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After the Phoenix’s 4-0 loss to Sydney FC, former A-League coach John Kosmina said, “I think it’s time to say goodbye to Wellington.”
There has been talk for a long time of Wellington leaving the league and it could happen soon.
Their license expires at the end of the 2019-20 season, with an extension to be awarded if they have good results, consistently attract crowds and contribute to the A-League.
This is fair, as what’s the point of having a club that gets poor results and small crowds?
But why don’t we hold the Australian clubs to the same standard? Wellington aren’t the only side to have struggled in recent years.
The Phoenix finished ninth twice in the past four seasons and after 18 matches they languish in bottom place this campagin. Last year, they missed out on the finals, finishing seventh, and have made a solitary finals appearance, in 2014-15.
But what about the Newcastle Jets? They are enjoying a wonderful season, with new manager Ernie Merrick having recruited well, taking the Jets to new heights. However, they haven’t made the finals since 2009-10.
Newcastle have won the wooden spoon twice in the past three seasons and they finished seventh and eighth in the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons respectively.
Their results have been worse than Wellington’s in the past half decade but, other than the FFA stripping Nathan Tinkler of the license in 2015, no one has ever said the Jets should disband.
Then there’s the Central Coast Mariners, who finished eighth twice in the past three seasons, bottom in 2015-16, and currently sit in ninth place.
The season they won the wooden spoon was statically the worst team performance in A-League history. They haven’t made the finals since 2013-14 and look set to finish in the bottom three for the fourth consecutive season.
But no one says the Mariners should disband.
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Wellington have also been stable in regards to keeping managers. Merrick was at the helm for three years, although Des Buckingham and Chris Greenacre tag-teamed to finish the 2016-17 season, before Darije Kalezic took over at the beginning of this season.
The Mariners lost Graham Arnold at the beginning of the 2013-14 season. His replacement, Phil Moss, was sacked in 2014-15. Tony Walmsley replaced Moss and was sacked prior to the 2016-17 season, replaced by Paul Okon.
The Jets have been the worst at this, giving a manager a contract then sacking them at the end of their first season. Clayton Zane was only an interim but if you count him, Newcastle have had six managers since 2013-14: Gary van Egmond, Zane, Phil Stubbins, Scott Miller, Mark Jones and now Merrick.
Another argument Kosmina made about why Wellington should be disbanded was their crowds.
Of course he has a point here. The last time the Phoenix had more than 10,000 fans attend a match was Round 1 of the 2016-17 season, and they haven’t topped the 18,056 fans that rocked up to their match against Adelaide United at Eden Park in 2014.
But the Mariners aren’t doing much better. Apart from their Round 1 clash against Newcastle this season, they haven’t had a crowd over 10,000 in nine home matches. Similar to the Phoenix, they have had a bunch of 10-13,000 crowds but haven’t topped the 17,134 fans that attended their match against Western Sydney in October 2013.
As for Newcastle, despite their struggles on the field, their fans have consistently supported them, usually attracting over 10,000 fans per match, although they haven’t topped the 16,634 at the match against Western Sydney in December 2013.
AAP Image/Darren Pateman
To top it off, it’s worth noting that Newcastle and the Mariners have used a heck of a lot more players than Wellington. In the past five seasons, the Jets have used 79 players, the Mariners 73, while the Nix have had 58.
So why do we always hear about the possibility of Wellington being evicted from the A-League and not Newcastle or the Central Coast?
Obviously Newcastle bring in crowds and have turned their fortunes around this season, but the Mariners consistently finish in low positions and have done so playing in front of poor crowds.
Sure the Mariners and Jets are Australian clubs, but if the Nix are on the chopping block, surely it’s worth taking a look at the other clubs.
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