Puzzle pieces assembled for big game

This afternoon McLean Park will play host to the first Wellington Phoenix A-League fixture to be held in Hawke's Bay. Sport Hawke's Bay commercial manager Kevin Murphy was one of those who helped snare the game and bring it to the Bay. Hawke's Bay Today asked him a few questions about the historic event.

1 How did the idea of bringing the Phoenix to Hawke's Bay come about?

Hawke's Bay has a Regional Events Strategy but no regional funding fund - so I was on the radio in October last year talking about how we really should have a fund and that it would be great to attract more events into Hawke's Bay that attract visitors.

Tim Claudatos from Port Hill Football heard this and gave me a call. We met and he suggested we try and get a Phoenix game here. Previously we had looked at a pre-season game, but it was too expensive. So I made a call to David Dome, the general manager of the Phoenix and then went to see him in Wellington in November last year - at the Newcastle Jets game!

We then put a budget together to see if the figures would stack up.

2 What were some of the obstacles you faced in bringing the game to the Bay?

The first hurdle was securing a suitable date. The Napier City Council offered us the Sunday of Labour Weekend - any earlier was not available because of rugby and any later was not available because of preparation of the cricket wicket for the West Indies game in December.

Then we had to get a home game in the draft FFA draw, which happened. The biggest hurdle was that we needed a finance backer or fund. Tim and myself then found 12 businesses willing to underwrite the event. These people have really given us the ability to host the game.

The last hurdle was identifying an entity to sign the contract with the Phoenix. This ended up being The Team Hawke's Bay Charitable Trust - the trust that owns the Come on the Bay initiative and song.

3 What do you know about the Yellow Fever fan group and their plans to attend the Napier game this weekend?

We have learned a bit about the Fever. Firstly, they are part of a greater Phoenix season membership database of 3000. We hosted them in Napier in September and they decided how they were going to enjoy the weekend.

We also found out that there is a core group of the Fever that get their shirts off of maybe 100-200, but others just like sitting in with them.

The Yellow Fever will have a songsheet, too. From the whole season membership we expect to see 1000 at the game - these tickets have been issued - as they come to our game free of charge. It is part of their season ticket.

4 What sort of turnout do you hope the game will get from locals?

We need to sell 6000 tickets to the game. We will have about 1500 from out of town, so the balance will need to be locals.

5 Do you think it's possible to get another A-League game in Hawke's Bay? If so, what needs to be done to achieve this?

If we host a successful game and get the numbers we need there is every chance that we could host another game in the future.