Auckland Pride - Make Auckland Great Again

Back on top, maybe only for a few hours, they will be buzzing with todays performance

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Half a Pint

Doloras

pickledmyself

Doloras

NHS? Fudge that for a game of soldiers

Yup, one way to guarantee piss-poor crowds and mockery from chuds about empty stadia.

I still think Kiwitea would be the best - yes its small but easy to fill and looks great. 

Kiwitea was my first thought but honestly it's a bit ramshackle and hard to get to. I wonder whether they could do something with the grass pitch at Seddon Fields that was created for the WWC, they'd need to build stands though (might work very well if Foley is still looking to take over the Western Springs stadium)

What about Auckland United's ground at Keith Hay Park?

Chuck a few stands on the opposite side to the club rooms? Could even just be scaffolding stands

Mt Smart #2 is a nice enclosed little ground - the John Walker lounge can be a good base for refreshments and there is a covered stand on the other side - has an athletics track but that could be sorted.

Man that second goal from Pijnaker too is a stunner. He’s got two blockers and the keeper at a minimum in front of him. [ edit:looked back and it’s even better. 3 blockers and the keeper in front, with two defenders coming in to tackle at pace, so he’s got to size it up and do it very quickly.] He’s got to lift it over them , but not too much, and find the right side of the net. You see a hundred corners or box situations where that is blasted high or wide or into traffic and blocked.

May’s goes without saying…

The guy does have some attacking game, has done a few classy things  in the front third this season which make you think, that shouldn’t be coming from a central defender. 

Gillion not squaring the ball for a tap in on the 90th... oof

Francois could've (should've?) scored with this first touch of the ball.

Bournemouth off to the races here too. 1-0 trying to prevent Newcastle winning 10 in a row. 

(And Bournemouth’s bench have 9 PL games experience total v Newcastle’s bench with over 900 games! Happens to the best Chief!)

Haven’t watched them this season, but this Bournemouth press is a thing of beauty. 

2-1 to Bournemouth at half. Both sides furious with the reffing. Adams and Joelinton the main culprits, though somehow Kluivert has been carded too. Great game. Potentially a huge banana skin for Chris Wood’s Forest next week. 

Sorry, wrong thread- loose club grouping association…

AucklandPhoenix

The guy does have some attacking game, has done a few classy things  in the front third this season which make you think, that shouldn’t be coming from a central defender. 

It is that Ole coming out in him.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/football/auckland-fc/auckland-fc-boss-nick-becker-qa-inside-the-stunning-rise-of-the-a-leagues-newest-side/JOR4DN5XI5D2TAOFP4W55RJHK4/

You must be enjoying seeing replica shirts everywhere?
It’s an amazing feeling seeing all the shirts in Auckland and at holiday spots over the Christmas break. We’ve sold more than 20,000 kits to date and we are working hard to keep up with the demand.

The next derby, on February 22, is expected to sell out again. There has been talk about Eden Park. Have you considered that option?
I know there have been murmurings about that, but for me year one is all about building a fortress at Go Media stadium and creating our home.

How would you describe the relationship with the Phoenix? Is it a bit strained?
No, I don’t think so. We have a lot of respect for them. They’ve flown the flag for professional football in New Zealand over the past 17 years and done a great job. Having competition is really healthy and a rivalry that’s become so strong so quickly is also fantastic. The fans love it. Before Aucklanders basically only had one choice – to support Wellington – now they’ve got their own team.

Our relationship with the Phoenix is really good. We get on with them well, outside of the derby windows. In the windows, it’s fair to say that we enjoy a little bit of banter and rivalry. But it stays the right side of the line and it’s a lot of fun.

How is progress with the formation of the women’s team?
We are on track. We’ll have a head coach appointed by early-February at the latest and we’ll start talking straight away to players that both [director of football] Terry [McFlynn] and the head coach are keen to approach. We want a team with a backbone of Kiwi players.

What happened with Joey Champness, who was signed but never made a matchday squad before leaving after eight games?
Joey and the club came to a mutual-agreement position, shook hands and went separate ways. He’s a great kid and I hope, whatever his next venture is – in football or business – it’s a huge success.

What’s it like talking with potential sponsors now, compared with those first few calls a year ago when you were selling a dream on a piece of paper?
Obviously, it’s a lot easier to get a meeting and we even have some inbound calls these days! I’m proud of the impressive list of brands that have come on and supported the club in our first year. And 2025 is going to be another massive year.

Holy moly Foley! 20,000 kits sounds like 2 mill $$$$ already!
A coupla back of envelope calculations: AFC are averaging 17,000 in attendance. If this continues till end of season they'll get 200,000 plus overall. At a low $30 p ticket that's $6mill. 6mill plus at the gate plus 2 mill plus in merch and Foley's well on the way to recouping half his AL entry outlay in season one.

Yeah and assuming the kit is just the jersey, there is a lot more merch out there which would have been sold (especially as the jerseys were out of stick for a long time and punters would have turned to other merch)

Would like at some stage someone ask what the average crowd size would be needed to break even.

