The Wellington Phoenix men’s football side will get to play at home for the first time in almost a year with confirmation of the remainder of the A League football season draw.
The Phoenix will host the Central Coast Mariners in Wellington at Easter weekend on April 17th and play the Western Sydney Wanders at Eden Park in Auckland a week later.
The Phoenix have spent the season based in Australia due to Covid -19 border restrictions.
Currently in seventh spot, three points outside a top six playoff spot, the club has six more games to move up the leaderboard.
The club has moved quickly to schedule the games after the Government removed the restrictions on outdoor gathering limits, said general manager David Dome.
The race for the playoffs is on for the Phoenix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
“We hope it will be the boost the team needs to push them into the finals in May,”
The Phoenix haven’t played in New Zealand since May 30, 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 thosuand supporters watched a 3-nil 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 schedule for the Phoenix is 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.
They then return to Sydney on Saturday, April 2 to host Melbourne City 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.
-RNZ
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