Video below of the goals and that penalty shoot out from last weekend - my voice has now recovered!
It's amazing that in the last 18 months or so the best events at the Stadium have been two football games (NZ V Bahrain and the Phoenix v Glory play off) and the first ACDC concert - not one of the rugby games, including the Bledisloe Cup game in September come close.
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football. Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
Looking for Eric
Tonight I went and watched the very good comedy drama, Looking for Eric at the Lighthouse. It's about a middle aged guy named Eric from Manchester who has hit rock bottom in his life. He is bringing up two little shit teenage boys who both hate him and a daughter (and grand daughter) by another woman whom he still longs after. Basically, Man U legend Eric Cantona appears to him as a hallucination, acting as a desperately needed life coach and personal trainer.
It's essentially like mixing the Premier League with the Full Monty - along the same lines as numerous other gritty British flicks, but still very funny and definitely worth checking out. The strong cast is made up of several well known faces from shows like the excellent, Shameless, but Steve Evets is particularly strong as Eric.
Oooh ahh Cantona! Check out the trailer.
So anyway, while we're on Cantona - here are a few highlights (all of which are of course referenced in the film). The amazing goal from the 1996 FA Cup final against Liverpool that he powered into the net off a Beckham corner that rebounded off the keeper. The kung fu kick against a Crystal Palace fan (which was later used by Ash as the cover of their single 'Kung Fu'), and lastly the subsequent press conference where he blew everyone away with his genius philosophical insights.
The goal
The kick
The press conference
It's essentially like mixing the Premier League with the Full Monty - along the same lines as numerous other gritty British flicks, but still very funny and definitely worth checking out. The strong cast is made up of several well known faces from shows like the excellent, Shameless, but Steve Evets is particularly strong as Eric.
Oooh ahh Cantona! Check out the trailer.
So anyway, while we're on Cantona - here are a few highlights (all of which are of course referenced in the film). The amazing goal from the 1996 FA Cup final against Liverpool that he powered into the net off a Beckham corner that rebounded off the keeper. The kung fu kick against a Crystal Palace fan (which was later used by Ash as the cover of their single 'Kung Fu'), and lastly the subsequent press conference where he blew everyone away with his genius philosophical insights.
The goal
The kick
The press conference
Sunday, November 15, 2009
All White Motherf@%kers!
Well it still doesn't quite seem real but the All White's are in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
I've never seen anything like last night. The crowd was amazing - almost entirely in white, chanting and carrying on the whole night. Unbelievable noise - my ears were ringing when Fallon scored from Leo's cross and yet it still got louder and crazier when Paston saved the penalty from the spot.
Wellington is the only place where you could pull off that atmosphere in New Zealand - it was epic.
Watts and I were both kitted out in our All White gears and we were still carrying on well after the final whistle.
How badass would it be if we had England, Australia and the All Whites in one pool? How badass is it that we can even talk about which pool we are going to be in!?
Time to book some flights to Africa!
I've never seen anything like last night. The crowd was amazing - almost entirely in white, chanting and carrying on the whole night. Unbelievable noise - my ears were ringing when Fallon scored from Leo's cross and yet it still got louder and crazier when Paston saved the penalty from the spot.
Wellington is the only place where you could pull off that atmosphere in New Zealand - it was epic.
Watts and I were both kitted out in our All White gears and we were still carrying on well after the final whistle.
How badass would it be if we had England, Australia and the All Whites in one pool? How badass is it that we can even talk about which pool we are going to be in!?
Time to book some flights to Africa!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Hey it's a world cup in rugby code - I'll take it!
The Kiwi league team pulled off what is unquestionably the upset of the century for Rugby League last night by toppling the Kangaroo's in the league world cup final. It was only 12 or so months ago when I attended the centenary test in Wellington where we got pummeled 50 odd nil (i did steal a souvenir ball though that day so it wasnt all bad). All throughout this 'World Cup' I had been bitching about what a joke it was and that only one team could win and that the whole thing was really a play off between England and New Zealand to see who would have the honour of losing the final to Australia. But I was sooo wrong and as the Sun Herald in Sydney have said - the Joke (of a tournament) became the Choke! Finally I have something to throw back at the Aussies when they bring up choking at world cups!
