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For current sports news on this topic, see Wellington Phoenix season 2007-08 |
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| Full name | Wellington Phoenix Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Phoenix, The Nix | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Westpac Stadium, Wellington (Capacity 34,500) |
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| Chairman | Terry Serepisos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Ricki Herbert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | A-League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-07 | DNP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wellington Phoenix is a 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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History
After the suspension of the New Zealand Football-owned license of the New Zealand Knights and the subsequent dissolution of said team, the Football Federation of Australia of a pre-decided application deadline to New Zealand Football; New Zealand Football was given a chance to compete with a Townsville-based consortium, Tropical Football Australia, for an expansion franchise to replace the place previously held by the Knights.[1] TFA eventually pulled out, understanding the FFA's preference to retain a New Zealand team for the league, although the group have resubmitted their bid for the A-League's next expansion window under the name of "Northern Thunder FC"[2] Club owner and chairman Terry Serepisos provided NZD $1,000,000 to ensure the continuation of the New Zealand franchise. Football Federation Australia (FFA) granted the licence to New Zealand Football who then sub-let the licence to the new 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.
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 predominately 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 John Serepisos, a designer at TBD Ltd [www.tbd.co.nz]
Stadium
Wellington Phoenix play all home matches at the Westpac Stadium (dubbed the 'Ring of Fire' by fans) which has a capacity of 35,000. The stadium is located on the waterfront a short distance from Wellington's CBD.
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".
2007-08 season
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.
- Home match on November 17, 2007 had the All Whites Members away for an international.
The Phoenix recorded their first win of an A-league season game on September 14, 2007 with a two goals to one win over Sydney FC at Sydney Football Stadium. The Phoenix won their first ever home game in the A-league season by emphatically beating Perth Glory by four goals to one. This occurred in 'The Ring of Fire' on the September 30, 2007. On September 18, 2007, the Phoenix announced they would be hosting a friendly against American MLS club Los Angeles Galaxy.[10] In the contract to secure the friendly, David Beckham will play a minimum of 55 minutes on the pitch. Initially, the game was scheduled for December 2, 2007. However, the game was moved to December 1, 2007[11] Wellington Phoenix was beaten by Los Angeles Galaxy 1-4. 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, 30 November 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.
Current squad
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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
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- |
| = | Felipe |
3 | 12 | 0.17 | 2007- |
| 5 | Ahmad Elrich |
1 | 8 | 0.12 | 2007- |
| = | Steven Old |
1 | 9 | 0.11 | 2007- |
| = | 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- |
As of: 31st December 2007
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
See also
List of Wellington Phoenix FC results
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 [[March 25, 2007]].
- ^ 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.
- ^ [1]
- ^ 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).
Wellington Phoenix