There would have been alot of one off setup costs this season, starting a new club from absolute ground zero. Near impossible to breakeven this season I imagine.

Think I read somewhere CEO Becker said they hoped to be profitable operation in about 3-4 years. But given how even the bigger clubs like the VUC struggle financially, that maybe wishful thinking. Of course next season they add an ALW team to their Expenses column.

The Academy pathway of partnerships with Northern Region clubs, and keeping identified talent with their grass roots clubs as long as possible - a smart way to keep a lid on costs - whilst still having alot of input in the talent ID, quality youth coaching etc process.

Jessie Merino

Holy moly Foley! 20,000 kits sounds like 2 mill $$$$ already!
A coupla back of envelope calculations: AFC are averaging 17,000 in attendance. If this continues till end of season they'll get 200,000 plus overall. At a low $30 p ticket that's $6mill. 6mill plus at the gate plus 2 mill plus in merch and Foley's well on the way to recouping half his AL entry outlay in season one.

Clubs tend to see eff all from shirt sales iirc. Especially at such low volumes (in worldwide terms).

Sakai is back. Does Mata start alongside May again?


Wednesday, 7:30pm (AEDT): Adelaide United v Auckland FC

Adelaide United squad:
1.James DELIANOV, 3.Bart VRIENDS, 6.Stefan MAUK, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.ISAÍAS, 9.Luka JOVANOVIĆ, 10.Zach CLOUGH, 12.Jonny YULL, 14.Jay BARNETT, 17.Ben FOLAMI, 19.Yaya DUKULY, 20.Dylan PIERIAS, 21.Javi LÓPEZ, 26.Archie GOODWIN, 40.Ethan COX, 42.Austin AYOUBI, 44.Ryan WHITE, 51.Panagiotis KIKIANIS, 55.Ethan ALAGICH, 62.Fabian TALLADIRA

(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 62.Fabian TALLADIRA
Outs: 23.Luke DUZEL

Auckland FC squad:
1. Michael WOUD, 2. Hiroki SAKAI, 4. Nando PIJNAKER, 5. Tommy SMITH, 7. Cam HOWIESON, 6. Louis VERSTRAETE, 8. Luis TOOMEY, 9. Max MATA, 10. Guillermo MAY, 11. Marlee FRANÇOIS, 12. Alex PAULSEN, 14. Liam GILLION, 15. Francis DE VRIES, 17. Callan ELLIOT, 18. Finn MCKENLAY, 21. Jesse RANDALL, 22. Jake BRIMMER, 25. Neyder MORENO, 27. Logan ROGERSON, 28. Luis Felipe GALLEGOS

(Two to be omitted)
Ins: 2. Hiroki SAKAI
Outs: 3. Scott GALLOWAY
Unavailable: 23. Dan HALL

RR

Jessie Merino

Holy moly Foley! 20,000 kits sounds like 2 mill $$$$ already!
A coupla back of envelope calculations: AFC are averaging 17,000 in attendance. If this continues till end of season they'll get 200,000 plus overall. At a low $30 p ticket that's $6mill. 6mill plus at the gate plus 2 mill plus in merch and Foley's well on the way to recouping half his AL entry outlay in season one.

Clubs tend to see eff all from shirt sales iirc. Especially at such low volumes (in worldwide terms).

20,000 shirts is hardly low volume by any standard.  In fact it’s jaw-dropping.  Outside of maybe the all blacks (a significant chuck being tourists buying them) or the warriors (doubt if even they got close to that number last year), these numbers must be pretty much unprecedented for a nz sports team. 

Really looking forward to Adl versing Akl game…

Just out of curiosity why do clubs not make much from the sale?

They are not cheap, probably produced in some shop in Asia that Anna knows and 20,000 seems a reasonable production run?

AucklandPhoenix

Just out of curiosity why do clubs not make much from the sale?

They are not cheap, probably produced in some shop in Asia that Anna knows and 20,000 seems a reasonable production run?

It's new balance that makes them so they will charge a massive mark up and part of their deal with Auckland FC might be to supply a certain amount of gear to the club for free and in return they take the merchandise sales, with a small percentage back to the club, perhaps after covering costs for staff etc onsite for match days.

Here's a really good article which gives insight into the football shirt economics, and why the "they'll sell jerseys" justification for transfers is pretty much a myth:

https://www.danielgeey.com/done-deal-blog/the-shirt-sales-myth

The A-League is going to be different the the world's mega clubs, but I doubt AFC are making much coin.

AucklandPhoenix

Just out of curiosity why do clubs not make much from the sale?

They are not cheap, probably produced in some shop in Asia that Anna knows and 20,000 seems a reasonable production run?

It came up with a chat with Domey in the past, don't think he went into specifics from memory. However the odds of me finding it to back that up are remote, so I can't back it up with 100% proof.

RR

AucklandPhoenix

The guy does have some attacking game, has done a few classy things  in the front third this season which make you think, that shouldn’t be coming from a central defender. 

It is that Ole coming out in him.

It's becoming obvious that for all his failings Declan was a revolutionary. Not only in the way he coached his kids but in the expectations we now have of all Kiwi players, whether they've passed through Ole or not.