The All Blacks also went well against Wales and are only one win away from another Grand Slam. The most impressive thing so far is that in the three Grand Slam tests (Scotland, Ireland and Wales) and the Hong Kong test against the Wallabies, is that the All Blacks haven't conceded a single try - would be great to see them hold that against England this week. But anyway, aren't we just loving all the Haka hijinks - first we had Tipoki, Howlett etc doing a haka to the All Blacks before the Munster game and then we had the Wales stare down contest - loving it!
The Phoenix also did their darnedest to butcher a win against Newcastle tonight - with two red cards against Newcastle before half time you would assume victory was inevitable - especially since the star Phoenix recruit, Fred from DC United and formerly of the Victory (MVP of the 2006 A-League), was playing. But oh no - we had to fuck up as many opportunities as possible before spluttering to victory late in the game. I shouldn't be quite so harsh I know - but I'm losing enough hair as it is!
Speaking of harsh I could take the easy option and bag the NZ Cricket team for not taking their opportunity to beat Australia when they had the chance. But I'll be honest - I had incredibly low expectations and I actually thought the performance was an improvement - I'll explain what I mean in a second. But basically we don't have the batsmen to beat Australia - we have the bowlers - but not the batting so our chances were always fairly remote. How and Redmond are clinging on to their slots for dear life. Of the two (and I know Im kinda biased) How does look the most likely to get a score - but like Daniel Flynn - he needs to deliver on that at some point. Redmond is hopeless and out of his depth - but really we've tried all the other options (Bell/Papps/Cumming) so he may as well hang around. Ryder and Taylor look good but need to protect their wickets more, McCullum isn't a number 5 and doesn't look comfortable there - he should drop back to 7 with Flynn stepping up to 5 and being pushed for runs. I know Grant Elliot is only there to make up the numbers but he is just painful to watch and should not be there - he can't bat and he can only barely bowl - so why bother? Why not just throw Kyle Mills back in at 8 - at least he can bowl and his 15 or 20 runs late in the innings would be more use than another 6-ball duck.
But anyway as I said, I thought it was an improvement and I say that because we actually dominated a whole days play (day 1), which I can't remember us doing for a long time against Australia. We put Australia in, bundled them out for a low score and then didnt lose a wicket - all you could ask for out of day 1 of a test. Honours were split on day 2, we won the last session having lost the first and second sessions badly. Day 3 was Australia's and was enough to take the test. But despite a poor day 3 it was still better than the last time we faced Australia in a test. During that series we might do ok during the odd session - but we could never maintain that pressure throughout a whole day. We would either start well by picking up wickets only to butcher the game with a poor second session - with Symonds, Ponting or Gilchrist piling on runs or we would have another middle order collapse if we were batting. Either way we would be unable to maintain the pressure we had built up into the next session. But in Brisbane for a whole day we had the foot on the throat of Australia and we were competitive. So yeah its still disappointing to lose again, but it showed progress and hopefully during the next series against them we can start winning consecutive whole days... and who knows if we can start scoring runs - maybe even a test.
The All Blacks also went well against Wales and are only one win away from another Grand Slam. The most impressive thing so far is that in the three Grand Slam tests (Scotland, Ireland and Wales) and the Hong Kong test against the Wallabies, is that the All Blacks haven't conceded a single try - would be great to see them hold that against England this week. But anyway, aren't we just loving all the Haka hijinks - first we had Tipoki, Howlett etc doing a haka to the All Blacks before the Munster game and then we had the Wales stare down contest - loving it!
The Phoenix also did their darnedest to butcher a win against Newcastle tonight - with two red cards against Newcastle before half time you would assume victory was inevitable - especially since the star Phoenix recruit, Fred from DC United and formerly of the Victory (MVP of the 2006 A-League), was playing. But oh no - we had to fuck up as many opportunities as possible before spluttering to victory late in the game. I shouldn't be quite so harsh I know - but I'm losing enough hair as it is!
