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Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA (Part 2)

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Posted November 10, 2015 21:37 · last edited March 18, 2021 07:34

I lived in Wellington til I was 12, then moved to Auckland. I'm an Aucklander now and wouldn't want to go back. 

However, I have been a supporter of WELLINGTON Phoenix from the beginning and the Wellington part has no effect on that for me, or most other New Zealanders. Everyone knows it's the only NZ team. The name doesn't need to reflect that. I remember when the name was announced and most people were actually praising that we had a New Zealand team that was named after the city it was in, not the country. 

I didn't get the impression that Lowy meant the Phoenix should travel though. The name change is (supposedly) to attract out of towners to watch the games on TV. It won't. It also is a mouthful (like WSW) and can you imagine hearing all the Aussie commentators pronouncing the name? And Ngata and Dewhurst for that matter too. 

As many others have said, an Auckland team would be a solution. As much as I love the Phoenix, I would drop them in an instant in favour of an Auckland based A-League team (Of course, I'd still have Phoenix as my number 2 team and watch them every game).

That is assuming they get things right. The only suitable stadium we have in Auckland is Mt. Smart stadium. No one wants to go all the way to Albany. It's too far, there's no public transport, no parking, and it is a horrible match day experience in terms of staff, food, seating, screen (if they decide to set a temporary one up) etc. Eden Park also suffers from being way too far from the pitch and any atmosphere that is generated is lost between the separate stands.

If an Auckland club tapped into the large foreign communities around the city, you could draw a decent supporter base. I remember soon after last year's Eden Park game, I outlined why I thought that croWd number was so low. I don't like excuses, but Christmas in the Park was a big factor. You're always going to be competing with other events but CitP is a free family event that attracts tens of thousands each year. That's a lot of families with young kids who might have gone otherwise. 

Of course, I could be wrong on this; it will be interesting to see how Auckland performs this year. CitP is the week after the Auckland match, however, it's all the way up in Albany, which may not help things. 

To put Albany's distance in perspective, it's about 19km from the centre of Auckland (Aotea Square) to North Harbour Stadium following the roads. From the train station in Wellington, following the motorway and Western-Hutt Rd/Te Puke Highway, 19km gets you as far as the suburb/town of Taita. If you go from the train station through the gorge, you will get to the big roundabout in Porirua, just before Porirua harbour.

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Unknown editor edited March 18, 2021 07:34

I lived in Wellington til I was 12, then moved to Auckland. I'm an Aucklander now and wouldn't want to go back. 

However, I have been a supporter of WELLINGTON Phoenix from the beginning and the Wellington part has no effect on that for me, or most other New Zealanders. Everyone knows it's the only NZ team. The name doesn't need to reflect that. I remember when the name was announced and most people were actually praising that we had a New Zealand team that was named after the city it was in, not the country. 

I didn't get the impression that Lowy meant the Phoenix should travel though. The name change is (supposedly) to attract out of towners to watch the games on TV. It won't. It also is a mouthful (like WSW) and can you imagine hearing all the Aussie commentators pronouncing the name? And Ngata and Dewhurst for that matter too. 

As many others have said, an Auckland team would be a solution. As much as I love the Phoenix, I would drop them in an instant in favour of an Auckland based A-League team (Of course, I'd still have Phoenix as my number 2 team and watch them every game).

That is assuming they get things right. The only suitable stadium we have in Auckland is Mt. Smart stadium. No one wants to go all the way to Albany. It's too far, there's no public transport, no parking, and it is a horrible match day experience in terms of staff, food, seating, screen (if they decide to set a temporary one up) etc. Eden Park also suffers from being way too far from the pitch and any atmosphere that is generated is lost between the separate stands.

If an Auckland club tapped into the large foreign communities around the city, you could draw a decent supporter base. I remember soon after last year's Eden Park game, I outlined why I thought that croWd number was so low. I don't like excuses, but Christmas in the Park was a big factor. You're always going to be competing with other events but CitP is a free family event that attracts tens of thousands each year. That's a lot of families with young kids who might have gone otherwise. 

Of course, I could be wrong on this; it will be interesting to see how Auckland performs this year. CitP is the week after the Auckland match, however, it's all the way up in Albany, which may not help things. 

To put Albany's distance in perspective, it's about 19km from the centre of Auckland (Aotea Square) to North Harbour Stadium following the roads. From the train station in Wellington, following the motorway and Western-Hutt Rd/Te Puke Highway, 19km gets you as far as the suburb/town of Taita. If you go from the train station through the gorge, you will get to the big roundabout in Porirua, just before Porirua harbour.