The Protest Thread - 17th February and 25th March

All those protests will be lost in time. Like [cough] tears in beers. Time to cry

If you had gone around there you would have seen the rope. There were notices up saying it was off limits to everyone except for season ticket holders from that area...if you had gone around there.

Further more David Dome listened to our concerns and gave his views on various things. Pretty good result in that respect. Thee were others whom changed their minds when we scored early. I know 9 people. And that was their choice, I respect it. At least the three of us stood up and we're counted. Our balls were our word. I will sleep well tonight with a clear conscience.

Can you let us know what Dome said?

Good of him to come and hear you out. I’d call that a positive outcome. Well done LG. 

Kudos to Dome

Double Kudos. He actually made the effort to come and speak with us. Much appreciated and respect to him. 

garage project was the winner on the day

was there anyone there behind the rope stopping you going through? I used to sit round there (in aisle 10)  and it was always roped off but you just walked through anyway

I think I saw you and 3 others (2 were kids) leave at the 11 minute mark and full marks for you doing so, but there were a couple of issues 

1 -  no one was really sure what the protest was about 

2 - You had no banner so beside's the YF people that had read about this on here, no one had a clue what was going on

As a spectacle, perhaps a non event, but for an immediate outcome for LG - a win. I dont know what Dome said (and I suppose the game is still going to Auckland lol), but a good positive step by the club (Dome) and I hope it is the start of a new era in fan/club relations.

Had a little chuckle about the protest hitting a road block with the roped off area. No climbing the barriers and civil unrest here....You are in good company here LG, in one of the few protests I've been part of, a massive anti-nuclear march in the 80s, thousands were marching down Queen Street, chanting and banner waving. A fire engine came down Victoria Street, light and sirens..... and the seething hordes, we just stopped like a car at a traffic light, engine races through and we start marching again. Summed up the protest for me, good honest NZers not out to disrupt the everyday fabric of life but wanting to be heard on what we all thought was an important enough issue to get out of bed for.

Good on you LG.

Will be watching carefully moving forward to see that no one else now starts bitching and moaning about the last game moving forward  to Auck. 

If they  do, heaven help them if they couldn't get off their ass for this 

I must say however I am really looking  forward to watching Dura's last game live. 

True, well the precedent has been set and the owners know they have a lap dog,  so why the hell not :)

Bring it on.

Is that you feverish?

If you had joined us, you would have heard what he said!!

1 - All three of us were very sure what we were protesting about, David Dome also knows. 

2 - We did have a banner, but chose not to put it up. 

Fair enough.

The fundamental problem, which caused the dissatisfaction and protest, still exists and has not been fully addressed by the club. 

The re-changing of the venue of the last game at short notice shows either the Wellington Phoenix back office have no understanding of their fans, both regular and casual or a total disregard of their core support i.e.season ticket holders AND regular attenders at the home of the Phoenix

The back-office needs to understand that:

- the last game of the season is an important game for home fans

- lots of the core support travel from the lower North Island & beyond

- most home support understand that two games per season must be played outside of Wellington due to commercial reasons

- home games outside Wellington need to be announced in the pre-season or at least identified as potential moved games

- every fan expects to see important club news on the website and membership emails before external media

- a great marketing tie-in opportunity was on their doorstep with the Hurricanes playing the Chiefs on the night before the Nix game

- two games in Auckland within a month will undercut attendance at both games

- there is no support base anywhere in NZ, at present, which will produce a crowd of 20,000 outside of play-off games

Still planning a protest on 25 March, or has the chat with Dome helped the situation somewhat?

The number at the protest does not, in my view, represent the level of dis-satisfaction amongst home fans

The protest was LG’s way to show his dis-satisfaction and he asked others on the Forum to join in if they wanted, as was made clear in several posts

Perhaps I over-estimate the level of dis-satisfaction about the decision

My personal feeling is that the club bowed to pressure from the sponsor and calculated that there wouldn’t be too much impact on current support. 

My action is to seriously consider not renewing my foundation membership for next season as I believe the club doesn’t consider the impact on its core support as it’ll turn up regardless of any decision made by the club

Hatter, Ballance and LG

I'm chiselled. Just happened to be in the tent drinking copious amounts of GP when the protest landed on my doorstep.

I will certainly still protest, on 25 March, also at the Auckland games! 

We had a very good chat with the GM, we made our point & hopefully that filters through to the upper management. 

I'm going to assume he won you over with his charm and free beer and you're all now fanboys

Just kidding. Well done on getting the conversation and sticking to your convictions. I hope the Phoenix have at least retained 3 loyal fans

LG, is a man of principle, he wont be influenced like others by the gravy train and being thrown a few bones 

Right got a tablet working so I can clear a few things up. The roped off area which did exist said it was for members only from aisles 1 to 17. I know our protest might be small scale or even in vain but the last thing I wanted was for the fun police to show up and ask for tickets and any attendees that did show, get kicked out. This was meant to be a peaceful protest at the game going to Auckland. The last game of the season.

Auckland Phoenix, I want to thank you heaps for your comments throughout this thread. For some weird reason, you have tuned in on exactly what I am doing and why etc.  Thank you for your support.  In the zone there were 10 others whom indicated that they were going to follow. Then Singh scored and that killed that for the most part. Sadly, two of them didn't  realize I had gone so they stayed where they were. All good. That is their choice and right. Best news is that the team won.

The protest on the 25th is for exactly the  same reason. David Dome knows that this is not about the team or the manager. He knows the reasons why. I would like to thank him for taking 20 minutes of his time to discussing this issue and a few other things. He showed up which most Chairmen would certainly not do. I respect him for that. I would like to think that he may mention our concerns to Rob Morrison and Co.  He did acknowledge our passion and support over the years for the club and team and that too is appreciated. For a while I had been under the impression that fans in general were getting taken for granted. This may be true though I  some areas of the Board and our major sponsor.

We did and do have a banner and on the 25th we will bring it out. If any of you wish to join in in our peaceful protest, you are more than welcome but I cannot guarantee any ticket upgrades this time.

To those whom have knocked/mocked me and my fellow protesters, we said,  we did and we kept our word. Three of us slept well that night in our respective homes. We stood up and we were counted. So what about the low number although disappointing. Democratic process completed mission round one accomplished. 

As I have mentioned, I am already committed to the first Auckland game. Long before the announcement of the season on our end.  I will be there. The attendee numbers will be under scruteny.  If we don't get 20k..... Having said that, in the best interests of the club, I do hope Aucklanders, not just Nix fans up there, get out and support the game. 5k did last year,  an they better it this year? 

I'm interested to learn more about this gravy train. Who is on it, and what do they get?

Pints of red wine, canapés, the pleasure of spending some time in the rarified atmosphere the Feverish inhabits, & grass under your feet! I can highly recommend it!! ?

Nb. The passes to the Garage Project Piss Up Pavilion, were sourced by the GM, after he had listened to our concerns & opinions for 20 minutes, & he said “is there anything else I can do for you?” Me being a Cheeky FUCKER said, “can you get us into the hospitality?”, his response was, “yes I can”!! He disappeared for 10 minutes, & came back with the golden amulets!! 

If you don’t ask, you don’t get!! 

Thank you Mr Dome, for coming to see us, for hearing our concerns, & for providing us with the upgrade, all of them were very much appreciated. 

Flashing your boobs obviously helped

Apparently so!!! ?

Possibly very little, but it will achieve more than doing nothing!

Just like there were no ropes blocking aisles 1-17? ?

That area is always roped off, you just go into the stadium and make your way around.