The Wellington Phoenix men will be returning home before the end of the 2021/22 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The removal of restrictions on outdoor gatherings has cleared the way for the club to finalise matches in New Zealand.
The Phoenix are planning to host games in Wellington and Auckland next month. Initial preparations are already underway and details will be able to confirmed once Australian Professional Leagues (APL) finalises the draw for the remainder of the A-League season.
Phoenix general manager David Dome has welcomed today’s announcement from the Government.
“This is the best possible news as one of the main impediments to bringing the team home has been removed,” Dome said.
“We’d always hoped to play matches in New Zealand this season and now we can work with APL to confirm venues, dates and kick-off times.
“As was the case last year it’s very important that our first game back is in Wellington, but it’s also important to us that we play in front of our fans and partners in New Zealand’s biggest city.”
The Phoenix haven’t played in Aotearoa since May 30 last year, when more than 22 thousand fans turned out to see the team play Perth Glory at Eden Park.
It came a week after the team’s homecoming match against Western United at Sky Stadium, where 24,105 supporters cheered the team on to a 3-0 win.
The men have been based in Sydney since the start of November and have been forced to play all of their matches in Australia, until now.
The Wellington Phoenix hope to be in a position to announce their long-awaited home matches before the end of the week.
