Auckland Team to Join A League

Auckland Team to Join A League

Having seen the success of the Nix could now be the time for Auckland to try and join the Aleague aswell?

This has been discussed dozens of times on here, along with Canterbury.

The main problem is tha there is no one willing to put up the money to fund it.  You can't just magically say 'there will be a team in AUckland' there has to be a desire for that team to exist.

Incidentally.

1. Yes.
2. Possibly, if it is like the Knights, barely.
3. The Knights started with a high numbers and they dropped off within weeks when they started losing.  The Kingz got crowds through the first two seasons when they were competitive but they all but disapperared after a losing season.  So no.

WHy wouldn they be ?  Knights.  Money.  Business Case. Venue. Crowds. History...

would need people as capable as Terry, Tony and Ricki. and as cashed up.
and a stadium as good as Westpac would be nice, though North Harbour might work with a good team.

do I remember$40-50 a ticket for the Knights game I went to??? does that seem right? had a two for one voucher I think...

Prices weren't any different to here from memory.  Maybe a little less.

I recall $20, but I'm not certain I ever paid for a game. 

Didnt athony lee fund most of the knights??

No.  Brian Katzen funded them.  Lee was CEO after they ousted Guy Hedderwick, he may have taken a small share as well.

I imagine a winning Auckland team could pull 15 - 20,000 fans fairly consistantly.

Oh wow.. This isn't a joke thread?

I dont see 15-20k for most games as something that would ever happen though. if it did that would be great. I would like another NZ team in the A-league.
But I really can't see Auckland in the A-league again. Christchurch is really the only place I could see another NZ team start up.

There is absolutely no evidence to back those crowd theories up.  If I had $30 million burning a hole in my back pocket I couldn't see any way a business case adds up for an Auckland side.

Christchurch maybe.

Even some of those that followed the Kingz are now on the 'Asian football is killing the NZ game' bandwagon.

Missed this, but he did say that a WINNING side could pull those numbers..

Possible?
But starting a team thinking.
"We will get over 15k as long as we win" is probably not the smartest idea.

Okay.. Thought lee put in a bit of cash too and he was sponsoring them through zero subs or something? But agree auckland sides have failed twice.. so time for maybe south island but at this stage only room for one nz team unless a realistic option comes forward

In theory Zero Subs was his son and maybe one of the Dawkins lads wasn't it ?

Maybe... Not sure was asking.... there is no evidence of a financial backer of a team anyways and a winning team in auckland would not pull those numbers. 

well i remember going along on the basis that they'd scored one goal- something they hadn't seemed to be able to do the entire previous season- Jonas Salley got injured during the game and there wasn't too many  bright spots. Bunce and Bazely seemed honest enough, and Jonti Richter was annoying...can't remember too much about the rest. But they seemed fairly slow.

pre-Smeltz a goal seemed something to get really excited about in NZ football

Give it 3-5 years.

It'd be tough to know who i'd support if an Auckland team did come along.

. . . Wait a moment . . . who started another Bloc 5 lonely heart thread again?

I think this is kind of a stupid thread as we're all pointing out the obvious.  Yes Auckland has the population to support an A-League team.  Yes, an A-League team run with the same values as the Phoenix has the chance of being succesful.  But that's not the issue and this is all theoretical.  The real quesrtions are (a) is there anyone willing to fund a club of that nature and (b) would they be accepted into the A-League. There doesn't seem like any imperative for the A-League to accept an Auckland team after the previous disasters and most of the benefits of having a kiwi team in the league are achieved with the Phoenix, adding a second team isn't going to add much. The answer at this stage is clearly no  to both so why does this keep coming up?

The NZFC sides do pretty well with a North/West team and a Central/South/East team. But a rivalry doesn't make sense with only one side. If, say, a promoted ACFC plays the Nix in the A-League, who do the Westies and Shore girls support?

As much as I'd love to see another NZ A-League team, I'm doubtful of its success any time soon. Aucklanders are too apathetic, they hardly get out to support anyone, especially if they are losing. I'm an ex-shore boy (reformed!) and I know what it is like to sit in an empty stadium.

disco_mart2010-04-22 23:05:25

If NZ got another A League club (which it won't, but hey - lets pretend) I would hope that it came last, lost every game and was the biggest joke of a team any professional sports league had ever seen.

there should only be one team from NZ in the A-League..Until we become part of the Asian federation it should remain this way. I don't think anyone would give a licence to an Akld based team based on history, I don't believe FIFA would sanction it either. Christchurch was just a one off and half the ground was closed due to construction, so the crowd looked more condensed. Wellington has one bonus the location of the stadium, but the Phoenix during the round robin phase can only fill the stadium to around 25% to 30% capacity, thats up to 70% empty on a typical match day spread over the season.

Half the ground was not closed due to contruction... it was the opening of the new stand.

19,000 is 19,000 no matter how condensed they were.

Sure, one day an Auckland team, but I'd rather grow our own comp first, NZFC/OFC.  Bring the Island teams to compete in NZ more often.  Perhaps feed into an Auckland team after that, but grow our own first.

How would the state leagues compare to NZFC? probably asked before.

The NSWPL game I watched the weekend of the Sydney final was no better than the TeeDubs vs Waitak games this season at Newtown, despite there being 3 or 4 ex-A-League players playing.

The FFA have created a massive divide between State League and A-League standards.

If you asked me if Wellington would have a football team in the a-league before T.Serripisos came along, i'd seriously doubt it.