The Wellington Phoenix are delighted to confirm the details of the men’s two Isuzu UTE A-League matches in Aotearoa next month.
Australian Professional Leagues (APL) have scheduled the Phoenix to play the Central Coast Mariners at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Sunday, April 17 before hosting Western Sydney Wanderers at Eden Park in Auckland the following Sunday (April 24).
Both games will kick-off at 3:05pm NZT (1:05pm AEST).
They will be the club’s first A-League matches in New Zealand in more than 300 days, with the men having been based in Sydney since the start of November.
The Phoenix have moved quickly to make the games a reality, after the Government removed the restrictions on outdoor gathering limits.
“We can’t wait to play in front of our fans again,” Phoenix general manager David Dome said. “We hope it will be the boost the team needs to push them into the finals in May.
“We’re thrilled to come back home to Wellington first and then travel to Auckland to meet some of our extremely important commercial obligations and play in New Zealand’s biggest city.
“We want as many of our supporters as possible to see the Phoenix play, having been starved of football over the past two years.”
The Phoenix haven’t played in New Zealand 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.
“Those were two of the most memorable games in the club’s history and we want to replicate that atmosphere next month,” Dome said.
The Phoenix are working to have both games on sale to the public by the end of next week.
APL have released the schedule for the remainder of the A-League season, with the men to play their final 11 matches in little over six weeks. Their fixture list is particularly congested over the next three weeks with six games in just 19 days, starting with Saturday’s match against Perth Glory at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney.
They will then head to Redcliffe to play the Brisbane Roar on Wednesday in the first of three successive mid-week matches.
The Nix will return to Sydney on Saturday, April 2 to host Melbourne City at a yet to be determined venue, before visiting Central Coast Mariners the following Tuesday night and Western United on Saturday, April 9.
A mid-week match in New South Wales against Perth Glory will follow before the Phoenix return to New Zealand for their matches in Wellington and Auckland.
They will then visit Melbourne Victory on Friday, April 29, Western Sydney on Thursday, May 5 and Melbourne City on Monday, May 9 to round out the season.
Remaining Isuzu UTE A-League fixtures for Phoenix men:
Saturday, March 26 vs Perth Glory at Leichhardt Oval – 5:05pm AEDT (7:05pm NZT)
Wednesday, March 30 vs Brisbane Roar at Moreton Daily Stadium – 7:05pm AEDT (9:05pm NZT)
Saturday, April 2 vs Melbourne City at TBC NSW venue – 5:05pm AEDT (7:05pm NZT)
Tuesday, April 5 vs Central Coast Mariners at Central Coast Stadium – 7:05pm AEST (9:05pm NZT)
Saturday, April 9 vs Western United at Ballarat – 2:05pm AEST (4:05pm NZT)
Wednesday, April 13 vs Perth Glory – NSW venue and kick-off time TBC
Sunday, April 17 vs Central Coast Mariners at Sky Stadium – 3:05pm NZT (1:05pm AEST)
Sunday, April 24 vs Western Sydney Wanderers at Eden Park – 3:05pm NZT (1:05pm AEST)
Friday, April 29 vs Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park – 7:45pm AEST (9:45pm NZT)
Thursday, May 5 vs Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBank Stadium – 7:05pm AEST (9:05pm NZT)
Monday, May 9 vs Melbourne City at AAMI Park – 7:05pm AEST (9:05pm NZT)
