Phoenix alienating out of town fans?

80 replies · 1,675 views

over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

As I'm a Warriors season ticket holder, I'm on the One Tribe website a fair bit. Trawling through this morning I found someone had posted this and would be interested in your thoughts. (I've added the Nix related part of my response below as well)

Just wondered if anybody knows any other out of town fans who feel "left out" because we are the Wellington Phoenix. (apart from Happyted, obviously!)

"I can understand why some people in Auckland would rather the name be the Auckland Warriors, but they have to try and see it from a non-Aucklander's point of view. It excludes them in a way. There are plenty of dedicated Warriors supporters from other parts of the country and having the name the NZ Warriors acknowledges them, whereas having Auckland infront of it would be a slap in the face for them as they are not being acknowledged. That may sound silly to some people but it makes perfect sense to me. It almost seems like there is a rift between the Aucklanders and the non-Aucklanders and I hope that is not the case, as we're all in this together regardless of where we are from and that's why I get annoyed when I see threads like this debating over the name, as I think it's pretty obvious that the NZ Warriors name makes perfect sense, or even just the Warriors without anything infront. I've always thought that Warriors supporters are in a sense like a family, as that's the kind of people that Leaguies are, and that everyone accepted that the team represents the whole nation and that's what makes the Warriors so special, compared to say, the Wellington Phoenix, whose supporters almost isolate themselves from the rest of the country, they don't really accept that the Phoenix represent the wider football community, and to be honest that really put me off the club (I'm from Christchurch) as it didn't feel like they were 'my team', it was 'their team', but I've never felt that with the Warriors, it's a special club with special supporters."

My response was:

".......Sorry to go off on a non-league tangent, but as for your Wellington Phoenix analogy! The Phoenix are a club team based in Wellington, so they are rightfully proud of that fact. I am a Phoenix member, and a member of Yellow Fever, and I live in Pukekohe. I know that the Nix have fans from Christchurch, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Auckland amongst other places, who have been more than welcomed into the fold. When I attend home games in Wellington, other fans are more than delighted that people like myself make the effort to get to the games from outside Wellington. I would suggest that your feeling that they weren't your team says more about you than it does about the Phoenix.

If Manchester United 'fans' stopped supporting them because they lived outside Manchester and the name offended them, they wouldn't have any supporters left!"

Jag2008-10-17 08:46:42

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I agree with you Jag, I live in Welly duh and love the Warriors, have followed them since they started and wouldn't stop for anything.........I wish they played from Wellington but don't care where they play as long as they win.......

Queenslander 3x a year.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

6,500 turning up to watch a pre-season game in Christchurch ?

I think he's in the minority.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

if the name was changed to NZ Phoenix you would gain 3 fans from Auckland, and lose 50 from Wellington

Founder

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I'm not even sure of that, you might get this guy from Christchurch, but the Auckland objectionists are against the concept of an NZ side in the A-League not against it being called Wellington.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I live in Days Bay and I support Everton. Everton are alientating me. They must be renamed Days Bay Everton... NOW!!

Profile pic. Should you be interested. Lakhsen, on the right, lost touch with him.
Mohammed, on the left, I'm still in touch with. He's now living in Agadez, Niger. More focused on his animals now as tourism has dried up. Is active with a co-op promoting local goods, leather work and bijouterie, into Europe.
20/5/20

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

The NZ thing has been done too many times, and had to be changed to get the Nix awayfrom the Knights & Kingz, would have just been too close otherwise.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

dairyflat wrote:

I live in Days Bay and I support Everton. Everton are alientating me. They must be renamed Days Bay Everton... NOW!!

You might have something there DF. Pukekohe Thistle has got a ring to it....

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Jag wrote:

dairyflat wrote:

I live in Days Bay and I support Everton. Everton are alientating me. They must be renamed Days Bay Everton... NOW!!

You might have something there DF. Pukekohe Thistle has got a ring to it....

hmmmm... Petone Gunners... would have to have the stadium down the far end of Jackson St I'd imagine

E + R + O

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I dont think we are alienating people from out of town..

I think we just alienate Aucklanders.. And Fair enough

Wellington has become the home of football, but Auckland gets the U-17 final

They get the major games of the world cup

The All whites play there more often than in wellington or anywhere else for home games

They get the warriors..

Anything south of the Bombay hills is fine with us.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

We don't alienate the majority of Aucklanders, plenty of them come down for games and plenty of them are functioning members of the Fever community.

