Wellington was venue for World Cup game

Wellington was venue for World Cup game

No.

Last time we hosted the all whites NZF didn't even tell me/us it was on. How do they expect the general public to know? Also it was on a Wednesday, worst night to go out. So the failure of that last match was purely NZFs.

And while we're at it, Auckland got 16,000 people to a one off Beckham match. And it had plenty of media hype. For a city with a population difference to that of Wellington's 7000 each week for the phoenix is good.

Also the fact that Wellington has decided to get a bid together rather than sitting back waiting for it just shows Wellington deserve it.

Since you bought up club sides into your argument, I can too, your club side was complete sh*t and only attracted the extremely faithful. Shows what a lot of Aucklanders are like.Michael2009-02-14 19:51:06

nightz2009-02-14 21:13:01

Yes, I thought about that before I wrote it, but because its a much bigger game its different.

I don't think most care what night its on.....host it at the Ring of Fire and White Noise shall be there in numbers and Wellington will support one of the most crucial AW games in the last 25 years.....

If it goes to Auckland, I'll travel......but actually believe it should be played in Wellington.  It has one of the best surfaces in the country, complimented by most of the visiting A-League teams over the last two seasons!

Speaking to Smeltzy last night and I said he HAS to continue to score the goals that take us to South Africa 2010 and he replied "it is my dream"....

I will be travelling to anywhere it is played, but I will be accompanied by a banner saying, "the majority of fans here are Wellingtonians"

top idea, Michael. I really agree with the organizers, that with proper publicity and the involvement of the NZ "superstars" from overseas, Wellington is ready for such an important game. newzealandpower2009-02-15 11:48:26

The Beckham game was a joke. Too expensive against a team full of rejects, no names and Edgar Davids.

Wellington has been the football capital of the last 2 years, i think if they want to get the best turnout they should play it in Welly

Stop the fight and host it at QE2!

It's me!

Last two matches against Australia in qualifying tournaments:
2002 Oceania Nations Cup final - 6000-odd at Ericsson;
2001 World Cup Qualifier first leg - 19,500-odd at the Ring of Fire

AUCKLAND Knightzz - 95 season ticket holders

Times have changed though. That was back when Auckland had the Kingz and Wellington had nothing, so we would turn up to a game like that mob-handed just to see a bit of decent footy.

Now the situation is completely reversed. As a proud Wellingtonian I hate to admit it but the fact that Wellington is now saturated with A-League football (13 or 14 home games next season) might be the best reason to have this game in Auckland.

The main evidence for that is the turn-out for the Vanuatu game which was a disgrace. People can moan all they want about the reasons but 2,500 for an international is pathetic and we shouldn't complain about having to serve some penance for that one. This game will also fall right in the middle of an A-League season and I even wonder if the Phoenix mgmt will be thinking "we can do without this game cannibalising some of our crowds".

Comparisons between the two Beckham games also seem redundant. Even I would have thought twice about going to see the Oceania No-Stars XI. In fact, Auckland should be applauded for even getting 16,000 along to that farce (Mark Bosnich ffs).

A better comparison is maybe the recent U17 Women's World Cup. Auckland got 13,000 and 11,000 for their two NZ games and 16,000 for the final. We got 3,500 for our NZ game although we did get 11,000 for England vs Brazil when they bussed all the primary schools in.

Fact is, either city will do a great job of hosting this game and should get a decent crowd. All I'm saying is that if it's in Wellington then great, but if it's in Auckland then that's fair enough too and I'll be there regardless. Just trying to bring some balance to this debate is all.

Yeah, I'm there no matter what. 

My crowd numbers were more to disperse the statement that Wellington have never supported the AW's (mind you I made both matches and didn't live in either city).

No matter what happens that Vanuatu game sticks to me and embarrasses me.

it wasn't a coordinated effort, it was a lost opportunity-this will be different and NZF needs to at the very least consdier the various bids from the cities.

I don't care if its played at Newtown PArk- in fact would prefer it- imagine 5,000 screaming locals, chimps included, hanging off the fences.

f**k comfort, bring the pain baby
Salmon072009-02-17 21:23:23

The Vanuatu game was, crap, I read these forums the night before and didn't even know it was on, how is anyone from the general public? NZF didn't put it out their in the slightest. I can't stress that enough.

I think there is one key fact that stands out for me.  Wellington has managed to attract 32,000 people to a football match.  The biggest crowd for a football match in Auckland in recent times was about half of that.  That has to be taken into account

Is the pathetic little squabbling over this ever going to end? Are we really so small minded that we wouldn't be willing to travel to other parts of the country for a solitary game that could see us reach the World Cup for only the 2nd time ever??

Honestly it's no wonder NZ Football's rubbish.

BUffon I think the technical name for this is a pissing competition...

