Football: Hoping to make capital out of change

Team Wellington coach Matt Calcott. Photo / Glenn Taylor

He doesn't like getting too far ahead of himself, but Team Wellington coach Matt Calcott admits a win over Auckland City in today's OFC Champions League final could create a notable change in the capital's footballing landscape.

Wellington have had mixed fortunes across 11 seasons of the national league, losing in the grand final three times and finishing runners-up in the regular season twice, but today they stand on the doorstep of cracking the big time.

If Wellington can beat the defending champions in the final in Fiji, they will receive $659,000, which is split with New Zealand Football, and a spot alongside some of the best clubs in the world at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan.

"Twelve months ago, we had to take the team in a different direction," said Calcott. "We had to become a stand-alone franchise again, rather than a reserve pool of players for the Wellington Phoenix. We couldn't realise our ambitions by being a default youth team and we've done things slightly differently this year and have been pretty clear in our ambition since we broke away and have gone for a more experienced team.

"If we win, we could maybe have the opportunity to set something up which is a little bit more sustainable out of Wellington, and I think that's key."

A Wellington win would also bring a much-needed injection of cash to the franchise, who had to cough up $60,000 to support the team through the group stages, then another $55,000 to stay to the end of the 16-day tournament.

"Some of the clubs here have 12 or 13 staff, we have six. We couldn't bring the full complement of 23 players because we couldn't afford it. We brought 20 players."

But the players they took are full of experience and skill. The Wellington squad includes six former All Whites, former A-League player Henry Fa'arodo and Chris Bale, who has featured in four Club World Cups.

"If you look at our lads and you look at our squad, there's a lot who have played in finals. And a number of them have been to the Club World Cup before. For some, it will be the biggest game of their lives. For others, it will be just another final. Not another day at the office, but the focus will be on their performance.

"It's a purely domestic-based team. A number of the clubs out here have brought a large amount of imports late on. We have brought some on but 85 per cent of our guys have been here with Team Wellington throughout the year and we have developed some real consistency."

Influential All Whites midfielder Jake Butler has been ruled out after sustaining ligament damage to his ankle in Wellington's 2-0 semifinal win over Ba, but Calcott is hoping strikers Jarrod Smith (calf) and Michael Gwyther (knee) will be fit to start.