KEY POINTS:
Like most occasions when the Phoenix play at Westpac Stadium, there was a party atmosphere at the ground on Friday night.
They might not have picked up the three points they wanted to keep their top four playoff ambitions alive but it didn't seem to matter that much. The fact the club welcomed through the turnstiles their 100,000th fan with one more home game to go in their first A-league season seemed enough of a reason to celebrate.
Add that to the 31,000 who streamed in a fortnight ago to catch a glimpse of David Beckham with or without his shirt on and the Phoenix are undoubtedly one of the success stories of a rather bleak 2007 sporting landscape.
Friday, though, marked a more significant day for the club and football in New Zealand because of December 14, 2006.
"That's a date I will never forget," New Zealand Football chief executive Graham Seatter says with a rueful laugh.
It's the day the Football Federation of Australia revoked the New Zealand Knights' A-League operating licence less than two seasons into a five-year agreement. The FFA was fed up with the under-performing outfit and pulled the plug when the Knights reneged on players' wages.
Seatter was sipping a nice glass of pinot at the NZF Christmas party on Waiheke Island when a message from the FFA alerted him to what they had just done.
"At first, I thought it was pretty dramatic," Seatter remembers. "First thing the next day, the guys from the FFA arrived to try to sort it out and keep the club alive. It would have been a disaster for football in this country if we had lost it."
New Zealand very nearly did.
It was a search that held a number of false dawns, with groups from Auckland, Manawatu and Wellington all fossicking around until the "white knight" Seatter said the game needed materialised in the shape of Terry Serepisos to save a New Zealand-based franchise in the A-League.
It might never have happened had Serepisos not decided to get his hair cut one Monday morning and heard a radio news bulletin explain that the search for someone to take over the licence had ultimately failed.
Less than 48 hours later, the licence was in his possession.
"I don't know about a white knight," Serepisos says of Seatter's description. "I just felt it was important for football in this country that someone did this. If we lost this licence, kids like my son would only have the All Whites to look up to and nothing else.
"It wasn't the financial commitment I was worried about [when I looked into it], rather the time commitment because when I do something, I pour myself 100 per cent into it and I wanted a team worthy of playing in this league."
Serepisos has also poured close to $6 million of his $100 million fortune (as estimated by the National Business Review) into the venture and expects to lose almost $2 million in his first season. It's a significant jump from what the owners of the Knights invested and the results and experience have matched it.
"About $6 million is what it takes [to run an A-League club]," Sydney general manager Bob Patterson explains. "We are spending close to that and for any club operating at the top level, that's the going rate."
Patterson was in the uncomfortable position of being Knights chief executive when the axe fell.
The former NZF chief executive knew it was only a matter of time before the FFA moved in to euthanase the struggling club. It was only through the determined but ultimately misguided efforts of chairman Anthony Lee that the Knights survived as long as they did.
Sydney and Melbourne are often held up as examples of what A-League clubs should be like. They have snared a title each, have good crowds and are run well.
Wellington is, however, rapidly joining them despite the fact they are only seven months old and have two years to catch up on their seven rivals.
Already they have a major sponsor (Sony) when other clubs are still searching for one, they have the fastest growing membership base headed by Yellow Fever and they even have their own club shop in Cuba Mall.
Anecdotally, the Phoenix are the most successful club at shifting club merchandise and on just three days last month took over $170,000 in sales. It happened to coincide with the arrival of Beckham and his LA Galaxy side but the 30-minute queues outside the shop and its premature closure because it had run out of stock are simply unheard of in this country.
As much as the Phoenix dislike comparisons with the Knights, the distinction here is stark.
"When I came along, we closed the shop and Rebel Sport weren't even prepared to stock merchandise," Patterson says.
While A-League head of operations Rob Abernethy declined to compare clubs, mainly because he didn't want to be seen to be critical of some, it's clear they are delighted with what has happened in Wellington.
"It's light years ahead of where previous entities in New Zealand were," he says. "The club was a piece of paper in March so I'm amazed how far they have come in such a short space of time. They have far exceeded our expectations.
"The fact they have their own store is ahead of most clubs, their sponsorship is very strong, as well as their corporate hospitality and they also have a competitive side on the park. We would see what Terry [Serepisos] has done as an example that could be used by other clubs. We are excited and confident about their future."
What has happened in Wellington is the reason the FFA were so determined the licence remained in New Zealand, despite the fact it had failed so badly with the Kingz and Knights and that many Australians were arguing the licence should be handed to another Australian side.
It was a risk, even though alternatives such as Townsville weren't ready, and Wellington provided the perfect location after the apathy of the Auckland audience.
Although the Phoenix's first season is not yet over, it has been a thrilling and sometimes uncertain ride for manager Ricki Herbert.
The All Whites boss took over as caretaker manager of the Knights for the last five games of last season and walked into a player dispute.
It was little surprise they were beaten 4-0 by Melbourne in his first game in charge, when some players refused to play, but it was a surprise that the Knights managed to pick up three wins and a draw in their last four games.
Herbert was the obvious choice to take over at the Phoenix to give the club the "New Zealand flavour" the FFA were so desperate to see.
"It doesn't feel like a year ago," Herbert says, "but it's been a crazy time. There will be nothing quite as unique in the rest of my career as these last seven months [since the Phoenix were created].
"It was a massive exercise setting the club up. We didn't have a team, coaching staff, offices and even training equipment. It was almost like a tsunami. You got to the tip of the wave and kept paddling, otherwise you would have fallen off. It doesn't bear thinking about what would have happened then."
It's one thing creating a club, it's another creating a successful one. Next season, the club hoped average crowds would increase from 11,500 to 14,000 or 15,000, club membership would rise from 2500 to 4000 (the Knights had less than 200 members in their second season) and they will become profitable by their fourth or fifth season.
All of that, however, will be possible only if they have a successful side on the field. "Everything will be determined by what happens on the field," Serepisos says.
The Phoenix still have a slim chance of making the playoffs in their first season and this is viewed as a success in most people's eyes. In fact, just finishing ahead of one other side is seen as a success by many. Next season, however, will be accompanied by heightened expectations, starting with the owner himself.
"This year was all about putting the club together," Serepisos says. "If not next season, then the following season I would like to make a grand final. I can do my bit and buy players but it will take a lot of hard work from a lot of people for this to happen ... I want to win a title."
Herbert doesn't have many places to fill in his 23-man squad for next season, with most players having two-year contracts. The luxury he has this time around is that he can take his time to find a quality player who could make the difference the way Fred did for Melbourne last season.
Herbert has already noticed a significant shift in attitude from player agents. "Agents were cautious about offering quality players before last season," he says. "Now they are directing quality players our way. They can see the potential in this football club and recognise now that signing with us is a good move for a player."
If Herbert can find the right mix, there might be a few more celebrations in the future.