Domey spends a lot of time bemoaning how he manages the business so well and doesn’t make money however so not the best source 

I figure he doesn’t shout many beers when he is with his mates 

Be an interesting one tonight. You would have to say that Adelaide is their toughest test so far, yet Adelaide's home form has been worse than Auckland's away form.

Sakai being available again is big. 

I'm hoping for lots of goals, lots of incidents, general mayhem.

Come on you Reds

Go Auckland

Controversial VAR call.  

AFC might feel hard done by there, but Elliot goes down far, far too easily.

Probably still a foul.

[Deleted]

It was a soft tug, not enough to make Eliot fall, he went down too easily, would have been better to stay on his feet and fight for the ball. There are tens of shirt pulls per game that dont get called. 

Great comeback by Auckland to get a point and stay close. Love the attacking way they play

A draw was a fair result. Point away from home. Will take it.

As for that cheating ref, he will get it from both sides after playing another minute 

Deserves the shark he will get as well for not overruling that goal 

Certainly entertaining

Jessie Merino

I'm hoping for lots of goals, lots of incidents, general mayhem.

You should be happy

Time was added on because of Adelaide's goal being scored in the 95th minute

Shirt tug
Should rule out the goal. There's no reason for Elliot's shirt to be in Dukuly's hand.
Benefit of the doubt should be with the fouled player.
Awarding the goal gives the wrong message, ie do more shirt tugging, we're fine with it.
Automatic yellow and the problem goes away overnight.
De Fries, IMO is a strong A league player, maybe good enough for a higher level.
Makes you wonder what other talent is being overlooked in the regional leagues.
Entertaining game!

nixin

Shirt tug
Should rule out the goal. There's no reason for Elliot's shirt to be in Dukuly's hand.
Benefit of the doubt should be with the fouled player.
Awarding the goal gives the wrong message, ie do more shirt tugging, we're fine with it.
Automatic yellow and the problem goes away overnight.
De Fries, IMO is a strong A league player, maybe good enough for a higher level.
Makes you wonder what other talent is being overlooked in the regional leagues.
Entertaining game!

Yeah, everyone saying the shirt pull isn't enough for Callan to go down (and therefore not a foul) are basically saying whenever you're behind a player it's okay to give them a little tug.

Also, if Callan knew what he was doing then the attacker CERTAINLY knew what he was doing as well.

hepatitis

Great comeback by Auckland to get a point and stay close. Love the attacking way they play

They are more attacking than the Nix currently, but lets be honest that ain't so hard.

But AFC are only 6th equal on goals scored (21). It's their quality defence that has them 2nd.

They are a very hard working team, closing down space, always trying to get the ball back. Corica must have them fit. 

Not many X factor players though. I'd put only Paulsen, and maybe the exciting prospect Gillion in that category. No standout goal scorer. 5 players with 3 or 4 goals. Compare that to Kosta with 7, and then only Ishige (2) with more than 1 at the Nix.

AFC are also highly experienced. Unlike the Nix lots of guys in their mid-late 20s. Randall at 22 their youngest starter tonight. They bring Moreno, Brimmer & Howieson off the bench. Nice to see 20 yr old Jonty Bidois get a debut off the pine.


So yeah I get a bit more excited watching the Nix youngsters like LBS, Walker, Piper & co. Hope both teams do well, but there is something cool about watching kids who we have no real idea yet where their ceiling is. I think Howieson, Rogerson, Mata etc may have already reached theirs.

I think Mata may have some way to go, hopefully. 

Rogerson is showing the value of a player who is not the most naturally gifted, but has worked hard and knows his position and his game. 

You compare him to Randall, Walker, LBS, Gillion, Toomey and Supyk. 

He’s maybe not as quick, but he usually gets a cross in or a pass away. He’s aware of situations and he’s got the goal contributions on the board. He side foots finishes, gets the shot down and hitting the target more often than not. He’s a good pro. He’s had to work hard for everything he’s got in the game. 

The other guys are good but missing the impact on the scoresheet. 

And I think Howieson might have a bit more to show too, as he gets conditioned to a professional level. That shot he hit the other day was fairly sweet. Perhaps he’s at his level, but a bit more conditioning and getting used to the league might help him play more consistently. Or pull out the odd piece of genius on a more regular basis…perhaps he’s similar to Payne in that way he was playing in England at a high level at a young age, but he looks better higher up the park! 

If Eliot's role was reversed that would be a yellow. A defender giving a striker who got on the otherside of them open on goal a little tug and the striker going down is a yellow 99% of the time, sometimes its even a red if its just the goal keeper left to beat. Its impossible to judge as a ref whether a shirt pull is enough to make a player go down, you could start applying this everywhere. 'yea he did get tripped in the box, but he went down to easily and so not a pen'. Its literally enough for Eliot to feel the pull and go down, because shirt pulling is against the rules. 

Safire

Controversial VAR call.  

watched the highlights and initially I thought Elliot had gone down way to easy. Bu on a second look the pull on the shirt was decent but I'm not sure it was enough to drag him to the ground.