Auckland Pride - Make Auckland Great Again

Doloras

Yakcall

Alright, we have had enough about groups and right vs left wing politics in here. Can we go back to the topic of Auckland FC themselves please.

Unfortunately, Bill Foley getting back on the Trump train keeps bringing these issues up. A friendly journo asked T-AFC for some comment.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/trump-backlash-auckland-fc-fan-220500152.html

He might be "friendly" but given he's chosen to interview a minority, niche group who he'll know will give a negative perspective to try and drum up outrage, while not offering alternative perspectives*, he's certainly not a "journo".

It’s clear the journo personally supports TAFC. Nonsense journalism. 

*the alternative perspective here doesn’t need to endorse Trump, but rather be someone from the majority of ticket holders who don’t care

InsulinMachine

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Am I right to assume that grey seats are taken and blue is still available on the Ticketmaster website? Looks like its close to a sell out then?

Yep grey seats are taken. Only bit that's hard to tell is the south stand as its general admission so won't show how many seats are taken - it does still let you select the maximum 50 seats per transaction so I assume there is still plenty available there.

Either way looks to be selling well

Edit: Also it seems they haven't allocated an away bay for their round 2 match against Sydney FC yet? 43 is just 'adult allocated seating' both at the front and the back of the bay - and when you filter by ticket type and only select away tickets it says it can't find what you're looking for - either that or they've completely sold out the away tickets somewhere in the stadium 

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

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Am I right to assume that grey seats are taken and blue is still available on the Ticketmaster website? Looks like its close to a sell out then?

Yep grey seats are taken. Only bit that's hard to tell is the south stand as its general admission so won't show how many seats are taken - it does still let you select the maximum 50 seats per transaction so I assume there is still plenty available there.

Either way looks to be selling well

 We sold just over 100 tickets to Ellerslie AFC members since Friday - if most clubs in NRF are doing that it will be a decent crowd

Has an a-league club ever sold out a stadium on their debut before? If not then it would be massive if Auckland would be the first

20 Legend

Doloras

Yakcall

Alright, we have had enough about groups and right vs left wing politics in here. Can we go back to the topic of Auckland FC themselves please.

Unfortunately, Bill Foley getting back on the Trump train keeps bringing these issues up. A friendly journo asked T-AFC for some comment.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/trump-backlash-auckland-fc-fan-220500152.html

He might be "friendly" but given he's chosen to interview a minority, niche group who he'll know will give a negative perspective to try and drum up outrage, while not offering alternative perspectives*, he's certainly not a "journo".

It’s clear the journo personally supports TAFC. Nonsense journalism. 

*the alternative perspective here doesn’t need to endorse Trump, but rather be someone from the majority of ticket holders who don’t care

Ben McKay is the NZ correspondent for the Australian Associated Press. That's about as neutral and reputable as it gets. 

We've escalated from "half a dozen scruffy Lefties singing Ngā Iwi E will scare and alienate normal football fans" to "half a dozen scruffy Lefties singing Ngā Iwi E have won the support of AAP's New Zealand correspondent". That post about the power ratings was right!

Fitzy

20 Legend

Doloras

Yakcall

Alright, we have had enough about groups and right vs left wing politics in here. Can we go back to the topic of Auckland FC themselves please.

Unfortunately, Bill Foley getting back on the Trump train keeps bringing these issues up. A friendly journo asked T-AFC for some comment.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/trump-backlash-auckland-fc-fan-220500152.html

He might be "friendly" but given he's chosen to interview a minority, niche group who he'll know will give a negative perspective to try and drum up outrage, while not offering alternative perspectives*, he's certainly not a "journo".

It’s clear the journo personally supports TAFC. Nonsense journalism. 

*the alternative perspective here doesn’t need to endorse Trump, but rather be someone from the majority of ticket holders who don’t care

Ben McKay is the NZ correspondent for the Australian Associated Press. That's about as neutral and reputable as it gets. 