Buffon, nearly every single one of us has said we are willing to travel.

The thing is, I am keen to travel - but I don't think all my mates will.
We need to fight for it
We deserve a WC qualifier - I've never seen the AW's simply because I've never known they were playing.

How many Aucklanders can name 10 current All Whites?
After the nix, a lot of Wellingtonians could with ease.

I'll be there regardless, wherever it's held. However I do think Wellington deservedly has a pretty decent shot at hosting.

i hope to make this where ever it is, but if its in wellington and gets the right hype the crowd would easily be 20000 people if not more

I'd call 20k a dissapointment for a game of this importance

I'd say 20k would be pretty impressive personally. 

If we're playing someone like Bahrain or Qatar, 20k would be bloody impressive.

perhaps

I'm thinking we could draw 25,000+ at the ROF
Just gotta put all the hype into it and I could easily find 10-15 non-regular Nix supporters to come with me

Local knowledge wins football matches

In October the All Whites must play a home and away series against the 5th Place Asian team to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since that golden summer of 1982.God knows NZ Football needs some better work stories so for the sake of the world game in Aotearoa let�s hope they pull it off. But the question of where the home leg will be played remains unanswered. Home advantage in these qualifiers is extremely influential and the right venue could be worth goals in the net, and money in the bank. Despite the tightly stage-managed arena of the World Cup finals the choice of venue for the qualifiers still largely rests upon the hosts, who can wrangle hostile local conditions to their advantage.

 

Bolivia rarely wins against mighty neighbours Brazil when they play in sea level stadia, but when they play in the �Condor�s Nest� stadium in La Paz, at an oxygen deficient height of 3,637 metres above sea level, Brazil invariably struggles. In a must win Qualifier for Mexico �86 Canada scheduled a game against poor old Honduras in the frozen wastes of Newfoundland, when Toronto or Vancouver would have been the more obvious choices for a venue. Uruguayan fans gave the Australian football team a horrendous welcome when they visited for a 2006 WC qualifier, spitting and hissing at them at the airport, following the team bus and disturbing their sleep with late night boyracer antics and Wham! tape boot parties.

 

While we have no Condor�s Nests in New Zealand, and are probably too polite to sing Dave Dobbyn all night outside a guest�s hotel room the venue question remains paramount. North Harbour Stadium is literally the home of New Zealand football, their offices are tucked away in the stadium, and at 25,000 seats it�s a modest size, which can work in its favour. Then there is Mount Smart, the home of the Warriors. At 30,000 seats it�s a good size and already has an association with the World Cup in New Zealand, being the home venue for the 1982 campaign. Believe it or not it was a veritable wasp�s nest back then- during a match versus Kuwait an inept (or corrupt) match official was assaulted with a beer bottle and the offender was absorbed back into the crowd. You wouldn�t see that happen these days. Finally there is Westpac Stadium. It�s the heavy weight contender with 35,000 seats, its link to the Phoenix and the fact that it pulled in 19,000 punters for a World Cup qualifier against Oz in 2001.

 

I believe the smart money would be on Mount Smart. It has the history and capacity, but �smart� and �money� are not words usually used in the same sentence when talking about NZ Football, and questions have been raised about Auckland�s ability to host large scale football matches after the recent Beckham fiasco which lost $1.79 million. 

 

A left field choice would be quaint little Newtown Park. Since the money gained from reaching the World Cup finals would far outweigh the gate takings from the qualifiers surely a vociferous, partisan crowd of 8,000, rattling the cage and hanging from the trees in Newtown would spur the lads to victory. Add in the tantrums from the chimpanzees at the zoo next door and the supreme psyche out of the opposition driving through hellish peak hour traffic at the Basin while jive talking Newtown crazies eyeball their luxury bus and they won�t be thinking the All Whites are lilly-livered, first world easy beats. But frankly speaking who cares where it�s played, Wellington or the Waipukurau Domain, as long as we make it to South Africa 2010!

Salmon072009-02-26 16:01:33

or

Ha, I beat you to it Feverish Salmon072009-02-26 16:01:09

Wherever we play the game I'll be there.  But I must say, unless we are playing against Mongolia or something where it can get freezing then we should play in a stadium that is in one of the colder cities as they won't be used to it.  Based on that I'd pick Dunedin or Christchurch (Invercargill would be ideal but probably be dreadful for our guys as well and the stadium would be far too small).  Basically Wellington's only shout is that they've hosted the Phoenix, but it must be said that if Christchurch had an a-league team we'd get good crowds as well and based on our past attendances (to meaningless games, I should add) we should probably have a better shout than Wellington.

I will go if it's in Wellington, and I ain't even a Kiwi!

Wellington has to get it surely. It's either wellington or Auckland..So surely its a no brainer?