R9 vs Victory | Sat 5th Dec 7:15pm | #FeverTour to QBE Stadium, pregame at The Merchant from 3pm

North Harbour played last game there on 11 October.  How a team of Professional groundsman can fail to that extent is beyond me

NZ Herald pulling out all the stops to promote the game on Saturday! 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/football-soccer/news/hea...

I have a feeling he was being sarcastic.

The problem wasn't 'resowing' the pitch. It's predominantly a couch (warm season grass) field. A common method of renovation for couch is to top plane it (surface romoval technique) and the couch will regenerate from the roots. It's important to get the depth you top plane at right - too shallow and you will be left with a thick matty (thatch) turf cover. Too deep, and you take away too much and end up with sand. As I understand it QBE's couch wasn't evenly established in terms of it's depth meaning in some areas it was planed off at a good depth but other areas too deep. Those areas haven't restablished too well obviously. They've sewn it with rye grass since to try and establish a turf cover.

Hopefully it will play better than it looks but don't assume the Nix aren't somewhat happy with it given their opposition tomorrow.

What the heck is David di Somma doing reporting on football?

Nothing a few flares in Aotea Square tonight won't fix.

#grubs

Holy crap, it looks like a fudgeen sandpit. Beach football anyone?

Cheers

I knew there would be some sort of logical explanation as to the reason as why it happened. 

Whats the point in argueing about the pitch. Can't change it now and both teams have to play on it. I would say it probably works more in our favour

Where is the argument about the pitch?? Just saying it is a piece of shark and you should be able to expect better

I am actually really distressed by the lack of advertising. Usually there are posters on the buses, even billboards, advertising the AKL game. Why did Welnix decide not to do that this time, with our need for big crouds? Are they out of money? Did they think we'd had enough publicity already? Or don't they mind having a small croud for whatever reason? I'm baffled.

Anyway, confirmed: the way to get to the Merchant is Northern Express Bus, Britomart to Albany, then 15 minute walk. WARNING: they're digging up Albert Street at the moment (to put in the first phase of the City Rail Link tunnel) so buses in from west and south DON'T go all the way to Britomart. You'll be dumped near Aotea Square and have to walk the last km or so to Britomart.

Have seen lots of posters in bus shelters. Think there will be a decent walk up.

Everything appears against having this game on that sandpit, i hope lessons are being learned and remembered.

And the players deserve better.

To be fair, this appears to be a QBE groundsperson's balls-up; the only possibility would have been to move the game to Mt Smart and I doubt the A-League would have liked that very much.

Good to hear there have been bus shelter posters; clearly I don't catch as many buses as I used to. But yeah, there is no feasible way you can "walk up" to QBE; it's not in a busy central suburb like Eden Park or a convenient industrial zone like Mt Smart.

Just got 6 tix for block C, not many left there apparently.

Well lets hope that this isn't repeated then: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c...

Don't have to walk a kilometre from Aotea to the NEX stop at all.


Basically have to walk to the end of the block - see here:

https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/events/wellington-phoenix-vs-melbourne-victory/

Cheers,

JR

Oh, right; but if you want to leave before 5 to get to the Market...

Um, the wife and I are planning on getting the Northern Explorer up from Britomart tomorrow - what pub before the bus?

GameDay!!     Alright , bring on the dancing girls!!     COYN

I don't think anyone's planning to go to a pub before the bus.

In other news: FIRE UP!!!!!!

Firing up!!

So excited for my first Phoenix game live this year! COYN

I am in westfield.  Where's the pub?

good weather. I heard this arvo they had sold 2,500 tickets just this morning. So should be a decent walk up crowd 

Down Railside Ave.

I have never seen so many travelling fans here. Gotta be at least a hundred. One of their fans reckons there's about 250 of them come over. Great for the atmosphere....and the Metrics.

On the bus now with patrick and a good bevy of Ta --- uh, Victory fans.

There's a huge empty space in front of the grandstand. OH WHOOPS SORRY THAT'S THE FIELD :-/

where wre you guys?  Panic attack. Banners inside gate A with me. Seen you oi oi and called out.

where wre you guys?  Panic attack. Banners inside gate A with me. Seen you oi oi and called out.