Speaking of harsh I could take the easy option and bag the NZ Cricket team for not taking their opportunity to beat Australia when they had the chance. But I'll be honest - I had incredibly low expectations and I actually thought the performance was an improvement - I'll explain what I mean in a second. But basically we don't have the batsmen to beat Australia - we have the bowlers - but not the batting so our chances were always fairly remote. How and Redmond are clinging on to their slots for dear life. Of the two (and I know Im kinda biased) How does look the most likely to get a score - but like Daniel Flynn - he needs to deliver on that at some point. Redmond is hopeless and out of his depth - but really we've tried all the other options (Bell/Papps/Cumming) so he may as well hang around. Ryder and Taylor look good but need to protect their wickets more, McCullum isn't a number 5 and doesn't look comfortable there - he should drop back to 7 with Flynn stepping up to 5 and being pushed for runs. I know Grant Elliot is only there to make up the numbers but he is just painful to watch and should not be there - he can't bat and he can only barely bowl - so why bother? Why not just throw Kyle Mills back in at 8 - at least he can bowl and his 15 or 20 runs late in the innings would be more use than another 6-ball duck.
But anyway as I said, I thought it was an improvement and I say that because we actually dominated a whole days play (day 1), which I can't remember us doing for a long time against Australia. We put Australia in, bundled them out for a low score and then didnt lose a wicket - all you could ask for out of day 1 of a test. Honours were split on day 2, we won the last session having lost the first and second sessions badly. Day 3 was Australia's and was enough to take the test. But despite a poor day 3 it was still better than the last time we faced Australia in a test. During that series we might do ok during the odd session - but we could never maintain that pressure throughout a whole day. We would either start well by picking up wickets only to butcher the game with a poor second session - with Symonds, Ponting or Gilchrist piling on runs or we would have another middle order collapse if we were batting. Either way we would be unable to maintain the pressure we had built up into the next session. But in Brisbane for a whole day we had the foot on the throat of Australia and we were competitive. So yeah its still disappointing to lose again, but it showed progress and hopefully during the next series against them we can start winning consecutive whole days... and who knows if we can start scoring runs - maybe even a test.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Weekend of wins
Well other than Warriors - but they were always going to come up short.
But anyway having sat through some absolute shockers this year the Phoenix finally delivered on their promise at the weekend, the Lions defended the Ranfurly Shield (even if it was close) and Hawthorn won the AFL... you're wondering why I care that Hawthorn won right?
Well I ended up going down to Four Kings (the redeveloped Lab Bar) to watch the the AFL Grand Final with some of the Aussies and I have to say it was a gas. There were around a hundred fans there (who knew there were Aussie Rules followers in Wgtn?) and most seemed to be wearing Geelong scarves and jerseys so I backed the underdogs - the Hawthorn Hawks, who ended up winning after a large third quarter.
While I was at Four Kings (and admittedly after a few lagers) I put my money where my mouth was and put $10 on the Phoenix to beat the number one ranked A League side Sydney FC - meaning I banked $46! We're currently planning on watching the NRL final at the Four Kings too - they have a great set up with a row of 10 or so lazy boys in front of a wall of big screen TVs, booths with private screens (70 screens in total) and a solid range of beers. I hadnt been there before but its definitely a great place to watch the footy.
But anyway having sat through some absolute shockers this year the Phoenix finally delivered on their promise at the weekend, the Lions defended the Ranfurly Shield (even if it was close) and Hawthorn won the AFL... you're wondering why I care that Hawthorn won right?
Well I ended up going down to Four Kings (the redeveloped Lab Bar) to watch the the AFL Grand Final with some of the Aussies and I have to say it was a gas. There were around a hundred fans there (who knew there were Aussie Rules followers in Wgtn?) and most seemed to be wearing Geelong scarves and jerseys so I backed the underdogs - the Hawthorn Hawks, who ended up winning after a large third quarter.
