Wellington Phoenix FC
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For current information on this topic, see Wellington Phoenix season 2007-08 |
| Wellington Phoenix FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Wellington Phoenix Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Phoenix, The Nix, The Ashes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Westpac Stadium, Wellington (Capacity 34,500) |
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| Chairman | Terry Serepisos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Ricki Herbert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | A-League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | 8th (league) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wellington Phoenix is a association football (soccer) team based in Wellington, New Zealand, competing in the Australian A-League. The club replaced the now-defunct New Zealand Knights FC in the 2007-08 season.
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[edit] History
During the later stages of the 2006-07 season, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) removed the New Zealand Knights's (NZK) A-League licence due to club's financial and administrative problems and poor on-field performance. After the resignation of the NZK board, FFA transfer the licence to New Zealand Soccer (NZS -now New Zealand Football) to administrate the rest of the club's season before it's subsequent dissolution.
FFA then invited NZS by giving a provisional A-League licence to sub-let the licence to a suitable New Zealand team to enter the A-League 2007-08 season. The FFA provided an application deadline to NZS which was subsequently delayed to give more time for potential applicants in New Zealand to apply along with NZS support.
While NZS was given a chance to apply with a new sub-licencee, a Townsville-based consortium, Tropical Football Australia (TFA) also expressed interest and prepared an A-league application to replace the place previously held by the Knights.[1] However, TFA eventually pulled out with the understanding of the FFA's preference to retain a New Zealand team for the league. TFA later resubmitted their bid in the following year as a potential A-League expansion franchise under the name of "Northern Thunder FC" which eventually change to "North Queensland Thunder"[2]
After much delay, the final money amount needed for the final application came from Wellington Property Businessman Terry Serepisos in the last moments of the bid giving much the relief to the New Zealand football fans. The club's majority owner and chairman Terry Serepisos provided NZD $1,000,000[citation needed] to ensure the beginnings of a new New Zealand franchise and a continuation of New Zealand's participation in the A-League. Football Federation Australia (FFA) finalised a three year A-League licence to New Zealand Football who then sub-let the licence to the Wellington-based franchise.[3] The Wellington franchise was confirmed on March 19, 2007.
The name for the new club was picked from a shortlist of six, pruned from 250 names suggested by the public, and was announced on March 28, 2007.[4][5] Serepisos said of the name: "It symbolises the fresh start, the rising from the ashes, and the incredible Wellington support that has come out".[6]
In November 2007, Sony NZ Ltd came on board as the team's principal sponsor.
[edit] Colours, Badge and Kit
The club's colours and badge were revealed on March 29, 2007. The colours are black and yellow, the traditional colours of the city of Wellington, while the badge is a shield with a phoenix rising above the shield.
While the general consensus among fans was for a kit featuring yellow and black vertical stripes, this format did not comply with the A-league template required by Reebok. Wellington will wear a predominantly black strip with yellow and white trim.
The away strip was revealed with the home kit. The away kit features black sleeves with yellow trim on a white background, while the shorts are white with a yellow and black side trim, with white socks.[7]
The Wellington Phoenix FC logo was created by Angus Deacon, a designer at TBD Ltd. TBD Ltd is owned by John Serepisos - a cousin to club owner Terry Serepisos.
There sponsors are: Front and Lower Back of kit Sony Sleeve: Inter Islander Front of shorts: Wellington Beds Back of Shorts: The Establishment
[edit] Stadium
Wellington Phoenix play all home matches at the Westpac Stadium (refer as the 'Ring of Fire' by fans) which has a capacity of 35,000 plus 1,000 corporate seatings approximately 40,000 with temporary seating. Field dimensions: Length (North to South) 235 metres, Width (West to East) 185 metres. The $130 million NZD stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington Railway Station) one kilometre north of the CBD. The stadium is owned and operated by Wellington Regional Stadium Trust. It is located on the waterfront, built on reclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements.
[edit] Supporters
A Wellington Phoenix supporters club, calling themselves the "Yellow Fever", was founded a day after Wellington's winning bid for the A-League slot was announced.[8] Yellow Fever founder Mike Greene met with the founder of NZ cricket supporter group the Beige Brigade to get ideas of how to get the group started.[9] The name was originally chosen on the assumption that the new Wellington-based team would play in a yellow playing strip (yellow being the dominant sporting colour of the region). When the dominant colour was revealed as black, Yellow Fever elected to retain the name. As such, many Yellow Fever members wear yellow to fixtures as opposed to black, such as the popular "Retro Ricki" t-shirt.
The "Fever Zone" occupied by Yellow Fever members are the rows between aisles 21 and 22, and 'store themselves' at YellowFever.co.nz. The site, at 3rd January 2008, had 4082 registered users. Although Westpac Stadium is an all-seater facility, most Yellow Fever members choose to stand in front of their seat - similar to terrace seating traditions in British football.
Yellow Fever are creating many traditions of their own, the most notable being taking your shirt off if the Phoenix are winning with 10 minutes to go. Many Yellow Fever members have also lent their support to other football fixtures in Wellington and New Zealand, mostly notably Team Wellington and the New Zealand national soccer team, for which they temporarily rebranded themselves as "White Noise".
[edit] Seasons
[edit] 2007-08
Of the 21 rounds, Wellington Phoenix will play 10 home games.
In their first match of their A-League campaign they drew 2-2 against Melbourne Victory. Scoring two late goals in the last 7 minutes from Brazilian import Daniel and Shane Smeltz. A crowd of 14,421 was produced which set a record, at that time, for the highest attended club football (soccer) match in New Zealand.
Wellington's first A-League win was a 2-1 defeat of Sydney FC at Sydney Football Stadium on September 14, 2007. Their first home win was their 4-1 defeat of Perth Glory on September 30, 2007.