Good for him - maybe his other work is fantastic - but based on an this article he's using comments from a fringe minority group (the "half a dozen members" of TAFC have no more or less authority on this subject than me or you), and no one else, to try and drum up controversy.

Noah4thenix

Has an a-league club ever sold out a stadium on their debut before? If not then it would be massive if Auckland would be the first

According to Auckland FC, 20,000 tickets have been snapped up for their inaugural game, putting the expansion club on track for a sell-out. Would easily surpass the highest attendance of the previous two expansion clubs Western United (10,128) and Macarthur (7,723).

— Phillip Rollo (@ByPhillipRollo) October 17, 2024

To be the highest ever inaugural game, they would need to beat 25,208.

The NZ Warriors had sell outs all season long and highest crowd they achieved was 24,295. So it would take some book fudging to beat it.

'Auckland FC owner declares is Fake News, club don't break League crowd record for inaugural game'

Noah4thenix

Has an a-league club ever sold out a stadium on their debut before? If not then it would be massive if Auckland would be the first

Melbourne Victory probably got closest, their debut home game had 17,960 in an 18,500 capacity stadium (with seating for 11,000). So yeah I think if AFC sell out it would be the first time for a debut game

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

So I did some research (asked ChatGPT) and while no A-League club has sold out in their inaugural home game, I did learn that Auckland are on track to have the 2nd biggest inaugural home game attendance ever.

2nd Brisbane Roar: 20,725
1st Sydney FC: 25,208

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

Kingz record crowd 13,111 v Marconi in March 2001

Noah4thenix

So I did some research (asked ChatGPT) and while no A-League club has sold out in their inaugural home game, I did learn that Auckland are on track to have the 2nd biggest inaugural home game attendance ever.

2nd Brisbane Roar: 20,725
1st Sydney FC: 25,208

If in doubt, check Ultimate A-League.
https://ultimatealeague.com/statistics/attendance/?show=de

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

No facebook. No bouncy castles. Chris Turner with a hope and a prayer.

20 Legend

Fitzy

20 Legend

Doloras

Yakcall

Alright, we have had enough about groups and right vs left wing politics in here. Can we go back to the topic of Auckland FC themselves please.

Unfortunately, Bill Foley getting back on the Trump train keeps bringing these issues up. A friendly journo asked T-AFC for some comment.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/trump-backlash-auckland-fc-fan-220500152.html

He might be "friendly" but given he's chosen to interview a minority, niche group who he'll know will give a negative perspective to try and drum up outrage, while not offering alternative perspectives*, he's certainly not a "journo".

It’s clear the journo personally supports TAFC. Nonsense journalism. 

*the alternative perspective here doesn’t need to endorse Trump, but rather be someone from the majority of ticket holders who don’t care

Ben McKay is the NZ correspondent for the Australian Associated Press. That's about as neutral and reputable as it gets. 

Good for him - maybe his other work is fantastic - but based on an this article he's using comments from a fringe minority group (the "half a dozen members" of TAFC have no more or less authority on this subject than me or you), and no one else, to try and drum up controversy.

I was just responding to your comment that "clearly he's not a journo'". He very clearly is. It's giving boomer uncle on facebook.

Mt smart only has a capacity for 23k. The warrriors while selling out fudge the numbers at 25k, as that’s the requirement for finals football

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

Well looks like times have indeed changed. Maybe there's hope for an AL club in Auckland after all

InsulinMachine

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

Well looks like times have indeed changed. Maybe there's hope for an AL club in Auckland after all

Lets hope so but as we are aware of despite assurances from Mr Foley things arnt always rosey at football clubs. Its riding those bad times that seem to be the secret. 3rd time lucky. 

In the first 5 matches for the NZ Knights, they had a combined attendance of 24,288 at NHS. AFC could basically match that on their opening night!