While I was at Four Kings (and admittedly after a few lagers) I put my money where my mouth was and put $10 on the Phoenix to beat the number one ranked A League side Sydney FC - meaning I banked $46! We're currently planning on watching the NRL final at the Four Kings too - they have a great set up with a row of 10 or so lazy boys in front of a wall of big screen TVs, booths with private screens (70 screens in total) and a solid range of beers. I hadnt been there before but its definitely a great place to watch the footy.
Monday, August 25, 2008
C'mon Phoenix
Had a little karma moment yesterday. In the morning I happily rejoiced in Arsenal's loss to Mr Harrods' Fulham, sending off a text to a colleague to rub it in, only to have it blow up in my face last night with Phoenix putting on their worst performance yet, going down 4-2 to Melbourne.
I thought the Dominion caught it quite well, noting the similarities between almost every game last year:
An enterprising start, the concession of a goal against the run of play, vulnerability on the counter-attack, a mini-fight-back and a wonderful Shane Smeltz goal, but then a lapse at the back gifting a soft but well-taken goal.
It was pouring with rain as well so there was basically no walk-up crowd, meaning it was the worst turn out in the club's short history.
The season started well enough with the Phoenix making the Pre-Season Cup final (which desperately needs a new name), but the first two games in the A-League have been ordinary to say the least. Our defence at times resembled the shambolic amateur hour that was the White Ferns at the Olympics. The strategies just don't seem to make sense - when it was a fine evening they played a conservative game with long balls, yet last night when it was bucketing down on a water-logged pitch, they played a short quick passing game.
I dunno, but they need to get it together as soon as possible - otherwise more and more people will choose to stay away.
I thought the Dominion caught it quite well, noting the similarities between almost every game last year:
An enterprising start, the concession of a goal against the run of play, vulnerability on the counter-attack, a mini-fight-back and a wonderful Shane Smeltz goal, but then a lapse at the back gifting a soft but well-taken goal.
It was pouring with rain as well so there was basically no walk-up crowd, meaning it was the worst turn out in the club's short history.
The season started well enough with the Phoenix making the Pre-Season Cup final (which desperately needs a new name), but the first two games in the A-League have been ordinary to say the least. Our defence at times resembled the shambolic amateur hour that was the White Ferns at the Olympics. The strategies just don't seem to make sense - when it was a fine evening they played a conservative game with long balls, yet last night when it was bucketing down on a water-logged pitch, they played a short quick passing game.
I dunno, but they need to get it together as soon as possible - otherwise more and more people will choose to stay away.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Stand up for the Phoenix
The Hobson St Posse pocketed another $100 towards the quiz night kitty tonight - taking our winnings over the $700 mark for the year. We have decided once we reach the $1000 mark we will all take a day off to get slaughtered down there!
But what was also great was that we got three tickets to the A-League Pre-Season Cup final which is of course in Wellington tomorrow night. While this Cup is largely meaningless - it is the first final of any kind for any New Zealand A-League or NSL side so people should get along and support the guys as they take on the Melbourne Victory. The Phoenix were unbeaten in the round-robin and last years shaky defence looks a lot tidier so things are shaping up for a good season.
But what was also great was that we got three tickets to the A-League Pre-Season Cup final which is of course in Wellington tomorrow night. While this Cup is largely meaningless - it is the first final of any kind for any New Zealand A-League or NSL side so people should get along and support the guys as they take on the Melbourne Victory. The Phoenix were unbeaten in the round-robin and last years shaky defence looks a lot tidier so things are shaping up for a good season.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Snippets
Well I was watching trash tv and surfing the intertube webpages and I thought id share.
First snippet - funny horse racing commentary
And second - its Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood with David Beckham teaching Snoop and the kids to play the football
First snippet - funny horse racing commentary
And second - its Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood with David Beckham teaching Snoop and the kids to play the football
Saturday, February 02, 2008
At least it was eventful
I've had an odd couple of days. Firstly i started a new job, which is all very exciting - and my plan is to bus to work, but I thought for my first day I would drive so I get there all relaxed etc...