There is tiny minority of Grey and Miserables but as has been proven time and time again they do not represent the majoirty of Aucklanders.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Good, thoughtful and reasonable response JAG well done have a clappy smiley or two

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

ForteanTimes wrote:

Good, thoughtful and reasonable response JAG well done have a clappy smiley or two

That's made my day

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I'm from Christchurch but would much rather the warriors be called the "Auckland" Warriors. I support the team but in my opinion if you want to call yourself a "New Zealand" team you should play home games in more than 1 of the major centres. Its the same with the breakers. IMO they should travel to Wellington and Christchurch amongst other places (even if its only 1 or 2 games a season) or call themselves Auckland.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I have always looked at them as The Auckland Warriors anyway. And good luck to Auckland and their main fan base up there. That they have many fans scattered around the country is a very good thing and shows their brand is appealing.

Very much the same as here in Wellington with the Phoenix. They are a Wellington Club and entity and that they have fans scattered around the country is great.

Proud to have attended the first 175 Consecutive "Home" Wellington Phoenix "A League" Games !!

The Ruf, The Ruf, The Ruf is on Fire!!

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

dairyflat wrote:

I live in Days Bay and I support Everton. Everton are alientating me. They must be renamed Days Bay Everton... NOW!!

Rumour has it they're looking to relocate anyway, DairyFlat, to a country where the winter season ends in October!

Cheers,

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Scousekiwi wrote:

Rumour has it they're looking to relocate anyway, DairyFlat, to a country where the winter season ends in October!

Cheers,

You'll keep.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Jag wrote:

dairyflat wrote:

I live in Days Bay and I support Everton. Everton are alientating me. They must be renamed Days Bay Everton... NOW!!

ï¿½

ï¿½ï¿½

ï¿½ï¿½ You might have something there DF.ï¿½ Pukekohe Thistle has got a ring to it....

... or Hamilton Academical.

oh, hang on.

Nice original post, Jag. I feel a lot more connected to the Phoenix than I ever did to the Kingz or Knightz (but that's probably got a lot to do with this place). Only saw 2 or three of the K'z matches on t.v. Certainly never made the effort to get to a game. Probably because my 7 year old son told me they were crap.

Maybe it's also because I wasn't playing then myself. Wanted to be more interested, but couldn't get into it. Maybe the old Auck v South of the Bombays thing, dunno.

See you all on the 28th Nov.s2art2008-10-17 12:21:42

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I had much heart for the Kingz from Hamilton and it stayed when I came here... Knights, not so much. Too much stoopid.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Does happyted have a brother?

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Do the warriors play pre season games outside aux?

(they may do from memory)

and it dont look good when you read in the paper "New Zealand beaten by Sydney" oh boy a country got beaten by a city.

i don't consider myself a wellingtonian but i'm all for the phoenix.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Christchurch

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I watched the Kingz and the old NSL but when the New Zealand Knights came about I just didn't want to know, the name alienated me rather than included me. In fact the first Phoenix game was the first A-League match I ever saw.

The whole New Zealand Warriors thing is similar. By the time I was 4 and the Warriors played their first game I was already in love with the Bulldogs because of Daryl Halligan and when they started playing games in Wellington I felt a much greater affinity with them than I ever have the Warriors. In fact from memory it always felt like more people were behind the Bulldogs than the Warriors at those games...

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Stefan wrote:

I dont think we are alienating people from out of town..

I think we just alienate Aucklanders.. And Fair enough

Wellington has become the home of football, but Auckland gets the U-17 final

They get the major games of the world cup

The All whites play there more often than in wellington or anywhere else for home games

They get the warriors..

Anything south of the Bombay hills is fine with us.

I've removed all the expletives that ran through my head when I first read your post, here's what's left...

Why is it fair for you to alienate us?

I'm a loyal Phoenx supporter from Auckland, here's some of the things I do in my position of an Auckland based Phoenix supporter:

Travel from Auckland to Wellington for games when I can, I'll be present for at least two games this season (would be more if they had less sunday fixtures, harder to travel affordably without taking time off work)

Purchase merchandise, adding to both the coffers of yf and the Phoenix

Wear said merchandise around Auckland hoping to raise awareness of the 'brand'

Watch every game on TV, thus adding to numbers watching which adds to the coffers again and makes the Phoenix a viable television prospect.

Take pride in them as my team, regardless of name because of the important position they hold in New Zealand Football.

Carry my Yellow Fever card with pride.

Things I do not do as an Auckland based Phoenix fan:

Make decisions about where the All Whites and other New Zealand Football teams play their home games in some twisted conspiracy against the city of Wellington

To reply to another post, I certainly not begrudge the idea of the Phoenix existing, I love them and the potential they hold for New Zealand Football.

To sum up my rant, stop blaming us for decisions which are not made by us, unfortunately Auckland Phoenix fans are not the people deciding where the All whites play. You (and anyone who agrees with you) might need to get over yourself a little.

