000 passionate fans in their Roar
shirts, chanting and getting hugely excited about what turned out
to be a great game.
Soccer NZ are not in danger of letting the same sort of vibe
happen here at this rate.
Yep, agree with this completely.
I'm a rugby refugee left annoyed and agitated by the limp state the
game in this country is in, and after tagging along to a couple of
Phoenix games, I'm officially hooked on the sport of football. It's
got everything I want in a sport - speed, skill, grace and guile -
and I'm stumped as to why I ignored it for so long. Hell, my early
Sunday mornings consist of watching the premier league now,
regardless of what pisshick team is playing - I'm just fascinated
by this sport, and I can only feel that growing.
So, if a guy like me who has wined and dined on 22 years of rugby
can be converted over to the beautiful game on the back of a few
"WHO ARE YA'S?" and "WELLINGTON IS WONDERFUL!" then Joe Blow
sportsfan must be able to as well.
BUT IT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN IF NZ FOOTBALL DON'T TAKE A PUNT ON
THEIR OWN PRODUCT!
Okay, sure, it was just Vanautu (Vanau-who?), but scheduling an
international match on a weekday at a time most people would find
difficult to get to, what with work and everything, at an
insultingly expensive price ($22+ service fee, right?) without even
going out to cash in on the exposure football is enjoying at the
moment, is a recipe for lameness and low crowd numbers.
Take a punt on your product, NZ Football. Take a punt on this
city.
(hope)