I knew my car was low on gas, but since the light had only just come on - I would be alright. However, I hadn't taken the angle of the road into account - and basically what petrol there was, was all down one end and in short the car wouldn't start. So I abandoned that plan and decided to take the bus... which I promptly missed. So anyway I decided it was best to head down to Willis St as there would be more options rather than waiting 25 minutes for the next one. The next two buses that passed the Willis St stop didn't stop as they were full... as you can imagine panic was beginning to creep in with irrational visions of not getting there on my first day till 10am. But no it worked out ok in the end. Although this morning I did have to embarrassingly call the State Roadside Rescue guys (for the first time) to come and give me 5 litres of petrol.
Last night though I went to the sevens first day. On my last day at my old job, after giving the boss stick about the Australian cricket team, I was given a Wallaby jersey. So since I was going with an Aussie (and three loud poms) I decided to wear the jersey, late in the evening I also kicked off a rendition of Waltzing Matilda - it was very odd, but we did manage to rark up some of the crowd.
One of the funniest moments was when one of the loud and predictably drunk (and married) brits tried to cop a feel of a woman in front - so lame and embarrassing - we were all almost in tears with laughter. The other high point was when we made one of the welsh players, who was doing an after match interview just in front of us (we were in the third row), smirk and turn around, when we started chanting "You're just a small town in England, small town in England". In conversation it also came up that one of the brits supported Derby County (who are currently bottom or second to bottom in the English Football premier league) so when the struggling English side were warming up in front of us, we started chanting "Are you Derby in disguise? Are you Derby in disguise?" which suitably wound him up - "We're going to avoid relegation..." lol yeah right.
So all in all, its been an eventful 24 hours.
I knew my car was low on gas, but since the light had only just come on - I would be alright. However, I hadn't taken the angle of the road into account - and basically what petrol there was, was all down one end and in short the car wouldn't start. So I abandoned that plan and decided to take the bus... which I promptly missed. So anyway I decided it was best to head down to Willis St as there would be more options rather than waiting 25 minutes for the next one. The next two buses that passed the Willis St stop didn't stop as they were full... as you can imagine panic was beginning to creep in with irrational visions of not getting there on my first day till 10am. But no it worked out ok in the end. Although this morning I did have to embarrassingly call the State Roadside Rescue guys (for the first time) to come and give me 5 litres of petrol.
Last night though I went to the sevens first day. On my last day at my old job, after giving the boss stick about the Australian cricket team, I was given a Wallaby jersey. So since I was going with an Aussie (and three loud poms) I decided to wear the jersey, late in the evening I also kicked off a rendition of Waltzing Matilda - it was very odd, but we did manage to rark up some of the crowd.
One of the funniest moments was when one of the loud and predictably drunk (and married) brits tried to cop a feel of a woman in front - so lame and embarrassing - we were all almost in tears with laughter. The other high point was when we made one of the welsh players, who was doing an after match interview just in front of us (we were in the third row), smirk and turn around, when we started chanting "You're just a small town in England, small town in England". In conversation it also came up that one of the brits supported Derby County (who are currently bottom or second to bottom in the English Football premier league) so when the struggling English side were warming up in front of us, we started chanting "Are you Derby in disguise? Are you Derby in disguise?" which suitably wound him up - "We're going to avoid relegation..." lol yeah right.
So all in all, its been an eventful 24 hours.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
100 000 strong for the Phoenix
The Herald has a good article on how the Phoenix have gone. It covers how, for the first time, a NZ team's crowd figures have passed 100 000 for the season (excluding the Beckham game and training - another 47 000).
In drawing on Friday night, the Phoenix can no longer qualify for the play-offs (it was a long shot anyway), and I was worried that our dopey media organisations would stand back and moan that this is just like the Knights. It clearly isnt. The Phoenix had not much more than two months to pull a competitive side together - and they managed it. The crowd numbers have bettered what the Wellington Lions were getting for Air NZ Cup games, and have been, on average, ten times greater than what the Knights achieved.