If you still wish to alienate me and any other Aucklanders on the 28th of Nov when we come down to see the Phoenix then feel free, I haven't got enough time in my weekend away to waste it talking to t**sers.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

I think he just meant the happyted type aucklander. The decisions about all whites games and WC final seemed to be a seperate issue stefan was talking about,when it comes to the home of football,nothing to do with nix fans in auckland.

Thats how i read it anyway. Dont take offence Joachim,we loves you really

Allegedly

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Critical_Lemon wrote:

Yeah i found that too,started supporting the bulldogs more for that reason. A NZ team should play outside of one centre. It just annoys me more than anything,theyre just trying to trick the whole country into supporting what is an auckland team. Having said that,i still supported tehem when they were auckland warriors,but the name change did alienate me a little too.

Itd be the same effect for the nix. It would alienate a few wellington supporters even,as it would feel as though the team was being taken away from the city somewhat

Allegedly

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Personally, I think only National teams or Rep type teams should be called "New Zealand ...........".

No club side should be called the NZ anything.

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Tegal wrote:

Thats how i read it anyway. Dont take offence Joachim,we loves you really

Sorry if I misread it but when you say something is fair and then list examples it would seem as if these are being used as justification for what you said is fair.

Anyway, my bad if I had a flare up but the idea of not being accepted into the Phoenix fan camp because of where the all white play does frusrate me a little.

Save the arguing for when Auckland City takes revenge on Team Wellington for last season's abomination (if Wellington can afford to play :P )

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Jag wrote:

Personally, I think only National teams or Rep type teams should be called "New Zealand ...........".

No club side should be called the NZ anything.

Fully agree.

It also strikes me as a very NZ phenomenon as well, can't think of an another club in any sport that bears the name of the country it's from?

Hm, Austria Vienna? Can't think of any else.

And yes, I do like the Warriors and follow them on TV, but I'd much prefer them to be the Auckland Warriors rather than NZ Warriors.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Tegal wrote:

Itd be the same effect for the nix. It would alienate a few wellington supporters even,as it would feel as though the team was being taken away from the city somewhat

The Warriors did play some games out of Auckland even when they were know as the Auckland Warriors, I think name or not they did recognise that they where a team that could benifit their sport greatly in New Zealand.

Now, what's the odds of Terry sending the Phoenix on the road? I'm actually thinking of our southern friends here as it'd be a bit bold to ask for an Auckalnd game in here lol (especially since we already blew our chance at an A League franchise)

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

el grapadura wrote:

Jag wrote:

Personally, I think only National teams or Rep type teams should be called "New Zealand ...........".

No club side should be called the NZ anything.

Dinamo Zargeb was know as Croatia Zargeb for a while, cause a sh*t storm amoungst some of the fans so they had to change it back to Dinamo.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

OH god no Joachim... don't start him on thee HNL, we'll be stuck here for weeks.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Stevo wrote:

Christchurch

<------ Me and Larry....we tight

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Hard News wrote:

OH god no Joachim... don't start him on thee HNL, we'll be stuck here for weeks.

Don't know what you mean by HNL so I'm not sure how I'm starting on it.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

The Croatian national League and I was suggesting you were starting El Grapadura on it.

How's my driving? - Whine here

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Sorry, give me time to catch up on the in jokes.

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

joachim wrote:

Tegal wrote:

Itd be the same effect for the nix. It would alienate a few wellington supporters even,as it would feel as though the team was being taken away from the city somewhat

Slightly different because those NRL games were actually Away games for the Warriors. The Bulldogs chose to play their 'Home' games against the Warriors in Wellington, and the Eels and Tigers did the same in Hamilton and Christchurch

Apparently I'm apathetic, but I couldn't care less.

"Being a Partick Thistle fan sets you apart. It means youre a free thinker. It also means your team has no money." Tim Luckhurst, The Independent, 4th December 2003

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Jag wrote:

joachim wrote:

Tegal wrote:

Itd be the same effect for the nix. It would alienate a few wellington supporters even,as it would feel as though the team was being taken away from the city somewhat

The Warriors also played a World club challenge game (or whatever superleague called that stupid competition) against Warrington In Christchurch, that was a home game.

Warriors played with 12 men for most of the game and still won 16 - 12

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over 17 years ago · edited over 13 years ago

Jag wrote:

joachim wrote:

Tegal wrote:

Itd be the same effect for the nix. It would alienate a few wellington supporters even,as it would feel as though the team was being taken away from the city somewhat

Exactly. The Warriors didn't send themselves to other NZ locations, it took other teams to do it for them.

Also the warriors only ever played outside Auckland when they were known as New Zealand. The first Warriors match outside Auckland and Australia was in the Warriors first year as a rebranded team. They played the Doggies in Wellington and it was either 24 all or the warriors won by 2 (26-24). I think it was the last round of the round robin and the warriors were down 24-8 with not many to play and had an amazing come back.

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