Well the aussies have already started.
Wellington Phoenix are doomed???
If you go to the web site SportsAustralia.com there is an
article written by Phill Chadwick.
In it he is comparing Wellington football supporters with
Auckland. First mistake he made.
Won't go on anymore about it. But if you are a true supporter
of the Wellington Phoenix go and read the article.
You also are given the right to reply to him.
Yeah standard sort of thing you'd expect from someone looking for a
quick story - but at least he says he hopes the venture succeeds.
Up until now we've had Team Wellington to support and not
withstanding that TW played games sometimes at funny times (and
changed the times at short notice), I don't feel the football
community exactly got in behind them. Admittedly Newtown Park isn't
close to the station and it is a pain to get there, and TW don't
appear to have performed to potential (that is we should be a top
three club).
However, my son had soccer games and soccer practices
regularly clash with the matches, so the football fraternity didn't
exactly go out of their way to help TW. Now admittedly TW and
Phoenix both play in the summer, so it is at the end of the winter
season and the beginning of the next where the clashes occur. But
next year we'll still have TW (who we should support as well) and
Phoenix, so let's hope the games don't clash with each other and
that junior coaches see some benefit in kids watching football
as well as playing it.
Having said that, the potential is here to do better than
Auckland, I think we've got more going for us if we pull finger.
However, if we don't have a team that is competitive (that is not
last by a mile) then I suspect it will be a hard road. So far the
signs are good that the approach is better than the Kingz or the
Knightz.
Im not even gonna bother reading it, trying to sell a quicky and
they generally dont know their stuff
I'm not from Auckland but I always felt that North Harbour was
difficult to get to and that was an issue for fans. The
location of the stadium is one major thing that we have going for
us. Hopefully we an get plenty of Friday night games...
The NZFC is always going to struggle for appeal beyond
"football folk", the Phoenix will succeed or fail based on whether
you can attract sports fans in general.
Normo's coming home
I read the column. Very interesting but he really had no knowledge
of knowing how much people support football in Wellington. It
took longer then i thought for an Aussies to bag an NZ team in the
league. I always thought if there wasn't an NZ side Australia would
be stretching there resources just a little causing a league that
right now is ok quality to be even lower.
Was easy for me to get to, can walk there :D
I went to North Harbour stadium once - and if I had to drive you
there today I'd have no idea how to get there.
It's easier now Zeph... the motorway goes right past.
As a daihard Kings-Knights supporter, I can give two reasons for the demise of my club.
One was North Harbour Stadium.
For you Wellingtonians, imagine having a stadium in
Paekakiriki.
Then take away the train.
Then drive through holiday traffic to get there,on a wet
night.
That's what fans had to do to get to North Harbour. No public
transport - AT ALL. Congested motorway, and a huge trek from
anywhere over the bridge, where three quarters of Auckland dwell.
And its a nightmare to get out if there is anywhere over 5000
people there.
The second reason for the Knights-Kingz demise, the Auckland
fan. If he is a football fan, then he belongs to one of the
Auckland clubs, and what a self-serving, myopic bunch of t**sers
they are, all looking back to their National League days. Look at
North Harbour clubs, they didn't even put a bid in to join the NZFC
because they couldn't put aside their parochial interests. Some of
those w**kers are still going on about the NZFC going back to a
club-based league - like the average punter is going to watch
Glenfield Rovers play East Coast Bays. Rugby fans, whether they are
Ponsonby or North Shore Marist, will still support the Blues -
although, again getting in and out of Eden Park is a major reason
that the Blues don't draw more.
Auckland is not one city, it is five distinct cities
without any countryside between them. There is no one Auckland
identity.
South Auckland is Bro Town, North Shore is Pakeha-Yarpie, West
Auckland is Boganville, Central Auckland is bluerinse old wealth
and yuppie, East Auckland is Asian-Pakeha Yuppie. They all have
their own town centre, their own mayor and support different
sports. South League, West motorsport, North rugby or
basketball, Centre rugby and rugby, East Auckland just watch
TV.
Its a marketers nightmare. And remember there is no workable
public transport. To get from Manukau to North Harbour would take
about three hours by bus, and then you couldn't get to the Stadium
until this year, and there weren't any buses put on for the fans
that I know of. There is no train on the North Shore.
You had to be pretty dedicated, and with a car, to be a
Knights-Kingz fan.
It's easier now Zeph... the motorway goes right past.
Yeah - to which I'd say when I got to spaghetti junction -
which motorway??
far out, funny how I managed to get to North Harbour from Whakatane, only once missed a kick off by two minutes and only twice got lost getting there or back. It wasn't that hard.
The real reason is the Auckland public were BLOODY SLACK. I'm personally still gutted that the Knights aren't still playing, but gooooooodddd luck to the Phoenix, hope you do well and I hope to get down to a few games.Oi Oi Edgecumbe... lets have a clean sheet
But you had a car.
If you didn't have a car, you didn't go.
I guarantee there will be a big proportion of the Phoenix fans
going to the stadium by public transport.
To be honest, if I want to go to watch the football, I want a
beer before, after and during.
You can't do that and drive.
But the point of Auckland being slack is covered in the
remainder of previous post.
It's a weird city, more like five cities than one.
Erm, buses go right there. Theres a massive bus terminal there!
Erm, buses go right there. Theres a massive bus terminal there!
I must admit on our away trip to NZ back in Oct 05, we caught a bus from the city right to the door of the stadium practically.
far out, funny how I managed to get to North Harbour from Whakatane, only once missed a kick off by two minutes and only twice got lost getting there or back. It wasn't that hard.
The real reason is the Auckland public were BLOODY SLACK. I'm personally still gutted that the Knights aren't still playing, but gooooooodddd luck to the Phoenix, hope you do well and I hope to get down to a few games.Amen... the only game I ever missed the start of was the U-17 WC opener against the States, but in my defence I had a car catch fire in the middle of Hamilton and then needed a mechanic to start my other one. The closest I ever lived to Auckland games was Hamilton.
The traffic was never as bad as the non-attendees make out. I used to be able to leave Wellington at 09:00 to 10:00 and often be on the Shore by 17:30 for a Friday night game. Usually found myself bored for an hour looking for something to do...
Granted their are buses now, but the terminal out there has only been there a year or so, so for the first 5 or 6 seasons it was not an option.
Even so, if you live in Howick, Henderson or Manukau it would take three bus rides, 2hours and $12-$14 one way to get there.For a game starting at 7.30pm on Friday night, you would have
to catch a bus at those places at 5.15pm to get to the game.
As I said, you have to be dedicated. And prior to last season
it couldn't be done.
Get home through rush hour to catch a bus at 5.15pm for a 2
hour ride, and $26 for the trip. $25 to get in.
It wasn't easy for three-quarters of Auckland.