What is most interesting in the article is that 14 December (the date the Phoenix passed the 100k mark) was the date in 2006 when the Knights had their League Licence revoked. Which captures the stark contrast perfectly.
So it was nice to see some recognition of what has been achieved - especially from the Auckland paper!
In drawing on Friday night, the Phoenix can no longer qualify for the play-offs (it was a long shot anyway), and I was worried that our dopey media organisations would stand back and moan that this is just like the Knights. It clearly isnt. The Phoenix had not much more than two months to pull a competitive side together - and they managed it. The crowd numbers have bettered what the Wellington Lions were getting for Air NZ Cup games, and have been, on average, ten times greater than what the Knights achieved.
What is most interesting in the article is that 14 December (the date the Phoenix passed the 100k mark) was the date in 2006 when the Knights had their League Licence revoked. Which captures the stark contrast perfectly.
So it was nice to see some recognition of what has been achieved - especially from the Auckland paper!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Beckham for sale.... well his leftovers
There's a really odd story on Stuff today about how Beckham's half finished glass of cola, half eaten corn-cob and the cuttlery he used during his now famous visits to Nandos are available to buy on Trade Me.
Apparently the waitress heard cash-registers ringing in her head and nicked off with it all to sell. The manager is in full support of this too.
In a sign that there is some sanity in the world - there havent been any bids yet. If you're nuts (or a stalker - not pointing any fingers... Gus) the starting bids for the cuttlery is $50 and $100 for the fucking corn cob.
I just hate think what else would be for sale if he used the bathroom!
Apparently the waitress heard cash-registers ringing in her head and nicked off with it all to sell. The manager is in full support of this too.
In a sign that there is some sanity in the world - there havent been any bids yet. If you're nuts (or a stalker - not pointing any fingers... Gus) the starting bids for the cuttlery is $50 and $100 for the fucking corn cob.
I just hate think what else would be for sale if he used the bathroom!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Nando's??
Well Beckham came and conquered the Phoenix in their friendly kick about on Saturday night. We did manage to see some fantastic passes and cross balls - and of course his goal (well penalty - which was a dubious call (the guy tripped himself) - fairly sure since he hadnt had a free kick they decided he needed to score a goal).
The other stuff he did was interesting - dinner at Monsoon Poon on Thursday night - but it was his lunch at Nando's that really surprised me - all that money and he still goes for the fried chicken sandwich!
Regardless of what people think of the guy - no one else could have got a crowd of 32 000 along to a football game in New Zealand.
When you add on the 15 000 strong crowd for the public training the Galaxy did on Friday and the nearly 19 000 at the Phoenix/Adelaide A-League game on Friday night - around 66 000 people attended football events at the stadium on Friday and Saturday. Only Rugby could normally attract a crowd like that here - so IMO it was definitely worth bringing Beckham and the LA Galaxy to Wellington.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
It's a Sony
Just a couple of weeks away from Beckham touching down in Wellington now, and the Phoenix have announced their new main sponsor - Sony.
Sony are relative newcomers to sponsorship in New Zealand - we're more accustomed to Banks, Beers, Phones and Fridges. Also means that everyone will have to go and buy the playing strip again!! lol
In other news Stuff had a dumb article on one of their 'blogs' on how we are witnessing the "death of the suit". Rubbish. Im all for suits and ties and I would go as far as to say we should ban casual Fridays. Hardly anyone does business casual - we just do casual. It can't be good for productivity.
Maybe as a compromise we could "Phoenix Fridays" and all wear our Sony Phoenix strips??
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Making a tough task harder
Like most other Wellington sports teams the Phoenix seem to be going out of their way to frustrate their addicted fans!
