Phoenix on the Rise

A Wellington-based franchise is to replace Auckland’s NZ Knights in the Australian A-League soccer competition beginning in August. Wellington Phoenix will be the eighth team in the 2007-2008 series, which runs for 21 rounds up until next February. Franchise owner Terry Serepisos named the team after a week of public consultation through Wellington’s Dominion Post newspaper. “It’s quite spiritual, it’s a rebirth, and hence I went with the public feeling and my own gut feeling,” he said in the Post. The team will play home games at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium and will be coached by current NZ national coach, Ricki Herbert. “I know the city will embrace it because, apart from the Hurricanes, what else have we got,” said Serepisos. “Not only will we have a soccer team of our own but we’re going to get to see some of the top players in Australia and top international players in Wellington.”