Auckland loves a winner and its football club is one – Editorial

Auckland FC players celebrate winning the A-League Premier Plate. Photo / Photosport

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS

• Auckland FC claimed the Premier’s Plate in their debut season.
• Thousands celebrated at Mt Smart Stadium as they defeated Perth, securing a party atmosphere.
• Manager Steve Corica and captain Hiroki Sakai have become local heroes, inspiring young fans.

Auckland FC are the toast of the town this week.

Thousands packed into Mt Smart stadium on Sunday evening for what was always going to be a party atmosphere.

The team, in just their debut season, had officially claimed the Premier’s Plate just before midnight on Saturday after other favourable results. All that was left to do on Sunday was beat Perth on the field to give the crowd the atmosphere they and the team deserved.

What Auckland FC have achieved in their first season is remarkable and it could still get better, with the A-League’s knockout finals still to be played.

When the club was barely in existence last year, Texas billionaire and majority owner Bill Foley told the Herald: “We are going to be a very competitive team. We will win a number of games ... I don’t want to make a prediction but I believe we [will] win a lot more games than people give us credit for. We’ll do very well.”

Maybe Foley has a golden touch – his Las Vegas ice hockey team made the Stanley Cup finals in their debut season as well.

But even to an ambitious boss, finishing the regular season at the top of the A-League ladder must feel like a dream.

New Zealand’s other professional sporting clubs, particularly the Wellington Phoenix as our other professional football club, will be looking on in envy at how successful Auckland FC have become in such a short time.

Their home matches were the hottest ticket in town this summer and their first playoff game will no doubt sell out in short time.

Manager Steve Corica has become a cult hero in the city, and every day more and more children are running around Auckland’s backyards and parks wearing a Hiroki Sakai jersey.

Stacking up victories of course makes all the difference, but Auckland had been starved of professional football since the New Zealand Knights folded in 2007.

Auckland loves a winner and its football club is one.

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