Team Wellington crowdfund OCL shortfall

Team Wellington need $25,000 to cover an Oceania Champions League budget shortfall, just six days before their first match of the competition.

Club chairman Peter Chote wrote on the club’s website yesterday asking for people to buy a Team Wellington First XI Membership, costing $2200 each.

That would cover the shortfall, which makes up about 20 per cent of the total cost of taking 25 players and staff to Kone, New Caledonia for nine days from this Friday.

Chote said it wasn’t a matter of missing the tournament, which has the carrot of a spot at the Club World Cup for the winner, if they couldn’t find the money.

‘‘We’re going, we leave on Friday. There’s no chance that I’m aware of that we won’t be going, but we do need the support of the local football community and that’s effectively what we’re asking for.

‘‘There are people that can help us and there are people that can’t and even if the people that can’t send it to people that might be able to then it all helps.

‘‘We’re not trying to make money out of this, we’re just trying to deliver a balanced budget.’’

Team Wellington receive no financial support from either New Zealand Football or Oceania Football to

"We're not trying to make money out of this, we're just trying to deliver a balanced budget." Peter Chote, Team Wellington chairman

play at the tournament.

The three games they play in Kone is just the group stage, with two more away trips possible if they make it to the semifinals and finals as this year’s format features home and away legs for the knockout stages.

Funding this competition presented unique challenges, Chote said.

‘‘The problem is that the domestic competition is affordable. The O-League is very difficult because you can’t get community trust support for overseas events, you don’t know from one minute to the next how much it’s going to cost you.

‘‘Oceania [Football] notify you very late about where you’re heading, so you’re just guessing all the time.

‘‘At the end of the day we’ll fund it somehow and repay it somehow. That’s what we’ve done over the last three years.’’

For the franchise to see any financial benefit they not only need to win the OCL, but they then need to do well at the Club World Cup, Chote said.

‘‘For it to be of any financial benefit for the franchise you’ve really got to win a game at the Club World Cup and that’s a big ask.

‘‘What intrigues me is that if you get to the Club World Cup then New Zealand Football does benefit, but they don’t invest. They would say they invest by making the national league affordable.’’

Team Wellington start their OCL campaign on Saturday against Cook Islands team Puaikura. They then play New Caledonia’s Hienghene Sport before taking on Fijian side Ba on March 4.

Team Wellington made it to the final last year before losing to Auckland City.