Quick back of the envelope maths here. If they sell out the opening match & 2 NZ Derbies + then get the 8.3k that the Nix got at Mt Smart last season to all the other games, they would have an average crowd of 11.9k. That is just below what the Victory averaged for their non Finals Home games last season.

I initially thought they would average over 10k but I'm gonna say 12k now. Any other guesses?

20k+ for the opening match is a promising start.

Of course there will be a novelty factor at first so no doubt the club will have to work hard on and off the field to turn as many of those 20k into regular attendees.

Derby 1 in Dec to sell out or close too.
Derby 2 is 22nd Feb. Crowd then will depend alot on how Auckland are tracking. But suspect they have enough squad quality to be in the playoff hunt.

So yeah off RR's quick maths an overall season average at 12K looks well possible.

Looks like they have a sizeable back office staff operation, to get the marketing right, and sort out all the game day experience stuff that matters to keep the punters turning up. From complaints on The Port's FB page they have had issues getting merch out, season pass packs turning up, people buying tickets online etc etc - all the same stuff as the Phoenix.

20 Legend

Fitzy

20 Legend

Doloras

Yakcall

Alright, we have had enough about groups and right vs left wing politics in here. Can we go back to the topic of Auckland FC themselves please.

Unfortunately, Bill Foley getting back on the Trump train keeps bringing these issues up. A friendly journo asked T-AFC for some comment.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/trump-backlash-auckland-fc-fan-220500152.html

He might be "friendly" but given he's chosen to interview a minority, niche group who he'll know will give a negative perspective to try and drum up outrage, while not offering alternative perspectives*, he's certainly not a "journo".

It’s clear the journo personally supports TAFC. Nonsense journalism. 

*the alternative perspective here doesn’t need to endorse Trump, but rather be someone from the majority of ticket holders who don’t care

Ben McKay is the NZ correspondent for the Australian Associated Press. That's about as neutral and reputable as it gets. 

Good for him - maybe his other work is fantastic - but based on an this article he's using comments from a fringe minority group (the "half a dozen members" of TAFC have no more or less authority on this subject than me or you), and no one else, to try and drum up controversy.

To be fair as well, it’s not common in NZ for sports owners to express political opinions. With Mr Foley he’s got a foot in both cultures, but if say the Blues chairman or whoever came out in support of Trump or worse a local politician, that would be very strange and worthy of controversy and column inches in its own right. This is a candidate who has attacked the institutions of democracy in the country.

The interesting thing with Mr Foley is we don’t know why he’s publicly supporting Trump. It could be personal gain, it could be useful for a system of patronage links for his businesses, it could be part of his personal religious beliefs tied into nationalism, it could be for specific concessions on specific industries, it could just be his mates are…we don’t know. 

There has been speculation for example, especially after so many ‘moderate’ Republicans endorsed Harris, that Sir John Key’s endorsement of Trump has to do with his charges of insider trading in the US. 

TBH, it feels to me, strangely enough, like that’s something to do with Mr Foley’s American life and has little to do with his NZ life. I don’t feel like it ties Winston, Tim Brown or Steve Adams into to that political zone for example and though 20 Legend is annoyed, I don’t think it’s really news that a publicly left wing group won’t be pro-Trump. Anymore than some of the Fever’s most left wing listening is Shane Gillis…

Which is to say, maybe I’ve been suckered in with bread and circuses, but I’m looking forward to the start of the football!
 
Compared to some of the US political billionaires anyone who’s got billions and is enjoying it in wine, football and hospitality and sharing a bit of that around can’t be all bad. 

coochiee

'Auckland FC owner declares is Fake News, club don't break League crowd record for inaugural game'

Well played 👏

coochiee

Derby 1 in Dec to sell out or close too.
Derby 2 is 22nd Feb. Crowd then will depend alot on how Auckland are tracking. But suspect they have enough squad quality to be in the playoff hunt.

So yeah off RR's quick maths an overall season average at 12K looks well possible.

