Wellington Phoenix will play at least ten games at Westpac Stadium in Wellington and start the new season with a family-friendly 5pm Sunday kickoff against Adelaide on 8 October 2017.
The excitement surrounding Darije Kalezić’s first campaign at the helm just became more palpable with the release of the Hyundai A-League draw for Season 17/18 – starting with a family-friendly 5pm home kick-off, Sun 8 October at Westpac Stadium.
First up, it’s the battle of the new European coaches as Adelaide and their German coach Marco Kurz are the first visitors to Wellington.
Away trips to the reigning Champions Sydney FC and reigning FFA Cup holders Melbourne City follow in Rounds 2 and 3 before Saturday nights become the home of football in Wellington with up to seven home fixtures at Westpac Stadium kicking off at 7.35pm.
Northern supporters and members will see the Phoenix in the flesh with the team traveling to Auckland in Round 23 to take on the Newcastle Jets at QBE.
The club are happy to announce that at least 10 games will be played at Westpac Stadium this season, with 1 or 2 home games to be hosted elsewhere, the specific dates of which are yet to be confirmed.
Wellington will also see greatly enhanced coverage on Australian free-to-air TV this campaign with three matches – Round 5 vs Newcastle Jets, Round 14 vs Melbourne City and Round 22 vs Western Sydney Wanderers to be televised by new broadcast partner Channel Ten.
The Hyundai A-League Finals Series will begin on the weekend of 20-22 April 2018 with the Grand Final scheduled for the weekend of 5-6 May 2018.
Speaking today, FFA Head of Hyundai A-League & Westfield W-League, Greg O’Rourke, was excited about releasing the 13th edition of the competition draw.
“It gives me great pleasure to release the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season Draw under a new logo and brand identity,” said O’Rourke.
“Developing this draw has been a challenging process to accommodate the preferences of the clubs, venue availability and also the AFC Champions League 2018.
“We have added a new feature to this season’s draw with all clubs playing each other twice between rounds 1 to 18. The remaining nine rounds will see each club play each other once in the lead-up to the Hyundai A-League 2018 Finals Series. This stretch of nine Rounds will be known as “The Chase” with 27 points on offer in the run home to Round 27.
“This will be the first season of the Hyundai A-League under our new broadcast agreement with Fox Sports who have been a broadcast partner of the competition since 2005 and we are once again look forward to partnering with them.
“We are also very excited about working with our new Free-to-Air partner, Network Ten, who will be broadcasting the Harvey Norman Saturday night match and the Hyundai A-League 2018 Finals Series live.
“All in all, we believe that this draw will set the scene for another thrilling season of the Hyundai A-League,” concluded O’Rourke.
Wellington Phoenix season tickets and memberships will go on sale in coming weeks, with existing and foundation members being given a one-to-two week priority window to renew or change their existing seats.
Key features of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season draw
– Opening Round of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season begins on Friday 6 October 2017 with Melbourne City FC hosting Brisbane Roar FC @ AAMI Park, Melbourne
– Hyundai A-League 2018 Finals Series will begin on the weekend of 20-22 April 2018
– Hyundai A-League 2018 Grand Final will be played on the weekend of 5-6 May 2018
– Grand Final Re-Match (Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC): Round 1 (Saturday, 7 October 2017 @ Etihad Stadium)
– All clubs will play in at least one Harvey Norman Saturday Night fixture (kick-off 7:50pm AEST) – Wellington Phoenix will appear on Australian free-to-air TV three times
– Summer of Football will see 25 matches in 25 days (i.e. 21 December to 14 January – Rounds 12-16) which includes matches on:
Boxing Day (Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners @ Coopers Stadium)
New Year’s Eve (Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix @ Central Coast Stadium)
New Year’s Day (Western Sydney Wanderers FC v Melbourne City FC @ANZ Stadium)
Themed Rounds
Remembrance Round – Round 6
Play Football Round – Round 19
Female Football Round – Round 22
Harmony Round – Round 24
– Rounds 20 & 22 will be “Split Rounds” in order to accommodate AFC Champions League Match Days with fixtures scheduled as follows:
Round 20 – Week 1 (9-11 February 2018) – Clubs participating in the AFC Champions League 2018
Round 20 – Week 2 (16-18 February 2018) – No Clubs participating in the AFC Champions League 2018
Round 22 – Week 1 (2-4 March 2018) – Clubs participating in the AFC Champions League 2018
Round 22 – Week 2 (9-11 March 2018) – No Clubs participating in the AFC Champions League 2018
– The first 18 rounds will see all clubs play each other twice – both home & away. The remaining 9 Rounds, “The Chase”, will see all clubs play each other once with a potential 27 points on offer for the run in to Round 27
– Fox Sports will show all matches of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Season and Hyundai A-League 2018 Finals Series live.
Network Ten will broadcast one Saturday night match a week and the Hyundai A-League 2018 Finals Series live.
Full Draw Details.
See full draw: here.
