Wellington Phoenix FC is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand, competing in the Australian A-League. The club replaced the now-defunct New Zealand Knights in the 2007-08 season.
History
During the later stages of the 2006-07 season, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) removed the New Zealand Knight'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 transferred the licence to New Zealand Soccer (NZS; now New Zealand Football), which administered the club for the rest of the season before its subsequent dissolution.
FFA then provided NZS a provisional A-League licence to sub-let 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. 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 its bid in the following year as a potential A-League expansion franchise under the name of "Northern Thunder FC", which was later changed to "North Queensland Thunder", however this bid died after expansion for the 2007-08 season was cancelled.
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 relief to the New Zealand football fans. Serepisos, the club's majority owner and chairman, provided NZD $1,000,000 to ensure the beginnings of a new New Zealand franchise and a continuation of New Zealand's participation in the A-League. FFA finalised a three-year A-League licence to New Zealand Football who then sub-let the licence to the Wellington-based franchise. The Wellington franchise was confirmed on 19 March 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 28 March 2007. Serepisos said of the name: "It symbolises the fresh start, the rising from the ashes, and the incredible Wellington support that has come out".
In November 2007, Sony NZ Ltd came on board as the team's principal sponsor.
Despite the backing of FIFA, AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam has stated that due to AFC criteria the Wellington team must move to Australia or disband by 2011. However in an interview aired on SBS on 21 December 2008 FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter stated unequivocally that " It is not the matter of the confederation, it is the matter of the FIFA Executive Committee... If Wellington will go on play on in Australian League, then as long as Australian league wants to have them and Wellington wants to stay (and) Both association in this case, New Zealand Soccer and Australian Football are happy with that then we will give them the blessing. The confederation can not interfere with that. "
Seasons
Main article: Wellington Phoenix season 2007-08Main article: Wellington Phoenix season 2008-09Main article: Wellington Phoenix season 2009-10Club crest and colours
The club's colours and badge were revealed on 29 March 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.
Original Kit
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. Instead, Wellington wore a predominantly black strip with yellow and white trim for their first two seasons. However, with Reebok lifting constraints on kit designs, the Phoenix will adopt yellow and black vertical stripes for the 2009-10 season onwards.
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.
The team's sponsors were:
- Front of kit: Sony
- Sleeve: Wellington Beds
- Front of shorts: None
Players
Current squad
Current International Players
All Whites
- Coach - Ricki Herbert
- GK - Mark Paston
- DF - Tony Lochhead
- DF - Ben Sigmund
- DF - David Mulligan
- MF - Tim Brown
- MF - Leo Bertos
- FW - Costa Barbarouses
Malta
- DF - Manny Muscat
Barbados
- FW - Paul Ifill
Past Players
see List of Wellington Phoenix FC players
Club Captains
- 2007-2008
Ross Aloisi
- 2008-present
Award Winners
Johnny Warren Medal
Reebok Golden Boot
Club Officials
Stadium
Wellington Phoenix FC have played all home matches at the Westpac Stadium (referred to as the 'Cake Tin' or the 'Ring of Fire' by fans) which has a capacity of 34,500. Field dimensions: Length (North to South) 235 metres, Width (West to East) 185 metres. The NZD$130 million 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. The location of the Stadium near the Wellington Railway Station is a huge convenience since fans can catch the train and be walking distance from the stadium.
The Phoenix train at Newtown Park, a ground which they share with NZFC franchise, Team Wellington.
Supporters
A Wellington Phoenix FC supporters club, calling themselves the "The Yellow Fever", was founded a day after Wellington's winning bid for the A-League slot was announced. 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. 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 first kit revealed as being primarily 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. 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 when male supporters remove their shirts at the 80th minute mark when the Phoenix are winning. Yellow Fever members also traditionally wear Santa Hats in the last match before Christmas. Fever members have also combined charity campaigns with their support of the Phoenix, with supporters selling bandannas in the club col
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