On December 1, 2007, Wellington Phoenix played a friendly match against United States MLS club Los Angeles Galaxy.[10][11] In the contract to secure the friendly, David Beckham will play a minimum of 55 minutes on the pitch. Wellington was beaten by a 1-4 scoreline. David Beckham played the entire match and scored from the penalty spot in the second half. The attendance of 31,853 was a record for any football match in New Zealand.[12] David Beckham played the full 90 minutes with a broken rib which he sustained in a tackle in the previous match. [13]
The previous evening, November 30, 2007, 18,345 had attended the A-League match against Adelaide United. This is the largest crowd to watch a competitive club football match in New Zealand.
Wellington officially ended its 2007-08 finals chances when it lost 2-0 to Sydney FC on January 4, 2008.
On the last day of the regular season, the Phoenix had lost a 2-0 away match to the Central Coast Mariners leaving them with 20 points along with Perth Glory. However, due to a poorer goal difference, they ended up being last of the eight A-league teams with the wooden spoon.
[edit] Current Squad
Players in bold have senior international caps.
[edit] 2008-09
In
| Name | Position | Moving from |
|---|---|---|
 Jon McKain |
Defender |  FCU Politehnica Timişoara |
| Andrew Durante |
Defender | Newcastle Jets |
 Ben Sigmund |
Defender | Auckland City |
 Gao Leilei |
Midfielder |  MyPa |
| Troy Hearfield |
Midfielder | Newcastle Jets |
| Leo Bertos |
Midfielder | Perth Glory |
Out
| Name | Position | Moving to |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Spoonley |
Goalkeeper | Released |
| Steven Old |
Defender | Macarthur Rams |
| Kristian Rees |
Defender | Released |
| Ahmad Elrich |
Midfielder | Central Coast Mariners |
 Felipe |
Midfielder | Released |
| Ross Aloisi |
Midfielder | Retired |
| Royce Brownlie |
Striker | Released |
[edit] Records
- Record Victory: 4 - 1 vs Perth Glory, September 30, 2007
- Record Defeat: 1 - 4 vs Adelaide United, October 28, 2007
- Undefeated Streak: 3, September 14, 2007 - October 5, 2007
- Most Wins in a Row: 1, September 30, 2007 - October 5, 2007
- Record High Attendance (Home Ground): 31,853 vs Los Angeles Galaxy, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, December 1, 2007 (New Zealand football attendance record) (Exhibition match.)
- Record Low Attendance (Home Ground): 8,039 vs Perth Glory, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, 7 December 2007
- Highest Season Average Attendance: 11,683 2007/2008 season.
- All-time Leading Goal Scorer: Shane Smeltz - 9 goals
- Longest Period Without Conceding a Goal: 154 minutes, September 14, 2007 - September 22, 2007
[edit] Top scorers
| Name | Goals | Games | Average | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Smeltz |
9 | 16 | 0.56 | 2007- |
| 2 | Daniel |
4 | 15 | 0.27 | 2007- |
| 3 | Ross Aloisi |
3 | 12 | 0.25 | 2007-08 |
| = | Felipe |
3 | 12 | 0.25 | 2007-08 |
| 5 | Ahmad Elrich |
1 | 8 | 0.12 | 2007-08 |
| = | Steven Old |
1 | 9 | 0.11 | 2007-08 |
| = | Vaughan Coveny |
1 | 14 | 0.07 | 2007- |
| = | Tony Lochhead |
1 | 14 | 0.07 | 2007- |
| = | Vince Lia |
1 | 9 | 0.11 | 2007- |
| = | Michael Ferrante |
1 | 11 | 0.09 | 2007- |
| = | Kristian Rees |
1 | 3 | 0.33 | 2007-08 |
As of: 31st December 2007
[edit] Home attendance
1st home match: 14,421 v Melbourne Victory on August 26, 2007
2nd home match: 11,478 v Newcastle Jets on September 9, 2007
3rd home match: 12,127 v Adelaide United on September 22, 2007
4th home match: 10,127 v Perth Glory on September 30, 2007
5th home match: 10,560 v Central Coast Mariners on October 21, 2007
6th home match: 8,062 v Sydney FC on November 17, 2007
7th home match: 18,345 v Adelaide United on November 30, 2007
8th home match: 31,853 v Los Angeles Galaxy on December 1, 2007 (Exhibition match.)
9th home match: 8,039 v Perth Glory on December 7, 2007
10th home match: 9,384 v Queensland Roar on December 14, 2007
11th home match: 14,288 v Sydney FC on January 4, 2008
[edit] See Also
New Zealand Footballers Abroad
[edit] References
- ^ Shock! A-League decision delayed, TVNZ, 14 March 2007.
- ^ Fink, Jesse: Kiwis alive as Townsville pulls pin, Fox Sports (Australia), 28 March 2007.
- ^ Century City Developments and Century City Football. Century City Developments (March 19, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
- ^ NZ franchise for A-League.
- ^ "NZ Phoenix to rise in A League", News.com.au, 2007-03-28. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
- ^ Wellington Phoenix rises from the ashes, Fox Sports (Australia), 28 March 2007.
- ^ AWAY KIT REVEALED | Yellow Fever - Supporters of Wellington Phoenix FC
- ^ Munro, Kylie: Yellow fever hits soccer, The Aucklander, 7 May 2007.
- ^ Woodcock, Fred: Wellington football fans at fever-pitch, The Dominion Post, 22 March 2007.
- ^ Phoenix to take on Galaxy of stars (September 18, 2007).
- ^ Saturday night game for Beckham (September 24, 2007).
- ^ Beckham puts on winning show in Welly (December 2, 2007).
- ^ Beckham played with broken rib (December 7, 2007).
[edit] External links
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