433 days later, Nix are coming home
Wellington Phoenix football is coming home.
New Zealand’s only professional football club is hoping to attract the two largest crowds of the 2020-21 A-League season after confirming the Phoenix’s longawaited return to Wellington next month.
The Phoenix will host Western United at Sky Stadium in Wellington on May 22 and Perth Glory at Eden Park in Auckland on May 30 in what will be their first genuine home games in more than 400 days.
Both fixtures will be played in the afternoon with the Wellington game kicking off at 4pm and the Auckland game at 3.30pm.
‘‘This will be our first match in New Zealand in 14 months – that’s 433 days since we last played in front of our true home fans in this country,’’ general manager David Dome said.
Dome has set a target of crowds in excess of 15,000 for the two New Zealand fixtures, which would surpass the 14,402 who attended the Sydney derby match between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers in January.
He said the season-high attendances would provide the Phoenix with a much-needed financial injection after the costly exercise of relocating to Australia for several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Phoenix have not played in
Phoenix’s two matches in New Zealand:
May 22: v Western United at Sky Stadium, Wellington; 4pm.
May 30: v Perth Glory at Eden Park, Auckland; 3.30pm.
Wellington since March 15 last year.
‘‘The relocation to Australia has been horrendously expensive,’’ Dome said. ‘‘There’s no club in the league that has had to incur the costs that we have incurred for relocation.
‘‘We hope that two big crowds in New Zealand would go some way to closing that gap and maybe putting some money in the coffers to buy more players for next year.
‘‘The crowds in Wollongong, while they’ve been OK, they haven’t made us money. Let’s be honest.’’
To help the Phoenix attract a bumper crowd for their first home game in 433 days, Capital Football has postponed all afternoon football matches on May 22 to allow local players the opportunity to attend the Wellington fixture.
The Phoenix could not play in Wellington on the weekend of May 29-30 as the Food Show is being held at Sky Stadium on the same dates, which is why they decided to take the Perth game to Auckland.
Three wins in the last four games have kept the eighth-placed Phoenix right in the hunt for a topsix finish.
They play Brisbane Roar, the team directly above them on the A-League table, at Moreton Daily Stadium today.