Phoenix ready to finish the job
English striker David Ball won’t see his family for two months while Wellington Phoenix complete the A-League season in Australia.
But the former Manchester City youth product believes the sacrifices will be all worth it – if the Phoenix are able win the club’s first championship.
‘‘It’s tough in any walk of life in terms of saying bye to your immediate family,’’ said Ball, who farewelled wife Sarah and their two boys last Saturday.
‘‘I’ve not seen family back home for over a year now, but obviously my wife and kids, they’re the people I spend most of my time with, so for me it was tough to say goodbye in terms of it’s two months away from them, and it’s a long time.
‘‘I’m pretty much in contact with them as much as possible. On FaceTime and them sort of things, just keeping in touch with them and seeing how they are and how they are doing. It sort of keeps you going.
‘‘But they, my missus especially, have been really supportive, knowing how much it means to me to finish the job we’ve started as a group.’’
The Phoenix are in Sydney, where the bulk of the squad will serve 14 days in quarantine at the Valentine Sparks Park complex.
Their six remaining regular season games will all be played in Australia, starting with a muchanticipated clash with leaders Sydney FC on July 17.
The Phoenix have spent the past five days training in their new surroundings and Ball said they
have settled in well. Members of the coaching staff, including Ufuk Talay and Chris Greenacre, have also joined in some sessions to make up the numbers.
‘‘The gaffer’s probably been the best player in pre-season now,’’ he said. ‘‘He’s in there floating about and Greenie’s been up top. They’ve been filling in where possible, just keeping up their fitness and their love for the game is still there, you can see it every day. They might not have the legs, but they’ve still got everything else.’’
Security keeps the team separated from other users of the complex, which also serves as the headquarters for Football NSW.
The players have access to a swimming pool and gymnasium, while Ball brought his own coffee machine and has become the team barista.
‘‘We’re pretty restricted in terms of what we can do because we can’t leave outside the campus, there’s security people manning the campus and making sure noone goes where they shouldn’t.
‘‘But there’s pool tables, lads have been playing cards, there’s table tennis, so everyone is trying to keep as busy as they can, and we’ve been having some gym sessions and been able to get into the pool, which is good recovery.’’
But despite the restrictions, it is a far kinder situation for the rest of the squad than it is for Ulises Davila and Gary Hooper, who will serve their quarantine in separate hotels, and are not even allowed to leave their rooms.
Ball said it was a testament to
those two players that they were willing to fly back from Mexico and the United Kingdom and cop two weeks in isolation in order to finish the season.
Their return has given the team a huge boost. ‘‘Them two [attacking] players are big for us as well,’’ he said. ‘‘Just having that sort of boost and knowing that they’re coming back, because there’s obviously some other players [across the league] that haven’t come back
. . . it just shows what a special group we’ve got.’’