Football: Behind the new Wellington Phoenix W-League team - How an unlikely alliance helped to pave the way

Football Fern Annalie Longo during the announcement of the W-League Women's football league at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

When New Zealand won the right to co-host the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup last year, there was a lot of talk about the ripple effects of having such a massive tournament in our backyard.

Legacies can be an overused term with these sporting showpieces, but it's clear that Fifa's flagship female event has already left one.

There are many factors behind the long-awaited confirmation of a New Zealand team in the W-League, but it's clear that the impending World Cup greatly accelerated the process.

The relationship between New Zealand Football and Football Australia has never been better, partly as a product of their joint work on the convoluted Cup bid, and there was pressure on both governing bodies to facilitate more pathways for female footballers in the region.

Without the World Cup, a Kiwi W-League team would still have eventuated, but probably not as swiftly.

NZF chief executive Andrew Pragnell deserves credit for his proactive approach to transtasman relations, which started with simply picking up the phone. From his first days in the chair, he was determined to build an alliance with Australia, something that either wasn't seen as important or had drifted off the radar with the previous regime.

Pragnell knew the benefits that could be derived, and that groundwork helped to sow the seeds of the joint World Cup bid.

But the wider picture centres on another vital association.

It wasn't that many years ago that the relationship between NZF and the Wellington Phoenix was just about broken. Things had soured to an unfathomable degree, to a point where senior figures in each organisation were barely on speaking terms.

There were obvious flashpoints, like the still bizarre Alex Jones affair in early 2016. The Birmingham City striker arrived on loan at the Phoenix but went home without playing a game, after NZF failed to lodge the transfer request with Fifa in time, before offering reasons in the 'dog ate my homework' category. The club wouldn't comment at the time, but behind the scenes they were incandescent.

Academy players Tui Dugan (L) and Macey Fraser during the announcement of the W-League Women's football league at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photo / Photosport.co.nz

But on a broader level there was a pronounced clash of philosophies, over how to best progress the game in this country, and the key roles of each party.

Instead of a joint, win-win approach, there was conflict and competition, epitomised with NZF's plan at one point to build a bricks and mortar academy in Auckland, aiming to attract the best young talent from across the country, when the Phoenix had already established a successful one in the capital.

Thankfully, those difficult days are gone, mainly because NZF have finally realised how critical the Phoenix are to the football ecosystem in this country.

Probably the real heroes in this tale are the Phoenix hierarchy.

It's easy to forget now, but the club's existence was constantly and aggressively questioned, for several seasons, by high profile figures in the Australian game, and not exactly doused by the FFA, with talk of metrics and crowd figures and results.

But the club persevered, through difficult times, and the handicap of a small catchment area for fans and a location that can make it difficult to entice prospective players, especially overseas ones.

From there they have evolved into a benchmark club, one of the best run in the A-League.

They have arguably the best academy – with the production of Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace, Matt Garbett et al – and a reputation for blooding youngsters.

Their recruitment has been brilliant, attracting great players and good characters, and they have committed to a vibrant, exciting style of football under Ufuk Talay.

Taking on the W-League challenge won't be easy, but the Phoenix have built a strong foundation and the partnership with NZF should be productive.