Phoenix Ownership - Rob says FTFFA

I wish the off season would hurry up and come.

too much smoke here and an FFA i don't trust

iF this all goes really tits up, and we do lose the license, is the FFA under any obligation to honour players contracts or is that solely down to the Nix?

It feels like the off-season -  the boring part of the year, when we rise as one to every bullshark.story in the media, just to break the monotony.

On the first issue, Global Game is right - Sutherland Shire (where Graeme Arnold was a junior player) is pretty much a cradle of NSW football as much as Northern NSW. These are people who supported local football for generations, side by side with other codes; much like the South Coast (Woollongong / Illawarra).  

On the second issue, "yes, but".  There would need to be serious grassroots movement in Auckland first, clamouring for a licence to play in the A-League. Yes there has been a large population growth in Auckland in the last decade. However, it came largely from countries with minor footballing cultures (India, PRC). Getting an A-league class franchise off the ground in Auckland would need some serious corporate funding and a concerted media beat-up, while at the same time protecting the ongoing interests of the Phoenix. I know Gareth Morgan said several times that Auckland is the natural place to grow football in this country and he would be keen to give it a leg-up, but i would not want to whiteant The Nix just to grow football in Auckland.

Finally, all other Trans-Tasman competitions are not subject to overarching regulations by regional and global federations, and do not seem to have the same long-entrenched political infighting over serious money both from TV broadcasters and from FIFA. Note that I said "do not seem to have", so anyone with an insider's view on netball, basketball, NRL inside politics etc is free to correct me.

Problem is, until we get the licence extension signed and sealed, stories like this one will cause angst and worry because, no matter how stupid or wrong they might be, the future of the club IS uncertain right now. Anything which claims to talk about our future is gonna raise interest, good and bad.

An Auckland team might work but it would have to have a clear connection to the local football community in some way. The lack of appropriate stadiums in both size and location is also an obvious issue. Maybe a South Auckland based team also playing at Mt Smart and trying to tap into migrant communities there could work? What do Auckland based feverites think would be the best way to build an Auckland team?

I agree that on paper we here in Christchurch look like a better fit than Auckland, because of a more cohesive identity and a surprisingly strong and easily identifiable old English migration, I think there are other pro- and con- factors though. Money would be a problem, due to smaller commercial base unless grassroots support for a number of smaller local teams can be channelled into a bigger franchise, but local clubs would fear money drained from them unless external backers are involved.  On the other hand we have a good local stadium and a very good local academy now happening funded by a Russian migrant with seemingly endless oodles of cash and passion for the sport. Plus, we have the right city size to unite behind one club without "regional" loyalties like Auckland; but it still only means as many bums on seats as The Nix, or for that matter, The Mariners in Gosford.   Another plus?  It is easier to fill our small rectangular stadium than the RoF. 

Auckland has more population growth happening than Adelaide, a city of the same size, where the original second (NSL) club (West Adelaide) is still unable to get into HAL - but football tradition, of several generations, is what keeps the passion going and I am yet to see where Auckland has that. Yes we could try and translate the Auckland City FC into a HAL franchise, but I do not feel qualified to discuss local Auckland scene as I do not live there.

Don't forget Auckland has had two failed franchises already so it's only natural for there to be reluctance from the corporate community to get in behind a third.

This is the YF forum.  Of course you are qualified.

ACFC fan here. Don't worry, I can't knit.

Auckland should, reasonably be able to support three ASB teams/one A-League team. North Shore, Peninsula and S.Auckland (or one Auckland team, maybe). We're not short on winter clubs either.

But football is barely visible in Auckland in the summer, apart from the CWC stuff. Franchises haven't reached out into the communities they're based in and there's not a Yellow Fever organisation to build support and solidarity outside of the actual football matches. We're working on that now, a bit.

Auckland's disparate, it's a lot of towns joined together that's trying to be a city at the minute. It also suffers from a, weirdly, rubbish set of available grounds. QBE is fine if you live that side of the bridge, but for Peninsula/S.AKL dwellers it might as well be on the moon. Eden Park swallows crouds whole, as you can see if you watch the Blues (I do, god help me). Mt Smart is probably the most 'football' stadium going, but of course the council are going to turn it into a speedway or some such shark. 

It's about making it convenient, isn't it? Football's got to be cheap and easy to get to, either by walking, car or public transport. If you make it a little bit tricky, then people won't bother because there are literally other things they could be doing.

Kiwitea St is great, but not great to get to (even if you get the 248 bus) and park at. The best ground, probably, is Bill McKinlay. 5,000 capacity, really good transport links at Panmure station. Shame about the 3g pitch.

The need for stadiums to be so sodding huge they attract sponsors is murder on developing support, as you guys know with the RoF. 500 in a 3000 capacity can have a rocking atmosphere, 500 in 25,000 is just too spread out. And expecting 10k fans to rock up to matches in Auckland, outside of a Phoenix or WC u-20 game, just ain't reality. It's got to be a slow build, filling what we've got first and making

Trying to jump to QBE levels is, well, probably good for installing TV cameras but I'm dreading what it'll look like with a smattering of people on the opening day of the season.

It would still look better than the 50 North Narbour Rugby get.

Its got to be easy to get to, but it also has to feel like its worth while.