Going into injury time at the end of the fixture with the table-topping Central Coast Mariners at 1-1, and after having the better of the second half, it looked like the Nix would leave the capital with 1 point. But no, some how our defenders gifted the Mariners striker an absolute lolly - which he duly guided into the goal for a 2-1 Mariners win. (video of the goals below)
This leaves the Nix in an uncomfortable position - seventh. Since our 4-1 win over Perth three weeks ago, we have lost three on the trot. We now have three away games. Which is why it was vital to get at least a point out of the Mariners clash.
Phoenix will need to pick up points in all three games now to avoid falling off the pace.
Granted, this is nothing like the Knights and the Nix are still in the running. But the honeymoon is well and truly over and its time to start putting things together out on the pitch.
On a high note - what about marquee signing, Ahmed Elrich's, strike from 30 metres out to equalise!?!?!
Next up are Adelaide, Perth (the new Knights), and Queensland.
Going into injury time at the end of the fixture with the table-topping Central Coast Mariners at 1-1, and after having the better of the second half, it looked like the Nix would leave the capital with 1 point. But no, some how our defenders gifted the Mariners striker an absolute lolly - which he duly guided into the goal for a 2-1 Mariners win. (video of the goals below)
This leaves the Nix in an uncomfortable position - seventh. Since our 4-1 win over Perth three weeks ago, we have lost three on the trot. We now have three away games. Which is why it was vital to get at least a point out of the Mariners clash.
Phoenix will need to pick up points in all three games now to avoid falling off the pace.
Granted, this is nothing like the Knights and the Nix are still in the running. But the honeymoon is well and truly over and its time to start putting things together out on the pitch.
On a high note - what about marquee signing, Ahmed Elrich's, strike from 30 metres out to equalise!?!?!
Next up are Adelaide, Perth (the new Knights), and Queensland.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Bend it like... Felipe!
I just bought tickets for the Phoenix vs LA Galaxy clash at the 'Ring of Fire' in December. Stoked.
Great marketing again by the Phoenix - great idea to include the A-League game against Adelaide in the Galaxy ticket (buy one get one free type deal).
Wellington has been a stunning football success with, on average, ten times more people at Phoenix home games, than there were for the Auckland Knights.
The atmosphere is completely different to Rugby, with no stupid pumping music - the crowd makes the noise. In many ways it reminds of the good old days (pre-Police-pressence) at a One Day Cricket International at the Basin Reserve.
My favourite chant has to be the "what the fucking, what the fucking, what the fucking hell was that? What the fucking hell was that?" In response to Perth's pathetic attempts on Goal. Although the "We're not Auckland, we're not Auckland, we're not Auckland any more! We're not Auckland any more!" is also quality.
Now I wonder - has Angus got tickets? Maybe he doesnt need them as he's seen Beckham play before? He is supposedly Beckham's biggest fan, and owns all sorts of homoerotic biographies and posters... Oh no, thats right he isnt in NZ so misses out... ohhhh... nevermind
Great marketing again by the Phoenix - great idea to include the A-League game against Adelaide in the Galaxy ticket (buy one get one free type deal).
Wellington has been a stunning football success with, on average, ten times more people at Phoenix home games, than there were for the Auckland Knights.
The atmosphere is completely different to Rugby, with no stupid pumping music - the crowd makes the noise. In many ways it reminds of the good old days (pre-Police-pressence) at a One Day Cricket International at the Basin Reserve.
My favourite chant has to be the "what the fucking, what the fucking, what the fucking hell was that? What the fucking hell was that?" In response to Perth's pathetic attempts on Goal. Although the "We're not Auckland, we're not Auckland, we're not Auckland any more! We're not Auckland any more!" is also quality.
Now I wonder - has Angus got tickets? Maybe he doesnt need them as he's seen Beckham play before? He is supposedly Beckham's biggest fan, and owns all sorts of homoerotic biographies and posters... Oh no, thats right he isnt in NZ so misses out... ohhhh... nevermind
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Nix vs Becks
Its official - on Sunday 2 December, David Beckham and the LA Galaxy will play Wellington Phoenix FC at the Ring of Fire (stadium).
