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Will the Wellington Phoenix flounder or flourish?

Roar Guru
16th January, 2013
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Adelaide United clash with Wellington Phoenix (Image: Supplied)
Roar Guru
16th January, 2013
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On March 19, 2007, an A-League licence was handed to Wellington and on March 28th the name of the club was announced as the Wellington Phoenix.

They took over from season one foundation club New Zealand Knights, who had their licence revoked due to the club’s financial and administrative problems and poor on-field performances.

In the past three seasons they have been able to successively make the A-League finals.

Unfortunately their sixth season has been their most troubling to date with their lowest average attendance rate and an attempt to play attractive football back firing.

They are currently sitting in the uncomfortable position of last on the A-League ladder.

So what’s the problem?

The club tried to find reason to achieve a continual increase in attendance and turned to their fans.

A lack of attractive football was the response from supporters.

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All players were on board with the chance to change their style of play which had brought consistency over the past three seasons, but what season eight of the A-League had in store for them was completely the opposite.

Thus the decline in attendances to the current average of 7,445.

Although unattractive football has followed can the average attendance rate be attributed just to performances?

Westpac Stadium which seats 36,000 is one of the larger stadiums in the A-League in regards to structure.

The field dimensions of Westpac measure out to be 235 metres in length and 185 metres in width.

To provide a comparison, Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart’s home stadium, AAMI Park, has a length of 136 metres and a width of 85 metres. It was nominated as the premier football stadium to play at in the A-League.

A huge difference in terms of how close supporters are to the action and most often then not can provide a vital difference in terms of atmosphere and a desire for fans to attend.

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Surely the atmosphere provided at both venues provides a different story and can be another vital impact on the success, health and profit of the Wellington club or any other team.

In an effort to resurrect their fledgling season, Phoenix will look to go back to basics that brought them consistency for the past three seasons.

Their problems regarding attendance and atmosphere for fans show no signs of any quick fix solutions.

Hamilton is home to rugby union’s Chiefs and the stadium known as Waikato is situated 393km’s away from Wellington.

Christchurch, home to Canterbury Crusaders is 436.5km’s away from Wellington and Auckland is even further at a distance of 635.9km’s.

In terms of relocation there seems no viable option and with a $130 million construction cost to build Westpac that was officially opened in 2000, the future of the Wellington Phoenix looks murky to say the least.

All things aside, Wellington Phoenix has possessed the ability to continue fighting for football in New Zealand and persist with the hope of capturing the imagination of a public fed with rugby union since birth.

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Their current licence is due to expire at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season and since the formation of the A-League, the view of having New Zealand a part of our league has been vital to the continual growth and development of football in Australasia.

Will Wellington and New Zealand’s participation in our competition survive? Or will the chance of bowing down to the needs of the AFC and ruining a relationship with our friends across the Tasman unfold?

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