So if there are 30k seats and I know it wont sell more than 10k then I can just get my tickets on the day.  If there are 12k seats, it may be worth getting them in advance.

Then game day comes along, I have my tickets so I may as well go.  But if the weather is a little bad, or my mate just lent me an awesome video game, I haven't bought my tickets yet so no loss.

And they had better leave Mt Smart stadium the heck alone.  It's perfect for league and football.

The Mt Smart thing is mental, actually pure mental.

Mt Smart becomes a speedway, Western Springs speedway becomes a cricket ground and the Warriors move to the QBE.

Imagine South Auckland trying to get over the harbour bridge for a Friday night kickoff - carnage.

The huge elephant in the room is Eden Park, which is allowed to be a soulless cavern for anything but international cricket and rugby matches.

Ah, Auckland.  Eighteen separate villages connected by a sewer.

Bit harsh on SH1, that. Only a bit, mind.

... all pretending to be in Sydney.

One day the Nix are doomed and the doors are shutting at the end of the season.

The next day we're speculating about a second Kiwi team.

YF Forums. You know it makes sense.

But they're not interested.

ACFC have stated in writing, recently, that it is a goal in the next 5 years.

Umm... someone somewhere said something to somebody.... and it wasn't GGW or Ivan Vuk

NZ Herald, September 17, 2015.

fountains of Wayne

After yesterday, you'd think you'd be a little warier of what is printed, eh?

Club haven't denied it in public, have they?

How is Auckland any different than Wellington? Wellington city itself barely scrapes the 200k mark. The bulk of the population comes from the other cities in the greater region, yet people travel from the Hutt Valley and Kapiti Coast to watch the team play. I guess public transport plays a role in that, and that is also why the crouds were disappointing in the Hutt Rec.

Is Wellington anymore cohesive than Auckland?

So? They haven't publicly denied that they've signed Messi & Ronaldo for the upcoming WCC.

...and even then it's horribly contrived for cricket.  Another decision byt self-interest that doesn't actually benefit the fans or the players of a sport.  A seperate venue should have been built for cricket and a prper Rugby/Footbal stadium should have been built either at Eden Park or elsewhere.

Don't start me on Speedway to Mount Smart.

"Used to be speedway here once, eh? Bloody good it was too."

It's cheaper than antidepressants or viagra

Except I don't think that's actually been reported has it? So, not really the same, is it?

There are only 2 scenarios here. Either the journo got his facts wrong (in which case, you would think the club might make a public statement); or he got it right, and you just don't like it. Which is it?

No it didn't sell out on any day. It held 9,500 the highest it got was 9,232. The lowest it got was 7,816. This was when the nix were at the peak of their powers. It was hoped that it would sell out because the fact that scarcity drives demand + the novelty factor, but it didn't work out that way. 

I'd imagine it got a boost from Hutt residents that wouldn't have gone to the nix normally, but less Wellingtonians and people from the Kapiti Coast.

Source:

http://www.ultimatealeague.com/stadium_detail.php?...

On different and a positive note, the club negotiating the small minefield with Independent to get craft beers from other breweries on rotation is absolutely amazing! I am sure I'll have to pay through the snout for my Hapi Daze but getting it done is a good job from Domey and club.

IMHO Independent has actually provided a better range than under DB days so in itself deserves some credit. 

In my mind this season has got better already for match day experience!

Some interesting bits in here. If not sorted by end of year could our players be poached ?

"The Phoenix will have the remainder of the year to convince the FFA to grant them a long-term licence renewal and are in the process of submitting their case to the governing body. The New Zealand club could be dumped from the A-League at the end of the current season when their licence expires but are hopeful of obtaining a 10-year renewal and avoid being replaced by a team from either Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. The club will have until the end of the year to do so before its entire squad could potentially become free to discuss deals with rival clubs as their contracts could be deemed to be within the final six months before expiration. In what would loom as a legal mess for the club and league, all contracts are subject to the club's participation in the A-League. A legal argument could be made for players to seek moves away irrespective of the length of their contracts if uncertainty over the clubs future continues into 2016. On Wednesday, Fairfax Media revealed the FFA is in negotiations with key stakeholders in the Sutherland Shire with the view of establishing an A-League side that could replace Wellington in the competition.

Phoenix general manager David Dome said his club was confident of negotiating its long-term future in the competition.

"The chairman at the moment, Rob Morrison, is working very hard on that. He's in London currently but he's getting something to the FFA, which goes to the board very, very soon. One of those issues is the length of the licence. Our owners, our corporate partners and our supporters want more than five years," Dome told Radio Sport NZ. "We want a 10-year licence, the FFA understands that and that's what we're working towards all together." Fairfax Media understands there is a significant push for the FFA to part ways with its association with New Zealand football as the Phoenix contributes little towards broadcast revenue, attendances and Australian player development. While the Phoenix are one of the best-run clubs in the competition, they have the smallest membership base. 

If the Phoenix go under, they would be the second A-League club in New Zealand to fall by the wayside after the New Zealand Knights, a foundation member of the A-League, who finished last in each of their two seasons before being wound up in 2007. It is understood there are already financial backers supporting an A-League bid for the Sutherland region with one individual prepared to invest heavily for a licence. However any push for a team in Sydney's south will be met by a strong protest from Sydney FC. The Sky Blues are determined not to lose a large core of their membership base to a rival club after investing tens of millions into their club.