Looks like they have a sizeable back office staff operation, to get the marketing right, and sort out all the game day experience stuff that matters to keep the punters turning up. From complaints on The Port's FB page they have had issues getting merch out, season pass packs turning up, people buying tickets online etc etc - all the same stuff as the Phoenix.

If they look after their fans properly it seems likely they’ll have a match day revenue advantage over the Nix. Which they should do if the various population counts mean anything for attendance.

RR

In the first 5 matches for the NZ Knights, they had a combined attendance of 24,288 at NHS. AFC could basically match that on their opening night!

Quick back of the envelope maths here. If they sell out the opening match & 2 NZ Derbies + then get the 8.3k that the Nix got at Mt Smart last season to all the other games, they would have an average crowd of 11.9k. That is just below what the Victory averaged for their non Finals Home games last season.

I initially thought they would average over 10k but I'm gonna say 12k now. Any other guesses?

If they're winners 20k plus. Otherwise 10k and sliding.

martinb

coochiee

Derby 1 in Dec to sell out or close too.
Derby 2 is 22nd Feb. Crowd then will depend alot on how Auckland are tracking. But suspect they have enough squad quality to be in the playoff hunt.

So yeah off RR's quick maths an overall season average at 12K looks well possible.

Looks like they have a sizeable back office staff operation, to get the marketing right, and sort out all the game day experience stuff that matters to keep the punters turning up. From complaints on The Port's FB page they have had issues getting merch out, season pass packs turning up, people buying tickets online etc etc - all the same stuff as the Phoenix.

If they look after their fans properly it seems likely they’ll have a match day revenue advantage over the Nix. Which they should do if the various population counts mean anything for attendance.

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Buffon II

martinb

coochiee

Derby 1 in Dec to sell out or close too.
Derby 2 is 22nd Feb. Crowd then will depend alot on how Auckland are tracking. But suspect they have enough squad quality to be in the playoff hunt.

So yeah off RR's quick maths an overall season average at 12K looks well possible.

Looks like they have a sizeable back office staff operation, to get the marketing right, and sort out all the game day experience stuff that matters to keep the punters turning up. From complaints on The Port's FB page they have had issues getting merch out, season pass packs turning up, people buying tickets online etc etc - all the same stuff as the Phoenix.

If they look after their fans properly it seems likely they’ll have a match day revenue advantage over the Nix. Which they should do if the various population counts mean anything for attendance.

7fvwwa.jpg 72.49 KB

I’m Brent without the job! 

NewstalkZB 2 minutes ago: "If they don't win by Christmas the place will be empty."

breaking news: if Auckland don't win any of their first 8 games they'll have poor attendances! who woulda thought?

They’re gunna win plenty you’d think. There’s enough depth and competency there. Surely Corica hasn’t lost the dressing room yet?

No surprises new signing Neyder Moreno doesn't make the match day squad.

Possible starting 11 -
Paulsen, Sakai, Hall, Pijnaker, De Vries, Verstraete, Gallegos, Brimmer, Randall, Rogerson, May

Bench - Woud, Elliott, Smith, Galloway, Howieson, Gillion, Mata
Omitted - McKenlay & Bidois

FDV seems to have been playing more than Galloway.
Randall slightly ahead of Gillion maybe at the mo


Saturday, 3:00pm (AEDT): Auckland FC v Brisbane Roar

Auckland FC: 1. Michael WOUD, 2. Hiroki SAKAI, 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 4. Nando PIJNAKER, 5. Tommy SMITH, 6. Louis VERSTRAETE, 7. Cam Howieson, 9. Max MATA, 10. Guillermo MAY, 12. Alex PAULSEN, 14. Liam GILLION, 15. Francis DE VRIES, 17. Callan ELLIOT, 18. Finn McKenlay, 21. Jesse RANDALL, 22. Jake BRIMMER, 23. Dan HALL, 27. Logan ROGERSON, 28. Felipe GALLEGOS, 35. Jonty BIDOIS

