For years the Phoenix have provided New Zealand (NZ) Football with a professional team, playing in an international competition, in a worthy arena, and providing consistent and high-quality playing time for youth and senior players in the New Zealand squads.
This season (the clubs ninth in Australia’s top league) could be the Nix’s last if Football Federation Australia decides against renewing the club’s A-League licence. If this happens, it would not only be a catastrophe for the Phoenix, it would also cost this country a highly beneficial youth system, the most passionate supporters group in the country (if not the league) and a consistent high-level of matches and players for the nation’s capital city. Wellington would lose one of its most significant sporting drawcards and NZ Football would pay the price of not being involved enough in the process.
As more and more New Zealand All Whites, under-23, under-20 and under-17 players become Phoenix players and vice versa, the relationship between the two organisations becomes even more significant. Over half of the current team has represented New Zealand at one of the aforementioned levels and this is indicative of how crucial the Phoenix are to talent development in New Zealand at the moment.
Take Marco Rojas as an example. In 2009 he was awarded the prestigious ‘Retro Ricki Youth Scholarship’ by the Wellington Phoenix. In 21 appearances, across two seasons for the Nix, he dazzled with his skills and was awarded Young Player of the Year award before leaving for Melbourne Victory in 2011. Rojas is now a regular for the All Whites following his explosive 2012-13 season, in which he scored 15 goals and recorded nine assists for the Victory, winning both the A-League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year gongs. The Phoenix also provided All Whites regular Kosta Barbarouses with his first A-League experience. Like Rojas, Barbarouses made 21 appearances for the Wellington club before eventually moving to the Brisbane Roar and then the Victory, winning A-League championship and premiership titles with both clubs in the 2010-11 and 2014-15 seasons respectively.
NZ Football needs the Phoenix to succeed this year, because success breeds support and good performances would see the club remain in the A-League. Poor performance have cost the Phoenix when it has mattered, resulting in below average stadium attendance figures and Sky TV viewership. However, if the Phoenix were to mount a serious title challenge this season, or go on a winning run, the New Zealand public will get behind their one and only A-League representative.
This is where NZ Football needs to take note, because if it does not get involved soon it might be too late. As Phoenix chairman Rob Morrison put it, in an interview for Fox sports: “unquestionably, NZ Football is a beneficiary of Phoenix’s performance and our private investment into the club and the game. So, our view is they should be contributing, and I think we are on the same page as the FFA on that one. The better the A-League is, the better it’s going to be for NZ Football.”
So why aren’t NZ Football and the Phoenix joined at the hip? Is it because of the Auckland–Wellington split, with NZ Football located at Albany stadium in Auckland? Is there competition between the two for funding streams? Or are there issues in terms of player control and development? Whatever the issues are, they need to be resolved, for the good of football in this country.
If the Phoenix do not succeed this season, then NZ Football loses a crucial talent pool and an integral part of sport in this country. The fans lose their only real tenuous link to the professional footballing world. The players lose a chance to play at a high level in their own backyard.
The only logical outcome for all involved is for NZ Football and the Phoenix to work closely together to ensure the FFA grant the Phoenix the licence they deserve. This is the licence that NZ football fans and football in New Zealand desperately needs. That, and the Phoenix need to play well this season.
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