Beckham is contracted to play at least 55 minutes. Kick ass!
Of course the Phoenix also notched up their first win over the weekend (should have been their second but never mind). Below is video of the goals - the second goal (Wellington's first) by Felipe was stunning. Check it out.
And if youre in Wellington - get along and support the team against Adelaide on Sunday and/or Perth Glory the following week.
Beckham is contracted to play at least 55 minutes. Kick ass!
Of course the Phoenix also notched up their first win over the weekend (should have been their second but never mind). Below is video of the goals - the second goal (Wellington's first) by Felipe was stunning. Check it out.
And if youre in Wellington - get along and support the team against Adelaide on Sunday and/or Perth Glory the following week.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
How good is the Phoenix?
Yet to even play a proper A-League match, the Phoenix has (according to todays Dominion) booked David Beckham and the LA Galaxy to play an exhibition match in Wellington in November.
After spending stupid amounts of money on getting Beckham, the Galaxy are taking him on a world tour playing exhibition matches to make some dosh. One of their first stops is Sydney, to play A-League side, Sydney FC, and apparently Wellington legend Terry Serepisos has jumped on this and is in talks to chuck in a Wellington leg. By "in talks" I mean theyre determining how much cash the Phoenix will have to stump up.
What better way to promote football and the Wellington Phoenix, than getting David Beckham to town? Fantastic. This is great for football and great for Wellington.
This is all the more better as the biggest Beckham fan that I know, wont actually be in New Zealand. As Cartman would say - Oh your tears, they taste so good!
After spending stupid amounts of money on getting Beckham, the Galaxy are taking him on a world tour playing exhibition matches to make some dosh. One of their first stops is Sydney, to play A-League side, Sydney FC, and apparently Wellington legend Terry Serepisos has jumped on this and is in talks to chuck in a Wellington leg. By "in talks" I mean theyre determining how much cash the Phoenix will have to stump up.
What better way to promote football and the Wellington Phoenix, than getting David Beckham to town? Fantastic. This is great for football and great for Wellington.
This is all the more better as the biggest Beckham fan that I know, wont actually be in New Zealand. As Cartman would say - Oh your tears, they taste so good!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Its rising
Last night I went to a cocktail function at Century City Developments for the launch of the Wellington Phoenix FC's chairmans club. I got to meet some of the players including the captain Ross Aloisi (who captained Adelaide to consecutive A-League finals), the coach the hero himself, Terry Serepisos, and the All Whites captain from 1982 (one of only two NZers to score goals at a World Cup).It costs 5k to join the chairmans club (limited to only 100 members) - so thats clearly not happening, but the other packages actually look quite reasonable.
For $180 you get a season pass to all 10 home games along with a pack of stuff including bumper stickers, pins etc... which I dont think is too bad - only $18 a game. Plus I do like the idea of having 'season tickets'. hmmm.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Ole, Ole, Ole
Ive always wanted to own a sports team which is why I was stoked when Wellingtonian Terry Serepisos saved the hopeless New Zealand franchise in football's A-League.
Up till now no one had supported the teams (the Kingz and Knights as they have been called) and frankly they have been hopeless. So when NZ was going to be turfed out - in stormed Wellington with a bid and a few million from property developer Serepisos.
Now, granted this probably won't work, but I think its fantastic that a corporate is actually giving something other than horrific archtecture back to the city.
Yesterday the new name and logo was unveiled - and they went with my pick. The Wellington Phoenix FC. Rising from the ashes and all that - its perfect!
The All Whites coach is on board too, and after not wanting Wellington to take it off Auckland (who failed to support the team) SoccerNZ is also supporting it.
Serepisos should be Wellingtonian of the Year this year - he has provided a lifeline for football in NZ and has set an example to other corporates - sponsorship isnt only about making a buck - there are huge branding opportunities and a chance to create a positive relationship with a whole city.
I hope people get in behind it - I fully intend to get along to a few games.
There is even a supporters club underway - sign up here
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