Ins: Nil
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Nil

Brisbane Roar squad: 1. Macklin FREKE (GK), 4. Ben WARLAND, 6. Joe CALETTI, 7. Rafael STRUICK, 8. Walid SHOUR, 10. Florin BERENGUER, 11. Neicer ACOSTA, 15. Hosine BILITY, 16. Thomas WADDINGHAM, 17. Harry VAN DER SAAG, 19. Jack HINGERT, 21. Antonee BURKE-GILROY, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 24. Sam KLEIN, 26. Jay O’SHEA (C), 27. Ben HALLORAN, 29. Matt ACTON (GK), 35. Louis ZABALA, 43. Adam ZIMARINO, 49. Ivan OZZI
(Two to be omitted)

Ins: Nil
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 2. Scott NEVILLE (knee), 3. Corey BROWN (Suspension), 5. Marcus FERKRANUS (knee), 30. Quinn MACNICOL (international duty)

It’s all going to boil down to how good these 4 mid/forward unknown imports are and if they are mediocre, good or great.

The three ausis will be good and the kiwis will hold their own.

Buffon II

20k+ for the opening match is a promising start.

Of course there will be a novelty factor at first so no doubt the club will have to work hard on and off the field to turn as many of those 20k into regular attendees.

After about 5 or 6 games and if they start losing, then that will be the test. I actually hope that this time Auckland do support their team consistently. It's great for the club, for fans, for Auckland & for football in general here in NZ. but the test is when/if the club hit a wall and struggle. Just like the Nix, when we dropped down to about 5k average. Novelty factor will certain apply for those first few games. Good on them.

Half a Pint

InsulinMachine

Does anyone know what the first game crowd numbers were for the Knights and Kingz?

Kingz first NSL match at North Harbour Stadium had a crowd of 8,200

And the Knights first home match at North Harbour stadium had a crowd of 9,827

I guarantee that 9,827 is grossly overinflated. 

Jessie Merino

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

Wait till Bloc 5 rise from the darkness!

Bloc 5 sold out. But who are now the occupiers we'll have to wait and see.

Block 5 at NHS was where Bloc 5 derived the name.....I'm not even sure what "bloc" we were in at Mt Smart....I'd have to look at a map, and even then the ground may have been redeveloped in the meantime. 

EDIT: I stopped being lazy, and looked......we were either in Bay 11 or 12 at Mt Smart. 

You can kind of sense the nerves that must be spreading through everyone at AFC. Building a football club from scratch is a very difficult proposition. Hopefully they don’t get stage fright on Saturday. That’s where the old heads like Sakai and Brimmer and the imports will hopefully keep them focused. 
I’m a 100% Nix supporter but I don’t want AFC to fail. It’s too important for the development of NZ football. When the Nix started they kind of flew under the radar and built their support organically. AFC have made a big splash already so the expectations are already high. 
If they have a bad start to the season the press and public will destroy them. Fingers crossed for a decent performance first up. A win would be great but an honorable draw with plenty of action would probably be OK.

I think they have recruited excellently. I've watched a few videos that James McOnie (Crowd Goes Wild) has released in the last couple of weeks. The foreign recruits (apart from Sakai) are all in their peak in terms of age and have something to prove/some unfinished business perhaps. May and Verstrate speak great English, not sure about Moreno and Gallegos. 

They seem like fun and charismatic guys and from looking at Verstrates social media, he is into hiking in the mountains, which is somewhat unusual for a footballer these days. It seems like they have really done their homework and that those guys will want to be here rather than coming just for the money, etc. Better than picking up a 37 year old premier league player with injury issues and looking for a final payday. 

Sakai by all accounts is well respected and has connections in NZ. This can only help. 

As for Hall, Brimmer and Galloway. They are proven in this league and have silverware to show for it. Overall seems like a great mix and a balanced squad.